10 Things Photographers Should Not Do

Brian Auer has an interesting piece on Epic Edits listing 10 things photographers should not do.  My favorites are number 2, "Don't lust for gear", and number 9, "Don't ignore the rules". 

Photographers are a curious group that includes hard-core gear-heads on one extreme and the touchy-feely artsy crowd on the other.  While I love the gear (don't get me wrong I really love my gear) to focus (pun intended) on the gear misses the mark entirely.  Photography is about the images, it's about what you can capture and how you can display it.  To focus on the gear is not only super expensive but totally misses the mark.  The gear-heads might as well be talking fuel-injectors or hard-drives.

It's all about the images.

As for the "rules", yes there are compositional rules for photography.  In sum, you should learn them and commit them to memory so afterward you can intentionally ignore them.  That's the difference between accident and intent.

Click here for the rest of Brian's article.

Is it the camera or the photographer?

Those of you who've seen me shoot know I use top-notch equipment, mostly Canon 1 series cameras and Canon L lenses.  These are the very best cameras and lenses that Canon makes; they are in fact the definition of "world class".  The cameras are big, heavy and built like tanks. So, when people see me with one of these really big, impressive-looking cameras I often hear "wow, I bet you can take really good pictures with that camera!"  Hmmmmm, ggrrrrr, . . . it's like nails on a chalkboard.

Yes I can, but truly it has very little to do with the gear.  Good photography is in the eye and in the heart.  If you know how to frame an image and you love this craft you'll take "real purtty pictures" no matter what gear you use.

Don't believe me?  Have a look at this video.  Lee Morris shot an entire photo session with nothing but an iPhone and lights.



The iPhone Fashion Shoot - Lee Morris Shoots With The 3GS Fstoppers from FStoppers on Vimeo.