Your Camera is just a tool…

Dear Street Photographer,

Are you obsessed on purchasing the latest camera body or lenses? In fact, you can’t stop thinking about it until you make that purchase. Then, when you finally take that leap of fate by purchasing the camera/lenses and have it in the palm of your hands…you’re still not satisfied. Plain and simple…you want more and you try convincing yourself and your spouse or your parents that by having the newest camera will help you produce better pictures. Remember your camera is just a tool to help you get the job done. Some tools may be easier or better to use but at the end of the day it all does the same thing.

For example, if I was putting together a cabinet I would first need to gather my resources on a certain budget amount. Buying a better and possibly more expensive hammer to assemble a cabinet may help with my workflow, but at the end of the day a hammer does what a hammer does regardless of the type or brand of hammer. (Maybe I don’t know I’m not a hammer expert, just trying to make an analogy).

What I’m trying to say is don’t become a slave to the system or in this case a slave to your equipment. Do not let your gear limit you or better yet pigeon hold you. If your main purpose with street photography is to shine light on an issue or exploit something, what difference does it make if you shoot it with a Leica Film camera, or a digital camera, or with a medium format Yashica 124 mat G camera? Of course, you’d have a different workflow with each of those cameras, along with the understanding that image quality will also be very much different. However, the main thing to remember is that you’re using the camera as a tool to capture that decisive moment out on the streets.

The most precious tool is you…yes YOU! And parts of such as your heart and your eyes. How much different would it be if I was to shoot with a Leica (I wish) than a Canon 50D. If I spot something that catches my eye and speaks to my heart, regardless of what camera I have wrapped around my hand I’m taking that photo. If it doesn’t come out the way you had hoped for, don’t end up blaming it on the camera…blame yourself.