05 Jan 12 Tools of the trade – A would be review.

Do you think that you could tell the difference in the work of a mechanic using a thumb adjustable wrnch vs. one using a voice activated wrench? Better yet, could you tell if a painting was done with a horse hair bush or a cow hair brush? The same is true for photography. I’ve seen creative genius take better photos with an iPhone than I’ll probably ever get with my percision engineered German glass wielding 21megapixel beast of a camera. Why? Not because I’m not a creative genius (Ii’m not) and not because I don’t go to pretty places (I do).  I don’t get as great an image because most of the time i’m a pervert, that is to say, I spend more time fantasizing about the technical aspects of the equipment than actually using it.  It’s a bad habit, I know, and I’m working on it. It’s not entirely my fault, I’m just a victim of marketing that has taught me to obsess about my tools so that I buy better ones.

So now that you know that I know that equipment doesn’t translate into the quality of a product (I’ve built better websites using my phone than my friend could build on his MBPro). We can indulge in the relative (and insanely marginal) differences between camera companies. Actually I’ve changed my mind, this post has made me realize that if I really want to break the habit and start taking better pictures then I have to stop being a perv.  The end. Go take some pictures with whatever camera you have.  Go paint even if all you have is a wall and some crayons (unless you are my kids, then do not color the wall please.)  Go write a book, you don’t need a better typewriter, you don’t need a sharper pencil, you need to write.  Now.