Micro Four Thirds keeps GAS under control (for now)

Divert your interest away from new gear, by channeling it into doing more with what you have.

Last winter, in the middle of a snowstorm, I thought - I'd like to get a snowflake photograph. Out with the EM1, the 4/3 adapter, the 50Macro and EX25 extension tube, and the twin head macro flash. I laid out some black felt for contrast, let snowflakes fall on it, and then fired away. First efforts were... ah, not dazzling.

What's wrong here, I thought. A snowflake should be something special, and these shots just aren't special. Out and try again. Still not, well, not capturing the 'magic'. Go back out and look for what you're missing. I didn't need more MP, or higher ISO, or a faster lens, or a larger sensor. I needed a different perspective.

After two hours of trying, I finally stumbled onto a combination that I did like - capture the snowflake not on an artificial background, but au naturel, get them where they fell, because it's not just a record of a snowflake, it now has context - this beautiful little thing is what you step on as a nuisance. Now, for the real trick - how do you find a snowflake that is sticking up, and not flattened by other snowflakes? That took some doing, hunting all over the sides of box bushes to catch a snowflake or two where they landed, and another two hours went by.

I won't say my final result is a masterpiece, but it's a whole lot better than what I started with, and at least I went from boring to the start of something interesting. I get far greater satisfaction out of that exercise than I do researching and buying gear.

Oh, and it didn't cost me a cent, just almost four hours of repeated trips out into the freezing cold, and a refusal to give up until I got at least a hint of what I was trying to capture.