Does the equipment you use, affect your creativity ?

Golf007sd

@Yetibuddha: Well put. +1

TomB

Very first day of very first photography class when I was 16. Taught by the local school photos guy who was also a master at landscapes. First thing he said...

"There are no limits to the photos that can be taken by one person with one camera and one lens. Neither numerically or creatively. So that takes the entire gear discussion right off the table."

Hard to look at the closet full of gear and say that to myself. But it is the truth.

WestEndFoto

Very first day of very first photography class when I was 16. Taught by the local school photos guy who was also a master at landscapes. First thing he said...

"There are no limits to the photos that can be taken by one person with one camera and one lens. Neither numerically or creatively. So that takes the entire gear discussion right off the table."

Hard to look at the closet full of gear and say that to myself. But it is the truth.

With all due respect, in my opinion this is not the truth, but wishful thinking in the extreme. I suspect that it is often said to people with lessor gear so they don't become discouraged. I know, because I find myself saying it all the time.

Perhaps in a photography class, a teacher would like to focus on technique and creativity (as they should!) and they think that statement would promote that focus. Perhaps it does sometime, but I am sure that there will be bright students that will see through that deceit and take everything that the teacher says after with a grain of salt.

Is that our intention here?

If the teacher had said, "regardless of your gear, you can become a master," I would wholeheartedly agree.

I 100% agree that you don't need great gear to be creative.

But what if you want to emulate some of Pitchblack's images with his 50mm Sigma Art lens shot wide open and all you have is a superzoom? Because that is EXACTLY what the teacher in TomB's class said you should be able to do.

As an aside, I could almost agree with the teacher in TomB's class if he had limited his comments to landscapes (I have a small quibble over dynamic range and an even smaller one over resolution). With landscapes, you are usually shooting at f/5.6 or even above and Nikon's 30 year old prime manual focus lenses are more than up to that challenge (I have three of them).

TomB, pleeeeeese don't take my comment personally. I disagree with your statement, but you are a great contributor to this forum and I have grown because of you. And I will always state my position even if it doesn't win me the popularity contest, put my name to it and never hide behind the anonymity of pressing the "-1 button".

haroldp

Having taught photography at the university level (back when computers were made out of wood), My approach on this subject to my students (and myself) was :

Creativity begins with forming an image in your mind of what you want the final work (photo, sculpture, painting, blob of Jello etc.) to look like.

Craft is applying your skills and tools to achieving that image.

In digital photography tools include camera, lens. support (long exposures, panos, HDR etc.) lenses, Computers, PP software etc.

When one can form an image in ones mind, and know that it cannot be achieved without adding a new tool (eg: a 200/f2), or in my latest case a 400/f2.8, that is when not having the right tool interferes with creativity, and is the time to plan an acquisition.

In cityscapes for example, skills may include composing loosely because perspective and distortion correction will b applied which combines shooting craft and PP craft, but begins with the vision. The vision may also not include perspective correction if that is what one wants.

My repeated mantra was 'whatever you do, do it on purpose' .

... H

WestEndFoto

Well said I think Haroldp.

ggbutcher

@haroldp: +100
@TomB: Kinda relates to computer languages - infinite range of expression, limited only by available memory, and processing time if you're impatient. I do think you start to revert to gear thinking when you consider certain types of photography that require certain components just to capture images, e.g., macro.

Back in high school, our yearbook photographer tried to shoot the football season with a Mamiya TLR with a non-removable normal lens and a flash - he thought he could crop the action. He wasn't willing to piss off the refs by running onto the field during plays, so that didn't work so well...

You need gear to take shots, and certain gear to take certain kinds, but no amount of gear will make you a good photographer... knowing composition and lighting will, with any gear.

Yetibuddha

@haroldp -- very nice. In my situation, I have a hard time visualizing the story or the image. What I did do, what ggbutcher did, was look for another story, and for me, it was the Amazonian sky, which is spectacular because of the storminess of the region. I will still need to think about the forest though.

TomB

Sure, you have to have particular gear to make certain types of photos. And as the example of TLR for sports shows not all will work. But the point of the comment is more to say...

Your gear or lack there of is not the limiting factor in your creativity.

Westend...never apologize for speaking

WestEndFoto

OK. Thanks.

ggbutcher

Sure, you have to have particular gear to make certain types of photos. And as the example of TLR for sports shows not all will work. But the point of the comment is more to say...

Your gear or lack there of is not the limiting factor in your creativity.

Westend...never apologize for speaking

Agree, 100%. Creativity doesn't depend on the gear. And, I've found every single post in this thread to be insightful. Thanks, all...

ptrmcky

Using prime lenses has made me a better photographer, but not necessarily a more creative one.

For example, when getting candid portraits at a wedding I used to have my 24-70 on the camera. I would find myself most often using it at 70mm just because that was what was usually needed to fill the frame. Now I use my Sigma 35mm 1.4, which forces me to get much closer to my subject. As they say, if your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough. If you look at the pictures in my wedding blog you'll see that lots of the candid ones look as if they are taken from within the group. It gives a much more immersive feel to the photos, something which I had struggled to get for a long time.

It probably doesn't make me more creative if I'm honest. It just forces me into a situation where I will get better images.

sevencrossing

Lots of very interesting replies. Thank you


The question is" Does the equipment you use, affect, change or make any difference to your creativity"

NOT

Does it Limit it

Tom Bs teacher was correct
"There are no limits to the photos that can be taken by one person with one camera and one lens. Neither numerically or creatively

In the same way there is no limit to the number of images an artist, using pen and ink, can produce
But he can never produce an oil painting
so the tools he chooses do, IMHO, effects his creativity

Golf007sd

"There are no limits to the photos that can be taken by one person with one camera and one lens. Neither numerically or creatively

In the same way there is no limit to the number of images an artist, using pen and ink, can produce
But he can never produce an oil painting...so the tools he chooses do, IMHO, effects his creativity

As Stuart Scott would say (may he RIP): Boo Yah!

haroldp

Creativity tells us which tools we need.

