"I think I need to get a better camera". 

 

Those words were spoken to me by a friend who felt his photography needed a bit of improvement and thought a new, more technically modern camera was the answer.  Well, I thought, maybe that would help some, but unfortunately it's not that easy.  There is so much more that goes into making successful photographs than the camera.  I've been photographing most of my life, seriously for the past ten to fifteen years, and I'm still learning; indeed, when I pick up a book by a well known professional, attend seminars, or peruse some of the many excellent websites available I realize how much I have yet to learn.  Maybe I need a new camera too, but I think the approach to photography which I've adopted as a general practice is a better answer.  

 

Let's first get the equipment thing behind us.  Yes, you do need a camera, preferably a decent one, lenses with a fair range of focal distances, a tripod, a few filters perhaps, etc.  Think of these things simply as tools, much as a painter thinks of his brushes, paint, easle, thinner, etc, as tools of his trade, but the best of materials will not put a thing on canvas; the artist has to supply the talent.  So it is with photography.  One can be shooting a $6,000. Nikon, but if he doesn't know the basics of photography or how to use the controls the results will be no better than what can be achieved with a standard point and shoot.  No, photography is like anything else, it requires training and practice.  There is just no magic button.  I discovered that not only does one need to know and understand the tools, but photographers are artists and they need to concern themselves with composition, color palettes, isolation techniques, lighting, design basics, perspective, etc., all the same stuff that a painter is concerned with.  

 

Fortunately there are numerous sources of training available from formal schools to self training materials.  I have utilized a wide range of sources over time which ultimately led to my current approach to a photographic assignment. I spent a lot of hours in classroom settings with professionals like George Lepp, Rod Planck, John Shaw, the folks at Rocky Mountain and Nikon Schools of Photography.  I've poured through books authored by well known photographers, and studied the works of both photographers and painters to see how they handled certain situations.  In the course of all that one begins to develop a style or approach to photography that matures the more one gets out and practices.  As professional photographer Vincent Versace insists one must not just practice, he must practice at practicing.

 

So having some basic understanding and proficiency one is ready to take that equipment out and "practice". Here are the things I habitually do whenever I'm headed off to a major, or even a minor "assignment".

 

First, I research my intended subject.  I try to learn something about where I'm going, what opportunities I might encounter, what kind of photos I will be shooting (and by extension what hardware I might need).  If I'm going to be shooting at sunrise or sunset I want to know the exact time it will occur and from what angle it will appear (yes, I carry a compass).  I check all my gear and make sure batteries are charged.  A good example of this regimen was my 2011 trip to Churchill, Manitoba to photograph Polar Bears.  If one waits until he is actually there to begin thinking about the shoot it is unlikely anything good will result.  I read books about the Arctic, its natural history, current issues about the region, and of course, about the bear.  I wanted to learn as much as I could about the Arctic environment, anticipated weather and temperatures, and as much as I could about the bear that was to be my subject.

 

Second, I selected my gear based on the above.  This was crucial because I'd be traveling by air and be limited in number of bags and weight.  I chose my equipment carefully, taking only what I'd be likely to use, gear that might serve several purposes.  For instance, I knew I'd need a camera capable of enduring low temperatures, extra batteries, cards, etc., a good zoom telephoto lense, and because there would be opportunity for landscapes a wide angle lense.  I took one filter, a polarizer.  I took a lightweight carbon fiber tripod, and an external hard drive to store my images.  I also took a second backup camera body because if anything happened to my prime camera an expensive trip would go up in smoke.  That's pretty much it.

 

Third, for major trips such as Churchill, I develop a photo plan, a list of the types of images I want to come home with, techniques I want to use, etc.  I take notes regarding what I photograph, lenses used, lighting, etc.  Each night after a day's shoot I compare what I did that day with my plan.  If I haven't completed the plan I have a goal for the next day to concentrate on the missing elements.  When I arrived in Churchill I hit the ground ready to go; when I left I had gotten what I wanted.  This is perhaps an exaggerated example because it was a big deal, but I pretty much follow that process even if I'm going out for a morning's shoot up the coast.  I generally have a very broad plan with few details, but I can then very easily take advantage of that rare opportunity that comes along.

 

Fourth, when actually shooting I shoot in the RAW format.  Without getting into a lot of technical stuff RAW is simply a digital file format, just as is TIFF and JPEG.  Most shoot JPEGs because the camera does the processing for you and relieves you of further thought.  It might also be the case that if your shooting a simple point and shoot you don't have the option to shoot RAW.  That's OK if your only a casual shooter. The problem is that the photographer loses control the second he exposes the image.  You can preset the camera to do certain things, but one really has no idea what is going to happen inside once the image is exposed.  Also, JPEG is a compressed format so that much file information is necessarily lost in the camera.  RAW format eliminates these problems.  No image processing takes place in the camera; no compression takes place.  This is the format where all the information the camera sensor and lens are capable of recording indeed winds being included in the file.  It is left then for the photographer to develop the file in the computer.  To do this dedicated software is required.  While the thought of processing discourages some it is really not complicated.  The process is non-destructive and the photographer maintains full control over how the file is processed.  This includes things like white balance rendering, color correction, cropping, exposure adjustment, etc.

 

Finally, we come to "post production".  While RAW processing is considered post production other things can be accomplished as well toward realizing the photographer's vision.  It can be simple or complex and an art in itself.  Edits can be done in software such as Photoshop, Aperture, Lightroom, etc.  There are also some cool "plug in" software programs such as NIK's and OnOne's software suites that nicely mesh with the above to enable virtually unlimited flexibility in rendering a photograph.  Is this cheating?  Not at all, but this is a subject for another time.

 

This is a condensed and simplified summary of several subjects in which books have been written.  I hope it will serve as a guide for those thinking of getting involved in a great hobby or avocation.

 

So, did my friend really need a new camera?  Perhaps, but more than likely what he really needed was a bit of understanding of the scope of the issue, then think about that new camera.