Yes, one is low end camera high end image, one is high end camera low end image

To me, good photography comes from good skill and good gears couple will timely photo opportunities. Let me give some examples base on the most popular topic to date: Portrait Photography. For discussion's sake, let me break into 2 categories:

1. Candid portraiture
2. Static portraiture

1. Candids are impromptu situations where they call for immediate reaction from the photographer. When a model got into a pose or move that you like, quickly instruct her to freeze and do it again so you can take a picture. If it's done in public then anticipate a move and get ready for a clear shot. Getting a good shot and being timely takes experience and good gear. Can your camera move as fast as you? Can you switch on, focus and shoot on time? No way if you're using a camera phone or a compact digicam, no matter how experienced you are. Having LUCK is about being at the right time at the right place and having the right subject to do the right thing and you happen to get that shot. I won't rely too much on luck to get a good shot.

2. Static portraiture calls for serious concentration and attention to details from the photographer. Given an opportunity to stop and think about camera settings and study the model, newbies are still making mistakes over and over again eventhough they shot dozens of models, I am baffled. If they're using model photo sessions as practicing grounds, why can't they improve over time? Simple ... SHOOTING GIRLS is what they wanted, not improving photography. Before you even THINK of answering me on that, remember that you already shot dozens of girls in so many shooting conditions: indoor in events, outdoor under the sun, in shade, daytime, nighttime, bright lights, low lights, etc. and I am not surprised some of you shot the same girl over and over again! Improved? No? It's time to think again.

It's not only about the camera, not only about the lenses, not only about the 4GB card you bought that you wanna keep weeks after weeks of image without even transfering out, not only about the software you used to post process, not only about the model whether she's fat, thin, slim or sexy ... it's about the ATTITUDE, it's about the MINDSET.

Are you learning to shoot girls or learning photography? If you wanna shoot girls to impress your viewers, then you're halfway there, but if you're shooting girls just for passing time and feel that you're always behind other photographers in terms of image quality, then you're going nowhere. There's no shortcut or the end to learning photography, photography is a lifetime art, you may take it as a hobby but a hobbyist is always a hobbyist. Skill? Experience? Gear? Dun worry so much about them if you're a hobbyist ... you start somewhere, you'll END somewhere. Just shoot and enjoy while your pan is still hot.

This post has been edited by ac98: Oct 4 2007, 02:16 PM

I will say non of the above, I take photo based on my mood, hahaha when I got mood, eventually everything will look good, but when I got no mood, I won't even borther to take out my camera.

Well said, but creativity, good vision, composition, and other artistic skills is a different category of "skills". Being an artistic person doesn't allow him/her to handle the equipments better.

Another category of skills is the technical understanding of the camera, lighting, and etc. That is the requirements to handling your camera to max effectiveness. Having said that, you can have a very artistic person who doesn't know how to handle the camera, or a person who knows how to handle the camera very well but isn't as artistic...both are skills. If you have both, great, if you have only either of them, that's is fine too because people will improved through experience.

As far as I am concerned, understanding the technicalities about photographic equipments is the first step to "knowing how to" create good pictures with your tools. Ever come across someone who tells you...damn...I have this concept and vision...but why can't i get the picture right...it is always under/over exposed.

Next thing is obviously practicing and being artistic....seeing things and thinking outside the box. It is better to know how to create something even though you dont know what to create, than knowing what to create but you dont know how to do it. The latter can be VERY frustrating. But knowing how to use the camera can sometimes get you good pictures through LUCK despite the fact that you maybe not a very artistic person

Of course...like you said, tools are just tools...it is the means to an end...having better means makes getting to the end easier, and vice versa. The quality of your creation will always be limited by the equipments you have...so whenever you can afford something good...go for it! But of course...be rational and moderate...don't buy a pro camera when you barely know anything about cameras....I said this once some time ago...you don't wanna put a n00b in a ferrari.

Luck is fully uncontrollable...I won't even bother talking about it.

Anyway, you summed up everything nicely, I just wanted to add on a little.

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Added on October 4, 2007, 2:16 pmExtremely true. Candid calls for reliable and good equipments, and a good deal of anticipation and experience. You need to know when certain things will happen and be prepared for it. Same thing with FPS games, especially quake, you need to know where you subject will land, and aim/fire your rocket before the subject reaches that place.

You also need to make sure your equipment is fast enough and reliable enough i.e. you don't want the lens to hunt like crap.

Candid is easiest with small aperture and MF, get everything into focus....candid with shallow dof is the hardest to capture.

BTW, I never bother to mention about LUCK because it is an uncontrollable variable like I said earlier. It applies to every situation.

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Oct 4 2007, 02:19 PM

in short, "Principle without practice is useless, practice without principle is dangerous"

Hey Guys...
You all got use any Photo software to fix or edit your Photo??
I'm using the free ACD Photo Editor 3.1...
But its didn't work much with the blur photo...
Ask for A useful Photo Edit Software or a PRO SOFTWARE...
My Opinion,to capture a good photo you need to know what you want to capture...
Skill is very important...
A high quality photo(High resolution....) not equal to a good photo
You can have a high quality(with not blur,nice white balance)photo with your good camera
but you can't get a good photo that can tell everything without skill
I agree that a good skill need to have a performance camera too
but you have a good camera not means that you can have a good photo
even a phone camera can have good photo than a real camera if you got a nice skill.

gogo2,

AFAIK the word EQUAL and EQUALLY hold different meaning

EQUAL means same, while EQUALLY means +/- there.

so in your case, you're saying SKILL and EQUIPMENT hold EQUAL importance.

