Digital SLR Photography: Equipment Choices

I can’t tell you how many times people have commented on one of my photographs by saying, “You must have some pretty expensive equipment to get that kind of picture!” So goes one of the common mistakes made by people about making photographs. Notice I said making, not taking, photographs. Making an image takes vision, a way of seeing, a point of view that only you hold. It means that you carefully frame the image to stand on its own rather than to hope you can crop it later in post-production. It means understanding light and the relationship of light to the space you are photographing. It means that you take your time, pre-plan your image making to take full advantage of light and shadow. It means you want fresh batteries in your camera and a decent card to capture the digital file. Notice, I didn’t make one reference to camera or lens choices.

Look, it is not that the camera you choose isn’t important. If you make your living making images, it is important to have reliable equipment and professional lenses but that is far from the most important thing to have in your bag of tricks.

I shoot with Canon cameras and Tamron lenses. I own three Canon bodies: a 5-D, a 30-D and a Rebel Xli. I rely on two lenses, both Tamron. My workhorse lens is a 28-105 f2.8 and the backup is an 80-200 f2.8. But I didn’t always shoot with these three camera bodies. In fact, when I decided to switch to digital I purchased a Fuji FinePix fixed lens camera to see how I liked digital. Some of my favorite images were made with that camera. I bought it on sale in 2003 for under $100.

I have an image that hangs just over the desk I am writing this piece on. The image is a silver gelatin print made with a sheet of 8×10 film mounted in a round oatmeal box with a pinhole punched in the box. No glass at all to make this amazing image of train tracks and desert.

It is never about the equipment. Making art is about how you see, about your vision. It is about how you choose to frame an image from among the infinite choices available to you. It is about how you see the place you are photographing. It is about making choices and applying technical knowledge to the process.

In the end, digital slr photography is about all of the factors that go into making a memorable image. It is not about taking a picture. Without vision, even the most expensive equipment will not make a bad picture into a good one.

Roger Passman is an award winning professional photographer located in Northern Illinois. He often leads creative photo workshops designed for beginning through intermediate amateur photographers. Keep informed about future workshops by joining Roger’s email notification list where he will inform you of upcoming workshops as well as new images posted on his website. Roger sells affordable photographic art at his online storefront.

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