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lehill

lehill

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..."You take great pictures. What camera is that? I want to buy one." Or, "How can I take pictures like yours?"

In my mind, my reply is to violently shake them by the shoulders and yell "It's not like that!!"

I'm flattered I get questions like this about my photography, I don't believe I deserve them (yet). But I had to work at talking some guy out of buying a copy of my setup that he can't afford. He thought that's all he needed to take good "pictures".

There are plenty of better photographers than I in this forum. They must get plenty of naive questions like this. How do you answer?

--
Lance
 
I recommend a P&S camera for them to use, and a few books/web sites to study. It's about framing, light and the photographer not the camera.

--
Sarge
Five Sony P&S + KM 7D & Alpha 700
Albums at http://www.sony-snapper.com
 
I've received comments like that too and like you I don't think I deserve them but I would otherwise be modest about what the person said and say that practice and experimenting with your camera will help you develop your eye in capturing an image and your style in taking photographs.

I also say its not about the equipment you use, its how you use it that matters.
--
http://sonyalphamale.blogspot.com/
 
I really don't think you need to say anything, just let him work it out for himself. Let him buy the same equipment as yours big whoop, I think there will always be people who want to copy everyone else. After all monkey see monkey do.

I feel so sorry for you having to deal with someone elses "naivety" must really be a drag for you, is he arrogant as well? I usually find arrogance and naivety go hand-in hand.

Or could it be you are worried that he may actually really take to it and show you up. Regardless I think maybe you should just get over it and focus on your own photography.
 
I always say: it is a natural gift but add that I use better camera (in general) and better lenses. I take my time to take a picture, check picture and correct exposure if wrong, and I change position. And above all I take time for RAW conversion, I pull a bit more out of a picture than the JPEG engine.
I don't think I am particular talented, but I know what I am doing.

--
http://frenske.zenfolio.com
 
Easy: I always just say, "You have a wonderful pen, you must write great books"!

--
Busch

Take the scenic route! Life is too short to do otherwise.

http://www.pbase.com/busch
 
More or less true but note the OP said, "You take great pictures. What camera is that? I want to buy one."

Ar any rate, most folks quickly get the "picture". ;-)

--
Busch

Take the scenic route! Life is too short to do otherwise.

http://www.pbase.com/busch
 
lehill said:
..."You take great pictures. What camera is that? I want to buy one." Or, "How can I take pictures like yours?"

In my mind, my reply is to violently shake them by the shoulders and yell "It's not like that!!"

I'm flattered I get questions like this about my photography, I don't believe I deserve them (yet). But I had to work at talking some guy out of buying a copy of my setup that he can't afford. He thought that's all he needed to take good "pictures".

There are plenty of better photographers than I in this forum. They must get plenty of naive questions like this. How do you answer?

--
Lance
Click to expand...
--
Fredrik Åström
http://www.fotogenisk.se
 
Sometimes it really is the equipment, or partly so. I'm mostly a sports shooter and I hear this often from people trying to get good results with the P&S camera the guy at Best Buy recommended. So I have to explain what they need in a camera and lenses in order to shoot basketball, baseball, or whatever successfully. Of course it's important that they understand that this is only the starting point.

If they already have appropriate equipment then you have to try to give some tips on how to use it. We've all known someone who bought a high priced rig and are upset that they don't like the results only to discover they've never left the green box mode.

I try to be helpful because so many others - including those on this forum - have been so helpful to me.
--
Gary

 
Some part really is down to the equipment... you can always recommend some brand of cameras....

what they do with the camera is up to them.

some people have a "rude awakening" that it is not just the camera... while some, pursue the hobby and get really good at it.

heck I have a friend who is now a professional photographer, and the first question he asked before he picked up photography also was: "What camera are you using?"

--
http://litratista.zenfolio.com/
 
I enjoy using this social network to display my work to my Family and Friends Besides my web-site, But your right this is always the main Question "What camera do you use". They do miss the point of Photography! But I tell most of them I can use a P&S and get the same result.... I enjoy photography after work on the weekends, But then again I have been doing this for 24 years.

Anyone can snap a photo to share, but it is me who tells a story in them.

So my answer to all of them is "'Photography takes an moment of time, capturing life and holding it still. Cameras can’t make good photographs; It is my eye and mind that creates them"

http://www.RobertAndrewFerguson.com
 
CARDRAF said:
But I tell most of them I can use a P&S and get the same result....
Click to expand...
Well not always, you can never get the shallow DOF an SLR camera can attain with a simple P&S...

although, you can artificially do it during post processing.

my point is, equipment still plays a major part.

so if someone asks what camera, just say what it is...if the person really is interested, his/her next questions will go beyond the equipment used.

