Friday, February 25, 2011

Gear versus vision: nature versus nurture

Among photographers, both professional and amateur, there is an on-going debate about whether gear or the photographer's talent really make a photograph special. It's not unlike the nature versus nurture discussions that rage on about how creative people develop - inherent talent or the way one is raised.

Winter Shadows
Essentially, put any point-and-shoot camera in a creative professional's hand and you are likely to get a "wall-worthy" image. Put the same camera in a talented and educated amateur's hand and you may get a similarly "wall-worthy" image. Put that camera in an uneducated amateur's hand and you MIGHT get a "wall-worthy" image - or not.

On the other hand, put a high quality professional DSLR camera with a good lens on it in each of the three photographer's hands and the results will definitely differ. Why? Because the professional or well educated amateur will be better able to capitalize on the technological superiority of the equipment to express their artistic vision while the uneducated amateur will struggle to master the technology to the detriment of his or her creative vision.

Just thinking....

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