I've enjoy reading and geeking out in this forum over the years. I respect the technical knowledge, enthusiasm, and effort that readers share with spreading knowledge about some amazing photographic tools available today.
I've long been fascinated on the artists choice in choosing the right tools for the job. Our creative tools inspire confidence, which clients appreciate.
When I was 13, I won my first mountain bike race on a single-speed Huffy. Since I didn’t own a mountain bike with fancy gears like the other 15 kids in my race, I ran up the hills pushing my bike instead of mashing gears like the competition. I crossed the finish line first, shocked.
“The bike doesn’t make you go fast, it’s the engine behind it,” I proved to myself.
Turns out, the same is true with expensive camera gear. To a point. Then again, if you are racing with the elite, you’ll appreciate a few extra gears.
We all know, one doesn't need the newest camera gear to take great photographs. My mantra: the photographer makes the picture, not the camera.
“You’ve got to push yourself harder. You’ve got to start looking for pictures nobody else could take. You’ve got to take the tools you have and probe deeper,” says photographer William Albert Allard.
Shooting medium format forces me to slow down, think. I shoot less, edit less. Not only do the resulting images make me happy, but I spend less time trying to 'make the image work in post production.'
On a recent maternity shoot (I don't usually shoot maternity shoots, but the opportunity presented itself and the additional confidence made the job ever more appealing... so much so I look forward to continuing this type of work), I shot only with the Phase, with a fast moving little dog as a wonderful prop. The auto focus kept up. The dynamic range blew me away. I didn't need to shoot with a strobe to fill in shadows. And the clients LOVED seeing the images at the end of the shoot on a retina iPad (in the shade, on the beach). We rated them right then and there, then we were on our way.
I share this story because I feel this technology has allowed me to deliver not only quality images, but a remarkable experience from a client perspective... making me love my job as a photographer even more.
If you would like to see the full post on my photo blog:
http://www.kern-photo.com/2014/12/maternity-shoot-in-hawaiiMy upgrade path with Capture Integration has been very pleasant, thanks to the option to purchased used gear and trade up starting with P30+ > IQ140 > IQ160 > IQ260.
