Inspiration

One of the dangers of getting into photography is the ease with which you’re able to convince yourself that you need more equipment to take better photos. You hear a podcast, read an article, take a spin through B&H and you see the thing that is going to transport you from being an ordinary photographer to being supa-fly pro photographer. If only I had that nicer lens, if only I had some more lights, if only I had one more Pocket Wizard, if only I had more gels…

You need to stop yourself…it’s gadget envy at its worst. The next thing you know you have a ten-ton photo bag, an empty wallet, an empty portfolio, and a non-existent client list. I suddenly realize that this is me. Damn it.

One thing I have found helps this need to buy rather than actually shooting more is to check out the Flickr galleries of photos shot by people using the same camera as you. I use Canon 30D, and I am constantly amazed at what an excellent camera it is. And there are tons of great images captured using this camera, and the Flickr 30D gallery really helps remind me that it isn’t the gear, it’s the photog behind the gear that makes great images.

Speaking of which, while I sort out some technical issues on my photography portfolio site, I’ve purchased a pro account on Flickr and have begun to put together galleries and sets of the work I’ve done over the last year. I had my first pro shoot last September. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been doing this for almost a year. I haven’t shot as much as I’ve wanted too, but I’ve shot much more that I thought I would. I love it.

Speaking of getting to take pictures that you love, here’s a shot of Dr. Girlfriend in our apartment last night.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 6th, 2007 at 8:54 pm and is filed under Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.