I just want to thank you for your advice, especially in recent times when it comes to gear. I've been doing photography for a decade now, and for the most part I've been using 'prosumer' gear, a secondhand Nikon D7100, a handful of used lenses and some Yongnuo speedlights. I've run the gamut from weddings to commercial work and I've never had a complaint regarding image quality. But I did realise that over time the more challenging the jobs got, it felt like I was squeezing blood from a stone. I moved to a new country a few years ago and started getting jobs that required better low light capabilities and more pixels. I decided to get myself a used D810 and got rid of the cheap flashes and I genuinely couldn't be happier. I was contemplating sinking money into the Z system, but your video on finances and what you buy and when you can afford it really clicked for me and helped me make my decision. This is a long comment! But I just wanted to say that 1. You're very right about the gear not mattering as long as you can make the image and 2. I'm super grateful for your content and your advice!
1 0.45 min…. ABSOLUTELY spot on… speaking with photographers should be upbuilding, encouraging and educating….. but ends up being technical geeky stuff that you rightly say are just plain boring. 2 You have NOT run out of ideas Scott, most of your videos are either funny + informative or one or the other, and I am looking forward to each one. 3 I still use a 5Dii as my main body…. but honestly… I AM drooling and whish I could buy a 1DX III to play with.
Thankfully I've started this in my cinematography. I'm past the "it looks beautiful". Now I'm at "it looks beautiful for this mood" which might meen shooting a frame pretty ugly. I've also realised this earlier this year with my photography - knowing the technical is great, but having my aesthetic on it is so so so much more important - it is everything
Scott, you never cease to make me smile with your wit. As always, your advice is absolutely spot on. Old kit still works and a good image is still a good image, even with flaws, because it achieved what you set out to achieve. Thanks
I fully agree. This is a message all the newbies need to hear. Skill is what makes a good picture so much more than fancy gear. Good gear will create good to great content. Expensive gear won't guarantee the great content, but it can make it easier to produce for someone who could do it the hard way too.
I love your brutal honesty. It is so much more refreshing than some of the garbage that some of the influencers out there are putting out into the universe. I always tell people that there is no need to upgrade unless your gear is limiting your ability to create images that either you or your client want. If you're not happy with your final product and feel like you need to upgrade, upgrade your lenses before upgrading your camera body. I agree with you 100% about buying used gear. I'm very selective about what I purchase and from which dealer I shop at. I've saved $10k+ dollars over the years by doing so.
One of the best photographers I've known had absolute crap for gear and very little of it but he produced some of the best photos of models that I've ever seen.
Gear talks with photographers are weisting time, agree, its much more valuable to talk about concepts and ideas in arts than technicalities but we are so fortunate that we have internet influencers pushing constantly thousands of people buying newest gear. We can get what we want for fraction of the price. I got my 5Ds for less than 1000usd brand new two years ago and recently used ts-e 24mm 3.5L for 200usd !!! How wonderful time!!! so demanding for creativity not for your wallet any more. In analog times I was so stressed every time I picked my processed Ektachrome from Lab, half stop of overexposure and my work was ruined. I had to have sharpest lens possible because nothing could be fixed in postproduction. It is not a case anymore. Vision limits work more than ever before. Definitely biggest achievement of our times but also huge challenge for our minds. Valuable video as always! Thanks!
This resonates so much in musician circle. everyone wants to be musician’s musician. They measure everything through google of technique goggle. But they forget that its the audience that pay their bills. If technique doestnt serve emotion, storytelling, or aesthetic. Its just bullshit.
Great advice. The truth of what you said in this video is indisputable. I'm a prime example of aesthetics over technique and technology. I started shooting when I needed to sell more real estate (1978). I knew nothing about photography, but that didn't stop me from buying and learning how to use a Canon AE-1. I also learned how to develop Kodak B&W film in my basement to better understand more about light. And because I was the only real estate broker in most of New Jersey to shoot and use photos to promote my property listings and my business, it helped my business dominate its market area. Photography is the PERFECT medium for advertising because it communicates instantly without saying a word.
