I have everything I could want. I just need more time to do it though!
Got more gear last year, my photos got better
Got more gear last year, my photos stayed the same
Got more gear last year, my photos got worse
No new gear last year, my photos got better
No new gear last year, my photos stayed the same
No new gear last year, my photos got worse
Got rid of gear last year, my photos got better
Got rid of gear last year, my photos stayed the same
Got rid of gear last year, my photos got worse
I have everything I could want. I just need more time to do it though!
Maybe. They're certainly not the answer ...Originally Posted by jb7
Why? The assumption seems to be that nothing is really needed, that it's all extraneous. Which hopefully isn't the case. I'd sell one thing to buy another if I thought the "other" was more useful or better quality than what I'm selling but I'd never just automatically get rid of something else also. Of course I only have one camera and three lenses - wide angle, normal, and long - so I don't have a lot of extra gear to get rid of.
Brian Ellis
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
a mile away and you'll have their shoes.
Me too. Happens to me every year."... I grew older ...
Worrying about gear is a distraction. Worrying about having too much, and worrying about having too little, is equally distracting. Not having the gear you need when you need it is grossly distracting.
Rick "thinking the acquisition of gear and the making of art are mostly orthogonal, but even painters choose their brushes carefully, and usually have lots of them" Denney
I got rid of some gear in the last two years, my photography went better in the same time. Not sure this is related, though.
I'm down to one "main" camera per format (3 in 35 mm, but one the serious one, one is my good old SLR, and one P&S which is unused), only 3 lenses for LF (was 5, with close lengths).
The positive impact is I have less decisions to make about gear, which seems to help (and I also stopped going on the filed with more than 2 formats)
I look at my gear as tools and I have a lot of it. I also carry all of it with me almost all the time so if I need it, I have it. Sometimes you need a roll film camera, almost all the time my 4x5, sometimes an 8x10 and sometimes more than one if time allows...Evan Clarke
I don't agree in totality with your thoughts.
Yes, there will be users who get improvement with new gear that is NOT due to the new gear itself. The Adams/Leibowitz/Weston et al magic bullet piece of equipment does not exist.
However, I have read numerous postings about people getting new gear in becoming better photographers for it.
Without quoting the exact postings, I have read of many [often new] members upgrading from 35mm/MF to LF and have been forced to come to terms with a different shooting methodology. In doing so, they have slowed down, "seen" differently, and done better. (I include myself in this group).
Perhaps the poll question/phrasing could have been better, but so, too, could the blanket statement that "The two parts of the statement are unrelated". In your circumstances, I have no doubt that this is what you believe; it is not fully true for me and seemingly at least, some others here.
I would go so far as to say that "The two parts of the statement are not necessarily related".
Lachlan.
You miss 100% of the shots you never take. -- Wayne Gretzky
Bingo,I have everything I could want. I just need more time to do it though!
Is there an option for:
Had no time to shoot, so I screwed around with my gear to compensate for lack of shooting time?
I'll agree that the questions are a bit flawed. I suppose there has to a bit of reading of intent, i.e. if you think that gear had nothing to do with getting better, then the "No new gear, but got better" option would be best. To be honest, I didn't fully analyze the questions, it was a bit of a whim that made me post it in the first place.
Brian, I'm currently a bit on the opposite end of the spectrum gear wise currently, this is partially due to a bit of a "collector's mentality" and a bit because of work. I know I've got a tendency to collect things, and work has kept me very busy for the last couple of years. As a consequence, I look online and find some great whats-it that would do amazing things once I have time to use it. Thus I've spent more time in the recent past on thinking about what would take good photos rather than taking photos themselves. Contemplating different formats and different cameras without having the time to use any has just given me (literally) a pile of cameras, but no new photos. In the selling, I'm trying to refocus my attention back to what I feel is important, taking photos.
Gear is definitely a distraction, and unfortunately in my case it has been a substitute for action, something I'm trying to change.
Excellent input all, I'm going to sit and stare at my pile for a bit.
Mike
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