A lot of times I will see someone take an amazing photo with a cell phone, a simple point-and-shoot camera, or something less advanced than a DSLR. They don't have as much equipment, either.
So I am wondering whether a photo looks good because of how good the camera is, or how good the photographer is?
You can drive a fast car slow or a slow car fast... same with a camera , can have the best camera on earth and still take crappy photos... or like you said have a cell phone and take amazing shots...
I think the snazzy camera with all the equipment makes a photo much easier, but it all relies on the person. You can have a 3k camera and take terrible photos or have just an iPhone and an amazing eye for photos.
My camera is fantastic, I have had many comments that 'your camera takes great shots'...and yes, thats true. But I handed it to my friend yesterday to get a shot of our family - I had metered it and set it up, all he had to do was aim and fire...well, what a disaster, not a flattering or well composed photo at all. So I do not believe its necessarily the equipment, but the person behind it. In reality, I'm starting to take offence when someone says to me, 'I love your camera, it takes great photos', I never used to, but its frustrating me more these days...
I think it is a combination... I know most people say it's the photographer, not the camera and that is definitely true up to a point. However, there really are some shots that are just not possible with a phone or basic p&s... a detailed moon shot comes to mind! I have taken some amazing photos with my phone but there is just no way I can take a detailed shot of the moon with it. It is also not good inside with less than great lighting when the subjects are too far away for the flash to reach.
On the other hand, I have also taken some crap with my better cameras and that happens when I don't use the right settings or take the time to frame a shot... or sometimes just because of my lack of photographic skills.
That said, I would say the weight is definitely on the side of the photographer. A good photographer can make good photos with nearly any camera... they might not get a detailed shot of the moon, but they will definitely get a great shot of the moon!
both. a camera is simply a tool to be used based on the knowledge of the photographer. i am doing this year just with my iphone simply to prove it can be done, and to be different. anyone off the street can buy an expensive camera, but if they don't understand even the basics, they will not be able to get any good images.
@aleksandra
I totally agree with your comments. A bit of both, but mostly the photographer, especially with composition, and holding the camera correctly. The same thing happened when I git a freind to take some photos of family. I set up the camera, showed him exactly where to stand, and thhe result wasall the heads chopped off....3 times!! In the end I waited till he went and set up the camera on the tripod and delayed shot.
I'm not the worlds best, and am still learning about manual bits and peices, but I too get a bit annoyed when someone compliments a photo, then says oh but you have a good camera...grrrr
For me it depends on the purpose of the final photo. If example you want for publish it in a magazine for some adverts or create stock photos then you need the $$$$ camera with the $$$ lens and all the $$$ other stuff.
The reality is you are not going to get studio photos from your phone, period.
If its for your own purpose and more of art than commercial then you can use what ever the hell you like.
The camera is just the tool but the basics of photography stay the same.. You have do have good composition, correct lighting for the situation and know how to control your camera for the shot that you want.
I too was in a class the other week where I set the camera up for the instructor and he took the shots... OMG... It was like it was from a different world... They were the worst photos I have seen in a very long time... It was like he used some other camera and just put them on my card on my camera.....
On the other side of the coin just because you understand the fundamentals does not mean you can take a photo. It takes creativity, imagination and an understanding how to bring that to life in such a way that one frame this message is passed onto your viewer.
Does good food come from a good oven, or from a good chef? Obviously, there must be sensible ingredients (subject, camera settings) but ultimately the credit goes to the chef (who usually chooses the ingredients anyway).
As long as the oven works, it has very little bearing on the varying results of what multiple chefs of different standards can produce.
I would say that it is something like 70/30 photographer/camera.
You cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear, but someone with the right skills can work within the limitations and make a very fine sow's ear purse from one.
a good photo comes from about a foot behind the lens.you can still take really bad photos with state of the art top range equipment and take perfect shots with a cheap point and shoot,as @harveyzone says admittedly you are restricted by what your camera picks up but in just about knowing what your camera can do you can create a masterpiece
I tend to think if I purchased the top of the line Nikon or Canon or whatever and every one of their lenses, no matter what the cost, would I instantly become more creative, would my skills automatically increase with this equipment? I think not. If this were true the challenges of great photography would be greatly reduced. I am a believer that it is the tool not the carpenter
First and foremost, It's the photographer. They know how to use the camera, take advantage of it, push it to its limits, know how to compose a picture so that someone looks at it and likes it.
At some point, you do want better equipment and I do think some things can only enhance your photography. I do think there is a difference between a normal lens (I will speak about Canon since that's what I have) and a piece of L glass. Or I think there is a huge difference between a Rebel and a 5D Mark II. BUT hand these things to a person who is not a photographer and I doubt you'll get nice pictures just because the camera is better.
So nice equipment is good! If you know how to use it. But i've seen excellent photographers take crappy cameras and make an amazing picture.
Photography has been around for a long time and many great images have been produced throughout that period. I think it's funny how we forget that photography existed way before the digital age.
My standard response now to people that compliment my photography and then follow up with "you must have a really good camera" is that I ask them if they think William Shakespeare had a really good writing quill.
Lance Armstrong wrote the book "It's Not About the Bike." I think the same goes for photography. A skilled and talented photographer will know how to get the great shot with a point and shoot or an expensive camera. They will also have the know-how to get their expensive camera to work for them....just like Lance Armstrong's expensive bikes worked for him.
It's both camera and photographer, but another factor is what you are trying to photograph and how challenging that is. For example, if you're photographing a spectacular landscape in good light conditions then you might have to try quite hard to not get a good photo even with a low cost compact camera! But if you're trying to capture action shots in low light conditions it will be much more challenging, and even the best photographer might struggle with lower cost equipment.
In fact, if you give someone who has only used a point and shoot camera a more complex DSLR, there's a good chance that you'll end up with photos that are worse than before, at least to start with [speaking from my own personal experience :)]
@jodimuli love that, I have a boasting have it all friend who has a camera costing she tells me over £1000 and thats not inc the kit she says. Her pictures are awful tbh i'd delete most of them right off without even trying to correct them.
For me taking good photo or amazing one is look like a sport like golf..
Tigerwood can make continous berdie even he use a cheap club.. so like photography photographer can make an amazing photo using ordinary camera.. the impotant are the skill and passion to photography..
but like Tigerwood if he compete in a tournament he will use his best club we can say that an expensive one.. so like photographer they use expensive or best camera or DLSR for there money shot photo...
@jonstermonster I think it's the camera, because I am currently Taking photos with my iPhone. Personally, I think its the art more than the quality..But I still think you need to be able to SEE the picture .
I use a Blackberry and a Sony Cybershot. I want a better camera and I hope it helps me take better pics but I am really happy with how some of the ones I am taking now turn out.
All I can add to this is... I use two cameras, I have two eyes and one brain. Each camera does different things, each of my eyes sees things a little differently than the other, but my brain has to be able to make sense of it all. I take good shots, crummy shots, mediocre shots and, every great once in a while, a really good, maybe even great, shot. Everyone is a photographer; even if you don't have any sort of camera; what you so with your equipment (Starting with your brain) is up to you, not necessarily up to your equipment. That being said, your equipment is an extension of your ability and creativity. If it can't do what you want it to do, then all the brainpower in the world isn't going to help you.
This was a long-winded way of saying, "It's both, and it's neither."
A few years ago I read an article that talked about how digital was changing photography in some unexpected ways. It mentioned that back in the film days, the photographer would choose different films for their different qualities, color saturation, grain etc. It went on to say that with digital, photographers will choose their cameras the way they used to choose film. I have 4 cameras (5 if you count my iphone) each bought for a specific reason or need. 3 of them are point and shoot, and one is a DSLR and contrary to what you might think, use the DSLR least of all. But it is the photographer who has to have an eye for composition and an understanding of qualities of light and the limitations of their equipment. A great camera will not make you a great photographer, but a great photographer can take great pictures even with a cell phone.
