A new camera always seems to give the creative juices a jolt. You might not have found anything worth photographing for weeks but no sooner is the latest piece of equipment unwrapped than a whole new world of previously unseen subjects suddenly opens up, filling your memory cards and slashing your hard drive space.
Unfortunately, as we all know, that state of euphoria tends not to last. For some people, photography follows a pattern of feast and famine: feast whenever a new camera arrives followed by famine as soon as the novelty wears off. Some photographers are tempted to trade in their gear on a regular basis as a conscious-or more usually subconscious-way of giving their image-taking a kick start.
There’s nothing at all wrong with that and, if you can afford it, then it’s better than buying a camera and then locking it away in a cupboard once the famine stage has been reached. However, it’s only when the emphasis shifts to the subject matter rather than the technicalities behind photography that real progress is made.
From experience-my own and others’-a fairly typical “cycle” of photography goes as follows:
1. The camera used for normal snaps becomes an impediment to, rather than a facilitator of, “real photography” as the photographer’s interest in his/her hobby grows.
2. It’s decided that a “real camera” is needed for this “real photography” quest. Thus begins the research stage when all sorts of models within the right price bracket are poured over and analysed to determine which one fits the bill.
3. Having read a million reviews, talked to photographer pals and been heavily influenced by advertising, the plunge is taken and the photographer ends up with a new camera.
4. After a while, during which the photographer begins to realise that he/she is still not taking the kind of “real photographs” originally envisaged, the attention turns to materials. For film photographers, this takes the form of film stock and, for the black and white worker, darkroom materials. Digital photographers, if they do their own computer-based printing, will start looking at paper types and different inks.
5. In the belief that the camera should be capable of taking excellent photographs (almost without input from the photographer!), a lot of time and money is spent experimenting with the new materials with the aim of achieving the ultimate print quality.
6. In a lot of cases, this is as far as the photographic journey goes. Many photographers are quite happy at this stage, playing with different bits and pieces to see how they can make incremental improvements in the technical quality of their prints. Occasionally, a photographer may move up a format in search of greater print quality but the emphasis remains on the technical issues.
7. Nirvana. Some manage to take this next step when they realise they’re quite capable of taking well-exposed, sharp photographs and it’s about time they found something worth training their lens on. This is when the image becomes the important thing, rather than the equipment. You’ll know when you’ve reached this point when you stop looking at photography books that feature a lot of instruction and only buy those comprised mainly of photographs. Instead of “how to” books, your shelves will be straining under the weight of books featuring the work of one photographer-names like Brandt, Kertesz and Salgado.
Now you know where you stand on the seven steps to enlightenment, visit my photography blog and learn how to develop “the eye” for a picture, a vital part of the journey to photographic nirvana at:
http://pentaxk10dblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-improve-your-photography.html
Bruce Robbins, author and photographer for the Pentax Photography blog.
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