If I read one more article that suggests “using such and such”, or “by adding this to your kit”, and other similar phrases, will let you “shoot like a Pro”, I think I’ll scream.
That’s like saying “buy these wheels and you too can drive like Peter Brock”, or “these brushes will have you painting like Leonardo DaVinci”. Or even “these saucepans will turn you too into a Gordon Ramsey”.
We all know it is marketing hype, designed to get you to want to buy whatever-it-is, but so many fall for it anyway.
The Best… Whatever
Let’s be blunt for a minute. The best rock guitarists in the world ARE the best because they practiced, practice and STILL practice. The best Formula 1 drivers do thousands of test laps to increase their skills and to understand every single centimetre of their car.
Likewise, the best photographers and videographers are comfortable with every control on their cameras and the basics of photography – light, aperture shutter speed, focus, depth of field and ISO etc are positively ingrained in their brains.
And of course they experiment and try new ways of doing things- new angles, different lighting, different camera settings and so on.
I have told this story many times, but it bears repeating here: many years ago at a launch function of a new mid-priced compact camera, the assembled journos were joined by a famous Aussie landscape photographer. We were all told to take the same shot at the same time with the exact same camera and afterwards, each image was shown anonymously on a big screen.
Guess what? You could still tell which shot was taken by the pro.
Why? Because he had years of experience and learning on the rest of us. It had NOTHING to do with the equipment.
If there is anything about your camera or photography in general, there are myriads of good tutorials around, I have done some of my own and they can be seen at Creative Content TV.
Check ‘em out.