I know you love gear – go on admit it, it’s not about taking photographs, capturing images, is it? You just want the latest and greatest. Go on, be honest.
Yes, I admit it!
New gear is great, there’s no denying it and I’d love some, mine is pretty old. The last time I bought a brand-new camera was ten years ago. I have bought cameras since then – but they were not bought as new. These days I make do with second-hand gear, the price of new equipment being too rich for me, so I tell myself it’s not about gear, great photography does not require the latest and greatest, it needs the person using it to be good – vision, creativity, an understanding of light and composition, patience, practice, practice, practice. Where have I heard that before?
Remember the time(s) you’ve bought new gear, the excitement, you can’t put it down – it feels great, you just want to go out and shoot – you take it on holiday, an exotic location perhaps, the excitement…oh, the photographic opportunities!!! The images aren’t great – I’m talking about me! Guess what? - I’ve done it more than once!! And now that I’m thinking about it, I’m a little ashamed of how many times I’ve actually committed this heinous crime. Nope, I’m not going to say how many times. To be honest, I know that I’ve pushed them from my mind, perhaps this post is for me, more than you!
It seems like many of my new significant camera purchases have preceded a major trip and in almost every case I haven’t had or used the gear nearly enough to be comfortable with it that I’m not thinking about it at all, (I’m shooting 99% of the time in manual) – and I’m concentrating on where I am and what I’m shooting. Time and circumstances will often dictate when we are able to buy new gear, but if you have the opportunity to buy new gear well enough ahead of a trip or assignment, you don’t need me to tell you that you should use that time to become very familiar and comfortable with the equipment you’ll be using. Sure, go ahead, stick your camera in program mode, you’ll get good images. But don’t be fooled into thinking that you’re in control of your photography, the machine is. I’m not being harsh here, whilst you are making your compositions, the camera is working out the light – a good way to start, but as you become more seasoned and experienced, you’ll want to take control of all aspects of your work. In almost every instance of travelling with new gear, the excitement of having it has overshadowed the fact that I wasn’t making the most of it, sometimes by far. I’m not the type of photographer that shoots and fills multiple memory cards and only looks on return from a trip. My practice is to download images in the evening after shooting all day and look at them on my laptops screen. I have often found that images I thought were fine, looking at them on the rear screen or EVF, aren’t nearly as good as I thought they were. The reasons for that can vary greatly, but they almost always relate back to the fact, that I’m not at “one” with my new camera, no matter how much I may be enjoying the thrill of new gear!!
You could be a seasoned photographer and have used many cameras and equipment over the years, but new gear is new gear and often takes time, be it longer or shorter (and we’re all different), to master and get used to. Especially now, with technology progressing in leaps and bounds, new developments etc., etc. Practice.
I’m not going to relate specific instances, that would just give away the number of times I’ve been found guilty and we’re not going there. I will tell you on the last two occasion that I bought a camera – not new, it was similar enough to other camera(s) I have, that picking it up and using it was very comfortable – the learning curves on both occasions was just slight. Last summer was the last time I did get away on a trip, having just bought a camera from a friend, there were no issues, using it was pretty much second nature – a comfortable and enjoyable experience.
The images I’m showing you here today, are from six different cameras all shot shortly after I acquired them…and no, I’m not going to show you my failures…why would I want to show you bad photography! It’s totally possible to take good images with new gear…but I have a good many images that didn’t turn out so well – take my word for it. Oh dear, I have just revealed how many times? I don’t think so!