--
http://litratista.zenfolio.com/
 
Never mind the individual skill/experience part for a moment. Sometimes it's true it's the camera. So we all have to be plenty confident enough to give some credit to the camera and say... Yes it's an awesome {Sony} camera you should get one right away and the nearest place is {name a store}. After they buy it they just have to mess around with their new camera until their pictures look as good as yours - this will be true irregardless of which camera a person buys. You'll get to train your friend/acquaintance too on how to work that new Sony camera ha ha. Don't hold back secrets - just give it all out so that everybody grows at the same time. If we have bad camera or lens that front focus, back focus, cannot focus or cannot properly expose the shots all day there's almost nothing a person with plenty of skill can do (other than manual focus and manual exposure) as an example ha ha hmm... oh well. bye.

--

Phil + Northern California | a 8 5 0 + Z + G | http://www.zeissimages.com/alphazeiss
 
"How good of a cook are you? Would you be a better cook if you had better cookware? A camera is just the cookware that the chef uses."

It's partially why a chuckle a little whenever I see the posts about "Camera X does the Grand Canyon"

chad
 
I AGREEEEE 10000% It's not the cookware that makes great food ... It is all just the Chef! He can create Dinner on a $75,000 Wolf Stovetop with Emerilware or on a $100 Grill in his back yard with a aluminfoil & a Rubbermaid container.... YOU would never tell the difference. This is true with great Photographers.

I know plenty of people with 3000-5000$$$$ cameras that need to put them away. I'm not saying they can’t use them or know their user manuals inside and out. The pictures they compose.???? .....Not like what your Emerilware copper Pans can produce! Right
 
Thanks everyone for the thoughtful comments. A common theme is a better tool doesn't necessarily make a better final product - but it helps. I like that.

I had thought I had talked him out of it but I see from his Facebook page that the guy wound up buying a Canon 60D.

Oh well, he'll probably come back after a couple hundred photos and ask me more questions. I get to say "I told you so. Here's what you do..."

--
Lance
 
Normally i get the nice camera or nice lens comments ect which do irk me. However to answer your question ( if i ever get it ) I would have them buy what ever body I have been wanting but can afford and suggest the crappiest lens possible then in 3-6 months after they give up from frustration offer to buy the body or trade your "known good" camera for theirs. Tell them its a bit finicky but I have the " kinks" worked out this one.
--
Canon 7D w Sig 150-500 OS
Sony a700 with HVL56AM
Sony a55 ( Wife )
Sigma 10-20mm
Minolta 50mm F1.4
Minolta 28-75 F2.8 Japan
Sony 18-55 ( Kit )
Tamron 70-200 F2.8 Di
Tamron 28-105 F2.8
Tamron 28-200 3.5-5.6
Tamron 200-500 5-6.3 Di
 
lehill said:
..."You take great pictures. What camera is that? I want to buy one." Or, "How can I take pictures like yours?"

In my mind, my reply is to violently shake them by the shoulders and yell "It's not like that!!"

I'm flattered I get questions like this about my photography, I don't believe I deserve them (yet). But I had to work at talking some guy out of buying a copy of my setup that he can't afford. He thought that's all he needed to take good "pictures".

There are plenty of better photographers than I in this forum. They must get plenty of naive questions like this. How do you answer?

--
Lance
Click to expand...
so do you think that you "produce" those great pictures? i'm sorry but 50% or more is the camera's work. In this day and age of digital it's more or less point and spray the crap out of your subject and pick the best picture out of 2 million that you just shot in 1/10 of a sec.

1) All those cool "portrait" with thin DOF can never be achieve by a P&S no matter how "genius" the photographer is.
2) All those cool "low light" with detail can never be done with a P&S

3) All those cool "macro" shot can never be done with a P&S (yes P&S does macro quite well, just not at the detail level of a DSLR)

and the list goes on... the gear dictates the picture more so than the "photographer" like to think.

there's a balance in everything... it takes both the brain and the machine to produce a good product... most people are casual photographer, we don't make money, we're not pro... pro can make good pictures with 2 dollars camera (because they make a living doing it), us common folks will need alot of help from the gear to make usable stuff.
 
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