More evidence that photography is in your head, not your camera bag...

[pierces]

We all tend to forget that the reason that we buy all of these tools (toys?) is to enable us to take better photos.

 

How many here think you could build a career in fashion photography using only one 20-year-old lens?

 

http://reframe.gizmodo.com/this-fashion-photographer-uses-only-one-beat-up-hand-me-1586569058/+robertsorokanich

 

Pausing to think....

 

 

Dave

[peety3]

He knows his camera/lens and knows how to put it to good use. Yay.

 

He's also shooting with studio lights, where the practice is typically manual mode, set shutter speed to 1/200th or whatever the sync speed is, set ISO to 100, then set aperture to f/8 (a place where almost any lens will shine, and for this one it's ~2 stops down from wide open, also a good practice). The studio light(s) are then adjusted in intensity, position, and modifier to get the light quality/quantity/distribution desired. That makes it so much easier than having to balance the exposure when dependent on ambient light.

 

An acquaintance has/had the Canon 5D Mark II, a $2700 camera in its heyday. She had the 50mm f/1.4, a $350-400 lens, as her ONLY lens, and she built a very successful portrait business around this lens. Her work was consistently superior, and I'd argue that it's because she KNEW that lens - what's the right aperture for each shot, what optical shortcomings will I get with that aperture, is the shot built in such a way that the shortcomings don't matter, etc.

 

There's a reason I often shoot with a "loose" composition, and often centered: I get the best optical performance by staying in the center and out of the corners, and I get the best autofocus performance by staying under the center point. Back on the computer, I can then crop to build a rule-of-thirds composition, and/or I have enough room around my subject for Sports Illustrated to put their title on the top and other text around the subject. ;)

[mathogre]

Indeed! His work is amazing. Likewise I've seen folks with high end gear who don't have a clue as to how to use it.

 

Graham