The Photographer’s Tools

Paint and Rust. East Pearl Street, Boulder, 2012

Have you noticed that I very rarely comment on what camera or lens I am using? Why? Because it’s really not that important.

Photography, since it involves the use of a technical tool–the camera–can easily get people to invert their priorities. A good, well-built and well-engineered camera is indeed a beautiful thing to hold and behold. And it is very easy to get caught up in the technical details of those shiny machines…all those cool buttons and dials and screens!

If you want to read a hilarious–and shamefully accurate!–account of a typical photographer’s struggle with this concept, read this brilliant summary by Mike Johnston on The Online Photographer: Letter to George. It beautifully outlines a 25-step process for camera purchases which will immediately send you off in search of a 12-step program for your case of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome).

In the end, though, it’s the image that counts. And the image comes not from the camera, as popularly thought, but rather from the vision of the photographer. There are great photographers who use everything from cell phones to point-and-shoots to DSLRs to huge, hefty 8×10 view cameras on 40-pound tripods. If their vision is unique and interesting, their photographs will be as well. If their vision is not clear, but they happen to be technically competent photographers…well, to them Ansel Adams said this: “There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.”

Gee, I wonder what kind of brushes or spatula van Gogh used on those sunflowers? The answer might be mildly interesting, but it’s the finished painting that we admire–and the painting came from his very unique way of seeing the world (and only very obliquely from a spatula).

“Great photo! What kind of camera did you use?” Wrong question.

“Great photo! What went through your mind at that moment that led you to create that particular image?” Much better question.

OK, OK, I admit, I do catch minor cases of GAS now and then which gets me caught up in the camera reviews (the D800E, for example!)…but, I always remind myself that the newest camera may help me overcome certain technical problems or issues, but it will not improve my vision as an artist. To do that requires lots of time in the field, hours or practice, and a long journey of self-discovery.

The camera and lenses just happen to be our tools.