Out of focus
So you think owning a DSLR makes you a photographer? Think again!
So you think owning a DSLR makes you a photographer? Think again!
Money can’t buy creativity. Even a somewhat trained monkey can take pictures if given the right camera. Owning a high resolution Digital Single-lens Reflex (DSLR) camera, capturing pictures from it and then altering the picture through editing software cannot make you a ‘photographer.’ Photography requires skill, experience and a diploma or degree.
Demanding a Digital Single-Lens Reflex Camera (DSLR) as a birthday present is a new trend that everyone seems to be jumping on to. It is definitely a new way to fit into the hip status quo of today. Once you become the owner of an expensive, high resolution camera, every street corner and every stray cloud will suddenly become exquisite and poignant enough to capture.
Every shot will become a masterpiece. You upload it under your name, adding ‘photography’ as the watermark, and watch as it receives a huge amount of praise on Facebook. Hearing compliment after compliment, you start to believe that you should do this professionally. You start believing that you are in fact... a photographer! So, you begin to capture more pictures, become an expert at using Photoshop to hide your mistakes and start sending your work to every online freelance company. Once you have enough pictures in your portfolio to start a business, you inform customers that you can do everything that professional photographers can do for half the price. In this way, you become a photographer, or at least you think you’ve become a photographer. But that’s not actually the case at all.
While owning a DSLR certainly makes photography easier, it does not make you a good photographer. It only makes you the owner of the camera. Photography needs learning. If you have talent, it needs to be polished. You need to learn the ins and outs of how to work with light, angles and all the other skills of established professional photographers.
An expensive high resolution camera with all its pretty buttons will obviously give you its best result, but more than half of the people owning a DSLR don’t even know how to properly use it. Doing the hand movements with the lens, taking the time to adjust it and fiddling with the buttons may make you look rather sophisticated and professional, but admit it, you’re really just trying to figure out what those buttons do without making a fool out of yourself in front of your jealous friends, who watch your camera hungrily and wish they owned it instead of you.
Looking at a clear picture can refresh anyone’s mind. But professionally, you have to do more. The people going through random pictures don’t look at them from a professional’s point of view. It is you who has to be creative enough to learn various techniques and skills, the art of lighting and different angles. This will set you apart from amateur photographers who can be found under just about every other rock and will keep you from taking shortcuts to success without hard work.
All this expensive equipment really does not matter. Even professional photographers usually buy cheap products that can get the job done just as well as the high-end ones. It’s their knowledge that sets them apart, not their equipment. Often people with expensive tripod stands, interchangeable lenses, huge camera bags, and expensive cameras may act as if they are professionals simply by the weight of their accessories — but they actually have little knowledge of what they clicking.
Save your money for something better. For the price of a DSLR and its equipment, buy a plane ticket and a 16 megapixel digital camera instead. Enjoy the change of scenery, refresh your mind and capture the happy moments with a small, yet reliable digital camera. Trust me. It will be worth it.
Prices:
Just getting into photography? Great! When you’re looking for a DSLR, keep our price guide handy. All these cameras come with a lens and local warranty, except where mentioned.
Nikon D3100 Rs46,000.00
Nikon D3200 Rs60,000.00
Canon 600d Rs62,000.00
Canon 650d Rs72,000.00
Canon 60d Rs88,000.00
Nikon D7000 Rs140,000.00
Canon 7d Rs145,000.00
Nikon D600 (Camera Only) Rs178,000.00
Canon 6d (Camera Only) Rs195,000.00
Canon 5d Mark II Rs250,000.00
Nikon D800 Rs290,000.00
Canon 5d Mark III Rs390,000.00
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 13th, 2013.
Like Express Tribune Magazine on Facebook to stay informed and join the conversation.
Demanding a Digital Single-Lens Reflex Camera (DSLR) as a birthday present is a new trend that everyone seems to be jumping on to. It is definitely a new way to fit into the hip status quo of today. Once you become the owner of an expensive, high resolution camera, every street corner and every stray cloud will suddenly become exquisite and poignant enough to capture.
Every shot will become a masterpiece. You upload it under your name, adding ‘photography’ as the watermark, and watch as it receives a huge amount of praise on Facebook. Hearing compliment after compliment, you start to believe that you should do this professionally. You start believing that you are in fact... a photographer! So, you begin to capture more pictures, become an expert at using Photoshop to hide your mistakes and start sending your work to every online freelance company. Once you have enough pictures in your portfolio to start a business, you inform customers that you can do everything that professional photographers can do for half the price. In this way, you become a photographer, or at least you think you’ve become a photographer. But that’s not actually the case at all.
While owning a DSLR certainly makes photography easier, it does not make you a good photographer. It only makes you the owner of the camera. Photography needs learning. If you have talent, it needs to be polished. You need to learn the ins and outs of how to work with light, angles and all the other skills of established professional photographers.
An expensive high resolution camera with all its pretty buttons will obviously give you its best result, but more than half of the people owning a DSLR don’t even know how to properly use it. Doing the hand movements with the lens, taking the time to adjust it and fiddling with the buttons may make you look rather sophisticated and professional, but admit it, you’re really just trying to figure out what those buttons do without making a fool out of yourself in front of your jealous friends, who watch your camera hungrily and wish they owned it instead of you.
Looking at a clear picture can refresh anyone’s mind. But professionally, you have to do more. The people going through random pictures don’t look at them from a professional’s point of view. It is you who has to be creative enough to learn various techniques and skills, the art of lighting and different angles. This will set you apart from amateur photographers who can be found under just about every other rock and will keep you from taking shortcuts to success without hard work.
All this expensive equipment really does not matter. Even professional photographers usually buy cheap products that can get the job done just as well as the high-end ones. It’s their knowledge that sets them apart, not their equipment. Often people with expensive tripod stands, interchangeable lenses, huge camera bags, and expensive cameras may act as if they are professionals simply by the weight of their accessories — but they actually have little knowledge of what they clicking.
Save your money for something better. For the price of a DSLR and its equipment, buy a plane ticket and a 16 megapixel digital camera instead. Enjoy the change of scenery, refresh your mind and capture the happy moments with a small, yet reliable digital camera. Trust me. It will be worth it.
Prices:
Just getting into photography? Great! When you’re looking for a DSLR, keep our price guide handy. All these cameras come with a lens and local warranty, except where mentioned.
Nikon D3100 Rs46,000.00
Nikon D3200 Rs60,000.00
Canon 600d Rs62,000.00
Canon 650d Rs72,000.00
Canon 60d Rs88,000.00
Nikon D7000 Rs140,000.00
Canon 7d Rs145,000.00
Nikon D600 (Camera Only) Rs178,000.00
Canon 6d (Camera Only) Rs195,000.00
Canon 5d Mark II Rs250,000.00
Nikon D800 Rs290,000.00
Canon 5d Mark III Rs390,000.00
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 13th, 2013.
Like Express Tribune Magazine on Facebook to stay informed and join the conversation.