"Nice picture. You must have a good camera!" It is true! This often is the response photographers get when they show someone a good picture. So, how good does your camera have to be? Or, perhaps the better question is: What is good enough? Does it even have to do with your camera?
Let's have a look:
I recently read an article in PetaPixel about photographer, Benjamin Weir, who photographed a set of macro images with a lens element he took out of an old compact camera and his LG G3 smartphone. Pretty decent images if you ask me.
In a world of touchscreen menus, eye-tracking focus, mega-mega pixels and insane ISO ranges Benjamin's story is a great reminder that, while all these features are fantastic, a good pictures does not solely depend on all that.
The honest truth is that even with my trusty old Nikon D5200 (above) I've managed to take some amazing images over the last 6 years I've had it.
Can I do with a faster frame rate, (animal) eye-tracking focus, higher dynamic range?
Yes!!
It will for sure make life easier.
But are these specs a necessity before I get out there with my camera?
A resounding NO!!
When you know what the tools you have can do for you instead of thinking of what it doesn't have, you throw off the shackles.
The old masters understood this:
The legendary Henri Cartier-Bresson took his famous pictures with a Leica rangefinder and a 50mm lens.
The most basic of cameras you could ever imagine, compared to today's beasts.
So what made his work so exceptional? I'd say it was his sense of wonder, his need to tell stories and his mastery of composition. This no camera can give you. He was also famous for saying that your first 10 000 pictures are the worst.
(Thank goodness this milestone is a little easier to get to in the digital age). So, the next time your sense of wonder and adventure gets the better of you - let it!! Don't get caught up in the silly paralysis of good better and best equipment.
Most cameras are good enough.
Good enough for you to express your vision and to use as a means to experience the wonderful world out there.
Good enough for you to tell stories with. Take whatever you have and just get out there!
Your smartphone. Your compact camera you inherited from your great uncle. Take your entry level DSLR and see it for what it is: A license for adventure, wonder and creativity.
This article is up my street. I love the interesting actions and angles of birds in their context. You have un-guilted me regarding record keeping!