rplain1 Loc: Dayton, Oh.

C'mon - everyone knows Microsoft keyboards and mouses are better.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

"You are never too old to learn something?"
Yeah, but will you remember it????

rplain1 Loc: Dayton, Oh.

Remember what?

Jwshelton Loc: Denver,CO

Sorry, been serious about photography for 25+ years. Still learning.
No, the equipment does not make the photography, but I am always
interested in settings.
Take it back, I am not sorry, but a difference of opinion.

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

Well probably not pig bristle brushes but possibly horse hair from the mane of the horse. used to use a very fine horse hair brush to dust spot photographs when we made prints.

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

nope I use track balls and tablets with Adobe...more control like using a pencil to draw with....and I set out traps to get rid of the mice while my neighbor got 3 cats.

Mtn_Dog Loc: El Dorado Hills, CA

The magazines (print and digital) for any equipment-involved avocation are supported by advertising and those ads are often subtle and disguised as articles. It's as true for photography as it is for any endeavor that uses tools; fly-fishing, golf, woodworking, gardening, flying, driving, cooking, video-gaming or anything else you might name.

There can and should be some educational value but the reality is that many people genuinely believe that the ONLY reason their images are not as impressive as someone with more talent is due to a difference in their hardware. "Oh NUTS! Apparently I bought the wrong brand Gimbal Head!"

Marketing departments prey upon our insecurities and our hunger for approval. Gadgets are dangled in front of us like carrots on a stick. It works like a charm for them.

Notice that those equipment inventory 'credits' attached to images are never mentioning low-end cheap gear. This often indicates either a kick-back from a manufacturer or 'humble bragging' by someone craving peer approval. Truth be told, I confess this as a past writer and recipient of plenty of 'freebies' in a different hobby area. That's the game, folks.

I happen to live near Placerville, California, one of the earliest boomtowns of the 1849 California gold rush. Thousands of hopeful prospectors flooded into this region, each blinded by the same ambition. In the end, there were several fortunes made in Placerville but almost exclusively by the merchants who sold those new shiny gold pans, wheelbarrows, eggs, whiskey or sex to the desperately hopeful miners. We are little different now.

In the end, 'excellence' it is rarely about the equipment. If you were scheduled for brain surgery, would you be asking your surgeon which brand scalpel he uses?

Just believe in yourself and enjoy the growth process of exercising your raw talent.

leftj Loc: Texas

Hey folks, this is Capitalism and the free enterprise system. Don't knock it, just be smart. The alternatives (communism and socialism) have been tried over and over and have failed every time.

Aldente

I believe that if a particular photo in a Photography Magazine was aimed at sharing details about the shot with fellow photographers, then I'd like to see at least partial EXIF, as I constantly analyze my own shots and want to see the settings others use.
Tripods, weights, heads and other accouterments outside the actual camera/lens combo are secondary and can be skipped.
If the post is a thinly disguised marketing tool, than it should be clear from its initial intent and then viewed as such.
From what I know, photographers aren't the 'envious of each other’ bunch and on average each one is for him/herself, trying to make the best with what we already have, as photography is very ‘lonely’ craft and we don’t have a ‘group mentality’.

And bragging about tools of the trade? That’s silly. BMW i5 vs Pinto – I could understand, but not about the lens or a camera body.
Having the latest and the “bestest” cooking utensils in the kitchen is NOT a guarantee of a tasty dinner – you need to know how to cook.
Same logic goes for the photo equipment.

So seeing someone else's bragging about equipment doesn't produce the 'envy' per se, but rather a sense of being happy for the one, who has better equipment that helped in getting the shot.
My 2 cents....

halraiser

Years ago a friend won a photography contest. Then they asked him what kind of camera and what settings he used. He told them it was just a point and shoot and they revoked his prize.
Snobs!

YeloCab1

... The picture on top was taken with my Blackberry phone. The picture on the bottom was taken with my Canon SX50 Powershot. There definitely IS a difference in cameras and other equipment - BUT a picture of a bigfoot or a unicorn taken with a disposable camera or a cheap $1.00 B&W film camera from the 60's would still be worth millions if it could be proven to be real. Quality, settings, equipment and all the other stuff count - but the content is what makes the picture in MY opinion ...

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SteveLew Loc: Sugar Land, TX

I subscribe to Outdoor Photography. They usually provide only basic information regarding the camera and lenses used for their shots. I have noted that often times their equipment is more basic and older then many Hoover's camera equipment.

George Kravis

oisin59, I agree with your simple, objective logic. I've been in serious photography ever since I had my own darkroom at the age of ten, and I've never lost my enthusiasm to learn from other people's experience, so when I see an eye-catching photo, I'm anxious to learn how it was achieved for my own benefit. Yes, the brand of tripod and head are secondary to the camera, lens and settings, but most important is the photographer's understanding of the effect of the settings of those factors on what is desired of the outcome.

Brent Rowlett Loc: Atlanta, GA

You cannot judge a pic from a 2x3 snapshot. The smaller the picture the sharper it appears. Prints 16x20 and larger may sell—the others just document memories.

But you’re right, the guy who just happened to capture the only documented tornado hitting downtown Atlanta from his hotel balcony sold his pic for $10,000. He used the auto setting—BAAM! Really don’t give a damn what camera or “so called” tack sharp lens he used. Right place at the right time is the key.

Nikon Shooter17 Loc: Glenwood, MN

I just want to learn the best techniques. I believe that includes pertinent exposure information. Equipment is nice to learn about. PP also plays a huge part in my opinion. The better picture I can take with all the proper setting (I always use manual...forces me to apply knowledge that I gained) the easier and better the PP will turn out. It is the old adage crap in, crap out. PP is sometimes just whipped cream on a turd if the original is bad. Just an opinion of someone who loves learning all aspects of photography.