... H

retread

Tools only effect how you express your creativity.

Yetibuddha

Hi Msmoto, and others. I have been reading NR, but it has been difficult to make contributions because of my work schedule in the last year.

ThomasHorton

Personally, I feel that a person is either creative or not creative...

But I hope that people like me can learn to be more creative. Otherwise I should just sell my kit.

ThomasHorton

The greatest limitations to my creativity/photography are in this order:
1. My pea sized brain which fails to have good ideas.
2. My lazziness. I would rather read about photography than actually go out and shoot.
3. My desire for comfort. I don't want to get up before dawn so I can be out at sunrise or stay out late so I have to drive home in the dark. Thus, I often miss the best light for landscapes.
4. Finally "seeing" or "previsualizing" and image and then not knowing how to manipulate my equipment to produce in camera what was in my mind.
5. My equipment. If I ever do get that far down the list!

Yikes! The truth hurts. Guilty on four counts.

Sometimes I think there can be too much honesty on the Internets Tubes.

haroldp

Given that amateurs and professionals often use the same camera equipment, my first judgement as to the status when I see a photographer is based on how he / she handles lighting.

... H

TomB

The question is" Does the equipment you use, affect, change or make any difference to your creativity."

I still say no. The equipment is not what makes you creative. You can use the equipment creatively. You can take a shot in a novel or unusual manner using your equipment. But the creativity is in YOU.

Got an acquaintance. (not a friend. Husband of a cousin of a friend.) He is rich. No no...not what most folks consider rich. He is like on the Forbes list rich. He like photography. He is very talented technically.

He shoots 3 times a year usually. Pictures of trains. The same three trains in the same three locations usually at the same time of year. Each bloody year. The shots vary. Sometimes very close to track, sometimes from an overpass. But really...same train, same place.

Is he creative? Hell no. Are the photos good? Yeah. Bordering on great even. Until you realize that he has shot the same damn picture 20 times.

This is a chicken/egg argument at the end. We are all gonna be on different spots on the chart with it. But I do think this has been a very interesting discussion.

Golf007sd

I looked upon the question you are asking TomB in the following light:

1) Does the equipment you use affect your creativity?
2) Does [a} change {in} equipment you use make any difference to your creativity?
3) Does the equipment you use make any difference to your creativity?

Then throw in the zoom & prime part of the second question....well I truly do not see how one can say it does not.

If you give a photographer just one body and one lens, then the creativity is only limited by the users own understanding of photography itself. TomB former instructor saying holds true, but to me only this part of it: "There are no limits to the photos that can be taken by one person with one camera and one lens."

Yet, his other comment is false: "Neither numerically or creatively. So that takes the entire gear discussion right off the table." If that is true, then why do manufactures make so many different bodies and lenses? Why do photographers buy different bodies, lenses, and accessories in taking pictures? It is because for them to create effective meaning full images, as they imagine it to be, dictates different equipment. Thus, in order for them to be creative, they need different equipment.

For example, what if a photographer wants to shoot the night sky, hence astrophotography; but does not have a tripod or a wide-angle lens. Will he truly be able to capture the Milky Way as we know it? What if the only lens he had was variable aperture telephoto? Does this limit his creativity? I would say no. He could rest his camera body between two rocks and use the lens he has to best of his capabilities. BUT now consider the question being asked. Give the shooter a wide-angle lens; moreover, a prime wide-angle with a fixed aperture, and a tripod? Do you still believe this will not enhance his capability, as well as, he creativity?

Take the same example above and now say he want to do underwater photography?

Do you see my point? Hence, my response to the original questions asked:

Does the equipment you use, change your creativity? Does that fact you are shooting with a zoom or a prime make any difference to your creativity?

Yes, it does.

sevencrossing

There seems to be a lot of different views on the definition of creativity

IMHO

A parent who just wants to take shots of their kids with a P&S or the multi millionaire, who photographs the same subject in the same three location at the same time of year. Are both , to some extent, being creative

It is just that some people are more creative than others

We seem agree; the main ingredient in the creative process, is the person behind the camera
but the equipment , must play a part in the creation of an image. Take it away and nothing is going to be created

dissent

The experience you gain using the lens may give you a perspective on the art of photography that you did not have before. That may trigger creative insights that otherwise would not have occurred.

Whether you agree with this or not may boil down to a definition of creativity. If you think creativity is inborn (which it must be to SOME extent), then you may not agree. If you think creativity can be learned to some extent, then you might agree.

I think of creativity as kind of like a muscle. Some people are born with large muscles, some with smaller muscles. But if the muscles are not exercised, they get flabby and ineffective. If you weren't born with the best muscles, but exercise the ones you have, you can get stronger. If you don't feed the muscles with nutritious food (learning) they won't function to their optimum effect. Having the right equipment (gear) will improve your ability to utilize your muscles to their maximum.

So get out there and exercise, people!

tcole1983

I say yes and no. There are obvious certain things that can only be done with certain equipment. Sometime I feel like carrying a certain lens around on a body makes me be more creative with it because of what it is limited to...either range or f-stop. However lots of times it is more of seeing the picture in my mind and setting it up. Not really the lens or whatever. Within the first week of getting my D5000 w/ 18-200 I walked around near my house. I happened to walk onto the railroad tracks that were nearby and took this picture...I saw it in my head when I was taking it with the clouds in the back and all.

spraynpray

I say an emphatic 'no' it doesn't. With better gear, I get better results, but it does not affect my creativity. Your creativity is yours. The gear isn't creative, you are.