A Featured Post:

Last week I was fortunate to have my profile featured on Phoblographer and one of the questions they asked was about gear and how it helped me achieve my creative vision. I thought this was a great question as it got me thinking about gear in general and my specific gear choices.  

For this post I’d like to expand on this question and discuss my general gear thoughts and use a separate post to really go through my specific gear and address why I picked it up and what I like and don’t like about it. Hopefully these two posts will help you think a little differently about gear as you take your journey into photography. 

My Thoughts on Gear:

Like many photographers I love gear. I like reading about it, watching video reviews, and even stopping by the local photography shops to check it out in person. I constantly like to see what other photographers are shooting as gear touches both the technical and creative sides of photography.  It’s also hard not to be swept up in how cool Sony’s eye focus is or the crazy detail from the 100 megapixel GFX camera from Fuji. 

However, while I like all these things I’ve learned over the years gear does not make me a better photographer. More megapixels, a faster lens, or the latest and greatest tripod are amazing things but again won’t turn my images from a 2 to an 8 or 9. Gear can definitely help make things easier but more of it will not benefit you then going out there and shooting more and pushing yourself to apply and learn new techniques. 

A Minimal Kit:

I think starting off with a minimal kit is a great way to begin photography as it forces you to really learn your equipment and through that you will understand it’s limitations. I think this process is very important as you’ll start to become creative in finding ways around those limitations as much as possible. In addition, you can focus less on gear and more on techniques which will allow you to grow. 

For instance, if you had a 18 - 55 kit lens and wanted to shoot portraits you have more than enough gear to get started. You may have read posts or watched videos on the “perfect” portrait lens with the prettiest bokeh. As great as that lens may be you really don’t need a faster lens with a wider aperture or a more classic portrait focal length to get going to produce amazing images. Adding that gear would make things easier and does have some effect on the image quality, however if you spent time shooting, learning how to work with models, and scout interesting backdrops for your images then you’ll likely strengthen your portraits much more then if you just picked up that new lens. You’ll start to push your gear to it’s limit and understand what you really can and can’t do with it. 

When you finally realize that you truly are limited from making a certain shot then that’s where gear should come into play and now that you’ve had some time behind the camera shooting what you like, you’ll know exactly why you need that next piece of equipment. 

Gamify the Experience:

Lastly, if you must have that piece of equipment why not gamify the purchase. Set a goal to earn it for yourself so that you would still accomplish something photography related before you add it to your kit. Such as shooting 10 portrait sessions or creating 5 print worthy images that you would put up in your house. 

I hope this post will get you to think about gear differently and to know that what you have is likely good enough to get started in most types of photography. In my next post I’ll highlight the gear and use and the reason why I purchased each piece. Hopefully with this post you’ll start to understand why the gear choices I made compliment my style of shooting and that we all have different needs depending on how and what we shoot.