Gear vs Skill

"People always ask about cameras but it doesn't matter what camera you have. You can have the most modern camera in the world but if you don't have an eye, the camera is worthless." - Alfred Eisenstaedt

"If the photographer succeeds in reflecting the exterior as well as interior world, his subject appear as “in real life.” In order to achieve this, the photographer must respect the mood, become integrated into the environment, avoid all the tricks that destroy human truth, and also make the subject of the photo forget the camera and the person using it. Complicated equipment and lights get in the way of naïve, unposed subjects. What is more fleeting than the expression on a face?" - Henri Cartier-Bresson

^ Seriously don't you get tired of quoting other peoples words?

shinyknights wrote in post #15804881
Man, I feel so much hate here!

It's called a difference in opinion, not hate. Not everybody who disagrees cares enough to care, let alone hate.

This is one of the most gear loving forums about photography. One needs to make some exaggerated claims about importance of gear to get the responses you're getting.

fotoworx wrote in post #15805431
^ Seriously don't you get tired of quoting other peoples words?

Not if they are right and more articulate than I am. Seriously, you don't believe that being able to see is the most important part?

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #15805438
It's called a difference in opinion, not hate. Not everybody who disagrees cares enough to care, let alone hate.

This is one of the most gear loving forums about photography. One needs to make some exaggerated claims about importance of gear to get the responses you're getting.

Lotsa folk wearing accessories and because theres no vision, no real work to show for the bling.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #15805445
Not if they are right and more articulate than I am. Seriously, you don't believe that being able to see is the most important part?

You have the right to hang adoringly off every single word, I have the right to think it's total wanking crap.

fotoworx wrote in post #15805457
You have the right to hang adoringly off every single word, I have the right to think it's total wanking crap.

Pick up a book ya might learn something..

airfrogusmc wrote in post #15805459
Pick up a book ya might learn something..

Go forth and open your eyes, take a break from the computer and you might learn something other than being able to quote other people

fotoworx wrote in post #15805431
^ Seriously don't you get tired of quoting other peoples words?

It's easy to find quotes from masters about vision and being able to see.

I haven't seen a single one about importance of having the right camera.

If adams said that he could only have gotten the shot because it was brand X, you'd be quoting him too.

shinyknights wrote in post #15780335
I'm just saying that any one who knows how to work a camera (use manual settings) should be able to take as great photos as a great photographer, right? Taking post-processing out of the mix because that is what REALLY makes photography look so great and stunning.

I looked at the first page again, and this made me laugh, everything about this post is rediculous.

This makes me laugh and can add some humour to this thread -


At an art exhibition two women were staring at a photograph entitled, "Home for Lunch." The photograph was of three very naked, and very black men, sitting on a park bench. What was unusual was that the men on both ends of the bench had black penises, but the man in the middle had a very pink penis.

The two women were standing there, staring at the photograph, scratching their heads and trying to figure this out. Along came a bunch of very well to do, very well known art critics of the art world extolling the virtues of this wonderful piece of photographic art. There were comments such as -
"The artist was capturing the plight of the American Negro breaking the many chains of their ancestors servitude as slaves, the pink penis signifies the difficulties of being a black man in a white society"

"It's such a powerful piece, and does so much for civil liberties of this country"
"The artist new exactly what he was creating before he produced this and what he has done for the African American culture will never be forgotten"

"I have heard that the artists great great grandfather actually employed the grand father of Martin Luther King at some stage and this is what gave the photographer such visual power in this creation"

"This one single photograph has removed the shackles of generations of African Americans and will become a celebrated piece of art for time immortal".


After listening in to the art critics powerful conjectures, of what to the two ladies was becoming a more powerful photograph by the minute........

The critics moved on to refreshen up on the free champagne, the photographer happened to walk by and noticed the women's confusion. "May I help you with this photograph that I took? 'he asked.

"Well, yes" said the one woman. "We were curious about the picture of the black men on the bench. Why does the man in the middle have a pink penis?" " Oh," said the photographer. "I'm afraid you've misunderstood the photo".

The three men are not African-Americans, they're coal miners from Pennsylvania, Bob McClintock, Billy Fitzpatrick and Rob O'Gallagher and the fellow in the middle Billy Fitzpatrick went "Home for Lunch."

fotoworx wrote in post #15805468
Go forth and open your eyes, take a break from the computer and you might learn something other than being able to quote other people

I have the client base and work to back it up. I wouldn't have any of that without the knowledge and the understanding of its the vision that matters.

Because composition and creativity are what separate a technically excellent (focus, exposure, DOF) snapshot from a great image. Fancy gear can make shots possible in edge cases (very low light, fast motion, etc) which couldn't be captured at all with lesser gear, but in any less difficult conditions, it's the photographer's artistic eye that makes the difference, and the gear is strictly secondary. I've taken plenty of shots that were technically good but which were just boring, and no amount of money spent on equipment will correct that.

I'm starting to think that the title of this thread is what is causing some of the dissonance. The title "Gear vs skill" immediately creates a conflict...either/or.

Actually, I think it's been very interesting and quite fun, but I suspect it might be more constructive if we asked "how your gear helps your vision", or "is your vision limited by the gear you have?"

But then, that would probably be a bit tame for some! :p

fotoworx wrote in post #15805476
This makes me laugh and can add some humour to this thread -


At an art exhibition two women were staring at a photograph entitled, "Home for Lunch."

Just because he created it, doesn't mean he understands it.