So a friend's wife sends me a note...

A friend of mine was using his CrackBerry to take every day photos, and they were great photos(with post-processing with CS) as well.

I don't think it's the camera that made a great photo. It's about the eye for photography (and some post-pocessing).

icopus wrote in post #13812303
I'm afraid I still do not understand why this comment is taken as an affront and frankly, I hope I never do.

I've gotta agree with some other sentiments here.. It is intended as a complement, so take it as such.

Though that comment has gotten to be quite an 'inside joke' around here because it is not the camera..

I find it even more amusing when the complimentor goes on to make inquires about the camera as if they want to buy one so that they can get the same results.. Come to think of it, that is a little demeaning.

icopus wrote in post #13812303
Of course it's not solely the camera, but if substantial credit cannot be given to the camera gear, why do we spend or desire thousands of dollars in cameras and lenses? I mean, we all talk the game of achieving better sharpness and bokeh through better equipment, right? Then we must admit that equipment DOES indeed take great pictures... once we've done OUR part behind the camera.

It's about time we face it - Race car drivers, machinists, chefs, etc. excel at what they do given the proper gear... as do we.

Then there's the human element. There are many of us who are not comfortable with dishing out compliments directly (could be construed as flirting) and so they compliment the equipment instead.

When affronted with this type of comment, my response is simply, "Well, it's not an automatic, but yes, once I have all the proper settings and I've done my part, it works very well. Thank you."

I'm afraid I still do not understand why this comment is taken as an affront and frankly, I hope I never do.

Am I alone in NOT feeling slighted with this comment?

Your keyboard spells really well. It makes good points too.

namasste wrote in post #13819717
^ this. Actually did this as a soccer match once. A guy I know who shoots some games, commented on how he needed better gear so he could get shots like mine (he'd seen my work many times). I thanked him and told him he was free to give my stuff a shot if he wanted to which he took me up on. I knew what was next but had to see it. He searched and searched, looked embarrassed a little, then finally asked where the dial was with the green box. I naturally acted surprised he asked and told him my camera doesn't come with a green box or dial. His next question was how I made such nice images if I had to "guess" what settings to use all of the time. Being the semi nice person that I can be on occasion, I set the camera up for him and showed him how to use it. Next game I see him there without a camera and when I asked why, he said he gave up since even when he used my $5k worth of gear, he still didn't have any good shots. Obviously, I encouraged him to shoot more rather than quit and explained that its not gear that makes compelling images.

Precisely why I went back to school to study photography and graphics even though I've been shooting commercially (occassional) for 10 years. I keep getting work from customer referrals so it must be alright, but I want to improve and understand more.

BTW, for the original topic: I ignore it, usually not worth the effort to dispute, or the person is not worth the effort to educate.

Numenorean wrote in post #13819821
Your keyboard spells really well. It makes good points too.

Thanks! Black with silver trim. As nice as it is, I'd like to upgrade to one with a green box and/or FF (fast fingers).