"Your photos are great. What kind of camera do you use?"
Think about this...
You are invited over to dinner and your host cooks a fabulous meal! It really was impressive. Would you say "That was great... what kind of oven did you use??" The person who made this wonderful meal put a lot of time, effort, and most probably love into preparing it for you. Finding the recipe was just the beginning. They may have made it before to figure out how they might perfect the dish, what spices would work best, what to serve with it, the settings to put the oven on and how long to cook it. The oven was only the tool they used to cook their creation!
A camera, like an oven or hammer, is a tool to create something wonderful. It only takes what the person holding it tells it to. It doesn't find the subject, choose how close or far to be, the angle that would work best, what is in the background and whether to blur it out or keep it in focus, what settings would work best for the conditions, how to work with the lighting available and so on. The goal is to take the best image possible within the camera so that there is minimal work to do in the digital darkroom to get the image ready to share with you.
It is true that with this digital era, anyone can snap picture with their camera phone and get some cool pictures. Some may own an expensive DSLR because they have the money. Yet they shoot on automatic because they don't have the knowledge, experience or don't care to learn how to use manual settings to get that amazing shot. They might get lucky once in a while but not even know how they got the shot or how to do it again. Owning expensive gear does't make them a great photographer.
True, consistent, creative photography is an art, even in this digital era and comes from a lot of hard work. Not everyone has the eye, the know how and the patience to get those shots that make you go "WOW!" Give the photographic artist the credit they deserve. A lot of time, effort, experience and love goes into what we do!
So next time before you ask "the question" maybe ask what it took to get the shot instead! By the way... "WOW!" is a great complement to any artist!!
Cat
Cat Pentescu Photography