Overrated

I’m a gear head.

I love photography gear: lenses, camera bodies, lighting, etc.  If you look at my Amazon wishlist, that’s all it really is full of.  As a poor student, it’s hard to get into photography when you can’t afford high end equipment.  I see great Instagram artists like @samalive and @brandonwoelfel and it really paints the illusion that you need high end gear to take high end photos.  If you use the equipment professionals are using, then you’ll obviously take professional grade shots.

That’s obviously not the case.

I went to a camera store the other day to purchase an affordable flash.  While I was there, I asked to see a lens: 35 mm f1.4.  It takes beautiful pictures.  But when I held it in my hands and used it, it was very anti-climactic.  Colors didn’t pop and the image wasn’t miraculously sharp.  If I told you this picture was taken with a $1,000 lens, would it change the way you see it?

Expectations sometimes don’t equate to reality.  My brief trip to the store has taught me to be more humble and work with the gear that I have, because anything more won’t make you a better photographer.