It's Not About the Gear — Marilyn Lamoreux Photography

Gull flying over Medicine Lake

A little over a week ago I went to a 2-day photography workshop where I listened to 2 outstanding photographers speak and teach. At the end of the first day of the workshop I was convinced that I needed to go out and buy a tilt-shift 24 mm lens. I was seduced by the wonderful photographs the speaker had created with this lens and bought into his enthusiasm for tack-sharp focus throughout architectural interior shots that would be very difficult to achieve without a tilt-shift lens.

By the end of the second day I decided that I also needed to look at a super-wide angle lens because of the great photographs the second speaker made using his super-wide lens.

Then I looked up the cost of each lens. Yikes!

Finally I started discussing the different lenses with a couple of my photographer friends and I realized that I had fallen for the great seduction that fancy new gear would make me a better photographer.

I came back to my senses realizing that…

It’s not about the gear!

Or it’s mostly not about the gear (there are capabilities that do make a difference as a photographer becomes more skilled but it depends upon the type of photography and the skill level). Great photos are made with all kinds of cameras (and phones). In just a few cases a different lens or better camera sensor might make a difference, but in most cases the lens is not what makes the photo.

Great photographs are works of art. They rely on the inner vision of the photographer far more than they rely on having the latest greatest camera and lenses.

Most of the photographers I admire say that they would choose a technically less perfect image with heart (a story or unique viewpoint that evokes emotion) over a technically perfect image without heart.

“Gear is good. Vision is better.” — David DuChemin

I agree. I’m a sucker for great stories, beauty, mystery, and a unique point of view in photographs. I am also seduced by beauty, color, line, and form. But I don’t tend to care much about tack sharp focus throughout.

It’s easy to forget that when I listen to professional photographers wax poetic about sharp focus throughout an image, or the wonderful impact of using a super-wide angle lens.

The problem is, that I do very little photography where I would use either of these lenses. I have a couple of workhorse lenses that I use most of the time (a 24-105 mm zoom and a 70-200 mm zoom), although the 70-200 mm lens is not as useful as I had hoped because it isn’t a long enough telephoto zoom reach on my full-frame camera.

I don’t want to carry around a bunch of lenses with me all the time. Cost is only one issue. They take up space. They are heavy. And it takes time to switch lenses. Often the moment is gone by the time the lens has been switched.

For quite some time I have been planning to purchase a longer telephoto zoom lens (100-400 mm) and to sell my 70-200 mm lens. The 100-400 mm lens is one of the lenses that make a big difference to me in what I like to call “reach.” If I want to do nature shots with animals, I need greater magnification so that I can create the image without getting so close that I frighten the bird or animal away.

Last week I finally bought the new telephoto zoom lens I had been considering for some time. It was something I had thought through very carefully without being influenced by looking at photos during workshops or listening to speakers. I read reviews of several comparable lenses and made a decision based on the quality and reach of the lens and the type of photography I like to do. Trying the lens out at the camera store, it was exactly what I was looking for. (For those who care, it is a Canon EF100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM.)

I’ve been playing with it at home during the past week. Today I took it out to French Regional Park along with my tripod to see what I could see on this early spring day. It is a sweet lens and it does exactly what I hoped it would. I’m so glad that chose to go ahead to buy this lens instead of a tilt-shift or super-wide angle lens.

The photos in today’s post were all made with this lens. I even made some plant macros using the lens with extension tubes.

My goal with my photography as in other areas of my life is to simplify what I carry around, what I let take up space in my life. But to do that I need to stay aware and be present to all of the ways that I can be seduced into believing that I need more stuff.

The person with the most toys doesn’t win. Simpler (for me) is better.

May you walk in beauty (and simplicity).