@north_ender I know that is so wierd why is that?? I took awesome photos on my I phone and point and shot then got my d90 and my photos were really average getting better now but why is that?? :)
@aleksandra I have experienced the same thing! You need to know composition- which is one if the first things I teach my students about...still some get it and some have no clue and they're all using the same equipment!
I personally think it's a bit of both. Yeah, you may have a great camera, but you may also have a great photographer behind the camera, who's coming up with all the ideas and actually shooting the pictures. I know everyone think's differently, but this is just how I feel. One reason I feel like this is because, when I first started taking photo's with my new camera on my birthday, it was amazing, and after a while, my auntie let me use her camera, and it was an old one, she said it was rubbish, but people have complimented me on how well the photo's came out. Another reason being, like many others here, I asked someone to get a shot of me and my friend, I set up the camera and everything, the positioning, the lighting, the filter, and the shot was terrible. It was all blurry and just didn't look very flattering. So I guess it's a bit of both. :)
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On the other hand, I have also taken some crap with my better cameras and that happens when I don't use the right settings or take the time to frame a shot... or sometimes just because of my lack of photographic skills.
That said, I would say the weight is definitely on the side of the photographer. A good photographer can make good photos with nearly any camera... they might not get a detailed shot of the moon, but they will definitely get a great shot of the moon!
I totally agree with your comments. A bit of both, but mostly the photographer, especially with composition, and holding the camera correctly. The same thing happened when I git a freind to take some photos of family. I set up the camera, showed him exactly where to stand, and thhe result wasall the heads chopped off....3 times!! In the end I waited till he went and set up the camera on the tripod and delayed shot.
I'm not the worlds best, and am still learning about manual bits and peices, but I too get a bit annoyed when someone compliments a photo, then says oh but you have a good camera...grrrr
The reality is you are not going to get studio photos from your phone, period.
If its for your own purpose and more of art than commercial then you can use what ever the hell you like.
The camera is just the tool but the basics of photography stay the same.. You have do have good composition, correct lighting for the situation and know how to control your camera for the shot that you want.
I too was in a class the other week where I set the camera up for the instructor and he took the shots... OMG... It was like it was from a different world... They were the worst photos I have seen in a very long time... It was like he used some other camera and just put them on my card on my camera.....
On the other side of the coin just because you understand the fundamentals does not mean you can take a photo. It takes creativity, imagination and an understanding how to bring that to life in such a way that one frame this message is passed onto your viewer.
As long as the oven works, it has very little bearing on the varying results of what multiple chefs of different standards can produce.
You cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear, but someone with the right skills can work within the limitations and make a very fine sow's ear purse from one.
At some point, you do want better equipment and I do think some things can only enhance your photography. I do think there is a difference between a normal lens (I will speak about Canon since that's what I have) and a piece of L glass. Or I think there is a huge difference between a Rebel and a 5D Mark II. BUT hand these things to a person who is not a photographer and I doubt you'll get nice pictures just because the camera is better.
So nice equipment is good! If you know how to use it. But i've seen excellent photographers take crappy cameras and make an amazing picture.
My standard response now to people that compliment my photography and then follow up with "you must have a really good camera" is that I ask them if they think William Shakespeare had a really good writing quill.
In fact, if you give someone who has only used a point and shoot camera a more complex DSLR, there's a good chance that you'll end up with photos that are worse than before, at least to start with [speaking from my own personal experience :)]
What Joe said....did you buy a new camera yet?
Tigerwood can make continous berdie even he use a cheap club.. so like photography photographer can make an amazing photo using ordinary camera.. the impotant are the skill and passion to photography..
but like Tigerwood if he compete in a tournament he will use his best club we can say that an expensive one.. so like photographer they use expensive or best camera or DLSR for there money shot photo...
This was a long-winded way of saying, "It's both, and it's neither."