A variation on your first two points: There is no "bonus" for a very difficult to make photograph. If you read the fora and/or watch videos, so many people want to get "extra credit" for having done extra work (difficult location, expensive gear, fancy lighting, etc.) when the end result is no better, or worse, than someone who didn't jump through all those hoops. Some time ago I took a mirror selfie with a 4x5" camera and a Rodenstock Imagon soft focus lens. That was an extremely technically challenging photo to take, and I had fun getting it to work, but it's no better aesthetically than countless mirror selfies taken with phones. I was happy with the result, but I'm not going to delude myself and declare it "fine art" because it was a PITA to make. I gave myself the assignment of making it, and learned a lot from the process, which was valuable.
I started with a T7, it turns out solid results and no client ever asked or cared what I was shooting on. You can do it, with good ideas and knowledge of composition and lighting there is no reason not to build a career.
i feel you because i'm like you xD Best advice you've given me is this thing about photos being for the public and not for photography nerds, same like nobody cares about crazy jazz eventhough it is top notch music. I remember hearing it from you at a time when i was starting to get pretty obsessed with fstoppers community, and i know hearing your words saved me a lot of time and troubles
excellent advice. I, like yourself, had heard some of these pearls of wisdom many, many years before I actually heeded the advice. It never hurts to hear it again.
Love this video, some great advice. Lots of advice that you’ve given in other videos but condensed down into a concise package. The more we hear this, the more likely we are to learn it. Thank you again.
It's a very good videos and it makes me think to keep one thought very helpfull : For decades i thought photography was pushing a button and good camera = good photos. Now i sell pictures for thousands of $. But i never forgot that before being a photographer i would never have paid more than 50$ for a shoot or 10-20$ a picture printed+file lol. My vision changed obviously but most people i know outside of a small group are thinking : "it's just a picture".
1) Not being weird, but your hair is awesome. Loving the shaved sides and long top. You always look well groomed! 2) The kit thing is totally on point. I'm in a few "marketing" groups, and all I see, day after day, is "I need to upgrade this or that - what should I go for?" and I think "FFS". I've not bought any new gear in over 10 years. And whilst I am not a successful pro shooting daily like you, I do shoot my stuff for pro work and have as much success with it all today as I did 10 years ago. I just repair\service what I have and keep it in good condition.
Just got my second EOS R and pairing it with a 35 f2 is usm and an 85 f1.8 usm and it gets the job done shooting portraits and i heavily invested in lights and lighting rather than other things.
Nice video and thanks for posting. 1 quick lesson I learned about 18 months ago regarding Canon equipment. I bought a used 5D MII from FB market place to upgrade to my first full frame camera and it was rough but I got it for a GREAT price. So after a couple of gigs I sent it to Canon to get serviced and they told me that they no longer support nor will they fix the camera due to age. I wound up "trading" (+ a bit of cash) it with them for a refurbished 5D MIV. Thanks again for posting these videos.
i just got a d800, i just need to buy a speedlight and make a business card. i just wish everything could come at once. but its the process. the thing i lack experience with is lighting because i dont have money for lights.
Excellent video! I know you put out a video about how to find your niche, any chance you can follow that up with….”How find your Niche 2.0?” Hearing your perspective a few years later, it would be interesting to see if you come about the issue from a different standpoint. Anyways, thanks for being real and non-bs when it comes to this.
Great info, thank you. I was wondering if you think your "Photography Marketing 101" workshop would be applicable to Videographers as well? I am currently an in house Photographer / Videographer for a corporation but am really looking to grow my business outside of my day job.
The worst work critiques you can get are from close friends and family. They’ll never tell you that you suck. You think Mom is going to give you a bad review?? You can shoot sidewalk turds and she’ll tell you they’re brilliant 😂😂😂
Thank Goodness ! A photographer who hasn't got a techno / 'you must do this' head on which is not shoved up their techno / 'you must do this' arse....if it works and importantly the client will pay for it who gives a sh*te.