to say SKILL and EQUIPMENT being EQUALLY important means both of them have close and similar importance, which one being more important, which I think is the better way to put it.

ahhh. you worded it nicely.

you added it nicely too.

why would i ask him such stupid question? perhaps you would. LOL.

the way you ask me that is as if i'm saying equipment is NOT IMPORTANT. i donno what you guys are thinking sometimes. i never once said equipment not important. I'm just saying skill holds higher importance.

anyway the fella could make a decent 4 - 5 digit a month with photography (in SGD), i'm sure he knows what he's talking about.

lastly, think about it - what makes a professional photographer worth more than an amatuer or newbie? when you pay a photographer, what do you pay for - the gear? or the person? THAT will tell you which one is more important. equipment is just a tool, photographer is the artist.

that's my stance. both skill and equipment are EQUALLY important (yes i'm using gogo2's word now, based on the definition i mentioned earlier in this post, anywhere from 55%-45% to 50%-50%) just that SKILL is given the higher importance.

erm... now should we add in two more... besides skill, the creativity and the experience ?

again i have to emphasize, it's not about who is wrong or who is right.

In my opinion, the basic skill need to be there. Not an idiot who know how to hit the shutter button only!

He who is skilled can take a good photo limited by the equipment he is holding.

Someone who is skilled will need the right equipment to get his job done cause he knows what to do with it and what he is expecting.

he who is NOT skilled by chance, by luck or by photoshop can still take good photo with or without the right equipment.

there are alot of ways to improve on the skill. Having good creativity does improve the overall skill of someone.

There no short cut of learning how to get better photos but snap snap & snap. Experience come into play to complement the skill as you will know wat to expect and how you can react to it.

if you take photography as a hobby, it depends on oneself how hard you want to learn, or just enjoy shooting

This post has been edited by vincent_audio: Oct 4 2007, 06:56 PM

yeah. btw it's SHUTTER, not SHUTTLE.

oh but right equipment is still needed la. you can't expect a pro runner to go barefoot, same you can't expect pro photographer to go shoot a scene with the tools.

it's still very important. you can't get proper results without the RIGHT equipment.

wah still 'arguing'?

what hit me is the fact that only photographers who are lacking in skill claim that skill is more important and it is the most important in the world. no offence...

for someone who already has the skill, it has become a second nature to him... and therefore, he didnt even realise that he has the skill to execute it... he only see it that he do not have the latest H3 39MP blah blah blah to execute his idea out.

What you're saying here is actually self-realization, something more personal rather than relating to photography. When I was using a film camera with 100% manual function I gradually learnt to move fast, then I got faster working on a automatic camera. Now ... owning the fastest camera in the world (in 2001) I can work even faster, product better images and best of all, I am more flexible, my images are more within my control, and my camera works with me, rain or shine.

Photographers who realise that they are talented are not those who constantly win photography contest or having peers polishing his shoes becoz he shoots the best pics or covering most events with outstanding image results. Good photographers spend more time SHOOTING rather than asking questions, he finds his answers OUTSIDE where the light is, the shadow is, where the subjects are, and where what moves him the most. A good photographer bring home nothing but expressions of his inner passion, created with light and shadow. People like this usually needs to only make a SPIN and he's a professional photographer already ... he knows what he wants and knows what his SUBJECTS want.

When you pay a photographer, you are definitely paying for the ideas and his artistry....or experience. Depending on the clients and the market, some know nothing about camera equipments, those people couldn't care less of what kind of equipments you are using to make the picture, as long as you can do something reasonably good and keep your standards to your portfolio's, that's what is most important to them.

But but but....many photogs nowadays will advertise the equipments that they use i.e. "We only use Nikon/Canon professional cameras". You are selling yourself, so whatever makes you look more professional will help bring in the $$. Some stock agencies will only accept pictures with 12mpx resolution or more, some companies will only hire you if you have professional equipments, some will provide them to you..

So, in some ways, having good equipments will automatically put you at a higher level.....UNTIL people seen your pictures. This is why you don't want to put a pro camera in a n00b's hands because initially people will think that you must be somewhat a pro to afford and use those kind of equipments...but when you present your pictures and if they are not up to the client's/people's expectation...you are just making a fool out of yourself.

OTOH, if you are a pro..but uses a semi pro/PnS camera...people will not make such a big deal out of you...UNTIL they see your pictures...and they'd go wah lau this is real pro nia...- crouching tiger hidden dragon...

If you know something about car, I'd call n00b with expensive cameras a RICER, pros with PnS/semi pro a SLEEPER, people with lots of lenses....a Tuner?

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Oct 5 2007, 04:21 AM

nice description.

ac98,
i thought it is all about personal perception? no?

we are all wankers here... hobby is a way of wanking... dont you think so?

well its all about what you feel you like..thats alll......

IMHO, there is no one certain description of a perfect photographer.

So long as they produce a great photograph no matter using a normal cam or a dslr, that is a good photographer.

I would judge a photographer from his photos and not his gear.

Tat's rite, although a photographer with exp. eq but all lousy photos he is still a zero

Yeah, everyone has his rights to his own opinion, but different ppl have different mindsets.
I err ... dunno how you came to the wanking subject. I guess I will stick to photography for the time being

We are talking about GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY here, not about GOOD PHOTOGRAPHER. It's about the results and not the person.

I know.

I am just saying my opinion on a good photographer. Sorry for being off topic if you're offended.

You guys are already in such a tensed discussion about good photography,

This post has been edited by calvin_gsc: Oct 6 2007, 12:02 AM