MDI Mainer

Picture Correct (picturecorrect.com) recently posted an article entitled "10 Things Successful Photographers Don't Do."

The first bit of advice:

1. Waste time thinking about gear

This is one of the most important things a successful photographer avoids at all costs. Photography gear may be important for enhancing shots, however, it’s not as important as core photography when taking creative photos. In fact, creative shots often come out better when they are taken naturally, without extra gadgets.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Some enjoy acquiring items for many different hobbies. To beat this theme to death is tiresome. Whatever floats your boat when it comes to hobbies!

User ID

REEEEEEEEEEEAAAALLY ????

WTF is a "Successful Photographer " anywho ?


Rhetorical question. No answer needed. You're not
someone I'd want an answer from. Don't take that
personally. I really meant "you and the other seven
billion earthlings". But, it does INCLUDE you ... and
whoever wrote the material that you read.

FWIW, there ARE other sections of UHH that would
be a less inappropriate venue for that sort of stuff.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I agree with DaveO's sentiment re "beat to death," but for me it's more because this topic doesn't promote any learning or thoughtful commentary; it's just another "chit-chat" thread. Burkphoto recently wrote a similar topic here in which he linked a video to help aid wider discussion. Admin moved his from main forum to links/resources, which is where I expect yours will end up also because of the link you included.

Back in 2016 Sharpshooter did a series on composition. See several of those threads here - if you can get past the Naked Section topics on that page

Discussions on specifics of how to create impact (light, composition, depth of field, angle of view/perspective, how to draw someone into a scene and keep their attention) have been very rare in UHH's main discussion for quite some time, however. I wonder why? Is it because aside from gear specifics and tech talk, the majority who comment in main discussion are already where they want to be with their hobby? And those who are motivated to improve and learn are doing so in other sections of this site - and maybe connecting with a mentor via private message - or have discovered other resources, whether online or books or classroom?

Main discussion forum has become a dumping ground that includes sharing of Facebook photo-jokes, complaints about UPS, and much more that should have been posted to General Chit-Chat. For those seeking a different experience, I urge you to look through "all sections" at the bottom of this page. Examples:

In May and June of 2018, there was a 4-part collaborative effort in For Your Consideration section on the aspects of light. The last chapter, with links to earlier, is here.

The For Your Consideration section has also hosted topics on flower photography, black and white, still life and much more. But that section, like all volunteer-moderated sections, is invisible to new users. You must specifically subscribe and even then, if you are browsing via the emailed digest, you must be logged in to UHH to see postings.

There has often been excellent feedback/critique and discussion in several Landscape Forum topics since that section was created in December. PP Forum has a list of member-created tutorials here. The Commercial Photography section has a lighting tutorial here.

It is sad that most of the volunteer-moderated sections receive very little participation, but that may speak as much to the demographics of main discussion participants as it does to the lack of visibility of the other sections.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Are things like cameras with superior dynamic range or low light performance, or lenses which are faster or sharper merely "extra gadgets"?

MDI Mainer

Did you see any link?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Stopping the gear discussion will turn UHH into a ghost town, turning off maybe 75% of the discussion.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

My saying is that IQ is 10% gear and 90% the nut behind the lens.

And it doesn't hurt to study composition.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I don't agree, it's certainly nice to have a capable camera and nice glass and its helpful to achieve what one seeks! Once you have it, you never think about it again, but only in creative ways, and THATS what matters!

MDI Mainer

Linda, I do very much respect and enjoy your thoughtful and erudite contributions to the forum, but I have to disagree that this topic doesn't promote "thoughtful commentary."

It seems to me that, given its prominent position in the quoted article, it is intended to instigate thought and reflection on what photography is really about, which would then hopefully lead to greater attention to and discussion of the creative specifics mentioned in your post. So its not just a criticism of GAS and gear obsession.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

My version would have been something like this:-

10 things sensible photographers have learned to do:-

1) Prioritise.

Having the best gear available may be nice and may seem very desirable but it's a loooooong way from being essential, and in many cases the benefits are truly marginal. Professionals can justify the (sometimes considerable) extra expense for the best gear in order to reap those incremental benefits, but for just about anybody else it starts to look suspiciously like unnecessary, extravagant indulgence.

The whole point of the PictureCorrect article is to get us to prioritise and to give more thought/time/effort to things like composition skills, imagination etc, which can make a far more significant difference to the photographer's output.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Maybe the next thread can philosophize about the use of filters for protection...

WessoJPEG Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

👍👍

catchlight.. Loc: Wisconsin USA- Halden Norway

I watched 5 pre teens go through an photo exercise with a cell phone set to auto timer while out and about yesterday. This is not the first time i have seen this. They were posing some very interesting compositions. After each shot they all got together to see the result and then immediately went onto another unbelievably creative perspective... to me that may be the purest form of photography, and really nothing to do with the IQ of a sensor...

This is not the first time, and may suggest that the best photographers are yet to come... perhaps an image gathering devise should be looked at as secondary... this brought new energy into my day as I stood there watching in amazement... then off with my Fugi X100f in hand...