Comments on: Stop wishing for that Amazing Camera and Appreciate The One You’ve Got

By: starrpoint

starrpoint — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:50:49 +0000

Knowing what you have is more than half the battle. I have three good cameras, a 35mm, a point and shoot digital and a DSLR. Each has it own strong points and things that it does very well, and things it does not do well. between them I get good shots. and I have sold photos I took with the point and shoot as well as from the two expensive cameras. I can tuck the little camera in and take in places where the big camera would be in the way.

By: Jo

Jo — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:35:18 +0000

this is just what i needed to read at this time..sometimes i feel that my camera don’t do what i wanted it to do. but now i had realized that i doesn’t matter what my camera is, as long as i practice hard i will get the pictures that i want. thanks for sharing.

By: ElDavid

ElDavid — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:06:41 +0000

Very true. All my digital pictures are taken with a sony dsc-v3, and my analogues with a canon a-1. Not exactly new or high-end.

By: starrpoint

starrpoint — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:48:55 +0000

LOL! Brian, I can just see you sitting there reading your manual, and others snickering.
Why is it that reading a manual or following directions somehow equaite with less than stellar intellegence for some people?

I think it is less than intellegent not to read the manual!

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 28 May 2009 22:21:16 +0000

Tip Number 1 point b: if someone makes fun of you for reading it, hit* ‘em with it.

Recently I read my camera manual at the coffee shop I hang out at. I got ridiculed for it. A few days later one of them asked me to show them how to work their camera. I replied, ‘ read the manual & practice a few more mistakes…’ Then I showed ‘em a few simple things.

I say the 3P’s make great images. My 3P’s are not practice practice practice but Play Play Play. Play with each setting and combination of settings until you know deeply what each does. Along the way you’ll score a few hits with a lot of misses.

Finally, learn the limitations of the gear & push, not punish, yourself around within those limitations. I agree with everyone here it’s not the gear but user that makes an image great.

*Show ‘em what you learned from the manual with an actual picture.

By: starrpoint

starrpoint — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:29:04 +0000

you make very good points about learning to use what you have before you add to or upgrade. Not that upgrading is wrong, but to think new equipment will correct lack of training or understanding is the source of all the mediocore photography now flooding the internet and tv news.

When you have master what you have, it is time to think of moving on.

By: cristiano007

cristiano007 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:07:11 +0000

This thread has been great, I posted before but have something new to say. The point of the article is not giving up to improve your photography equipment or to say that P&S are better than DSLRs. The point is take what you have now and practice plain photography (subject, composition, light, moment, etc) in the best way you can NOW. One people in the thread said that she look for his camera in Flickr and see what other people can do and that’s enough to make her stop wishing a new model. Good idea . I tried a different thing, I searched some of my dream models and checked not the interesting photos but the recent ones. I found some not so good images… well, even bad ones, taken for the supposedly perfect cameras. That’s good therapy to get you back to learn and practice with your present camera.

By: starrpoint

starrpoint — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:00:27 +0000

this is so true! Many people have looked at my photos and assumed what makes them different is my “expensive camera” but I have gotten great shots with a simple point and shoot camera.

I have stood next to someone with the same camera, and our photos are completely different. Too often the hardware gets the credit for the photographer’s work.

By: Shilpa B.

Shilpa B. — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:24:33 +0000

Makes perfect sense. In fact I was telling a new photographer exactly the same things on the weekend. Encouraging him to get out there, practice, shoot and get real time feedback on his existing point and shoot.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:35:57 +0000

Any time I start wanting to buy a new camera, I just go to Flickr and search for my Camera model. The photos in the search results remind me that my camera is very capable of capturing stunning images.