Sometime It Really IS the Photographer.

Annie Liebovitz is one of my favorite photographers. She has so many masterful aspects of her craft. She knows how to create just the right lighting. She has a unique (and often copied) skill at setting up marvelous shots that can boggle the mind. Yet she also can take simply staged portraits that reveal much about the subject. It's hard to say which is more impressive: her commercial work or her portraits.

As far as I know, for pretty much most of her career, Annie has used Nikon. Currently she also uses Sony and Hasselblad. Still, for as long as I have been a fan, Nikon has been her mainstay, at least when it comes to “35 mm format” gear.

But her real “gear talent” is in using various flashes, lighting modifiers, reflectors, diffusers etc. to create lighting effects that people in the industry instantly recognize as being her style. The cameras and lenses she uses would not matter as much if she didn't understand light and her subjects and how to use all the tools at her disposal in a masterful way.

I have a friend: let's call him Gil to protect his privacy. He's been into photography about the same length of time Annie Leibovitz has been an established pro, almost 50 years. He too uses Nikon, and has stuck with it for his entire involvement in photography. He is a serious enthusiast, so he uses pro level gear, just as Annie Liebovitz does. He's even dabbled in becoming pro, but in his words “never got the right break”.

Gil has pretty much the same gear as Annie (a lot of photographers own the same gear as their favorite pros). He has about the same number of years using that gear. He has solid knowledge of how to use his cameras, as well as general concepts of lighting equipment and other “accessories” vital to photography. Yet, even if I revealed his name, you would have no idea who he is. A google search would only turn up his online gallery and Facebook page. There wouldn't be site upon site displaying his masterful work, or lauding his accomplishments as a photographer.

When it comes down to it, Gil is essentially just another G.W.C. (Guy With Camera).

Not that Gil doesn't love and enjoy photography. He does immensely. Still, he blames his failure to launch a pro photography business on “not getting the right break”, which is only partly true. I mean, he has the same gear as so many successful pros. He knows how to use it. What was it that kept him from getting his break?

It could be argued that he lacked business acumen or simply determination. However, I've seen many of his photos, and the reality is he lacked (and still lacks) real aesthetic imagination. A personal style. Even just some aspect of his photos that doesn't look like he's trying to copy one of his favorite pros.

Gil is technically a very good photographer. His knowledge and skill when it comes to using his gear on a technical level is outstanding, “professional level” in every way. The detail in his photos, the exposure, the color: all show he definitely has mastered his gear. The problem is they are highly detailed, well-exposed, wonderfully colorful photos of ordinary subjects captured in ordinary ways. Even when he tries to stretch himself, it's basically to try to copy some photo that has caught his eye.

Copying admirable photos is a great launchpad into improving both technical and aesthetic ability. That's Gil's problem: failure to launch. He is content to copy what someone else has done, in an albeit technically excellent way, and that's it. He's satisfied that he's done the same thing the pro he has copied has done.

Gil doesn't understand that his technical mastery is only part of the process of producing outstanding photos. It really can be, as the saying goes, the photographer rather than the gear.

That's not to say that good gear isn't important. In some genres, the right gear is essential. The fact is, though, that Annie's gear is a tool to realize her photographic vision, and that includes an assortment of lighting equipment that can literally fill up a delivery truck. Realizing her vision is also why she has always used an assortment of cameras and formats, as each photo, each assignment can have unique requirements in order to bring her vision to fruition.

But Annie Leibovitz years ago recommended the iPhone for people (non-professionals) asking about what kind of camera to buy. I can't confirm it, but I suspect she uses one for her personal “snapshots”. That wouldn't be unusual, since I know of a lot of pros who leave their “pro kits” behind and rely on simpler tools for their personal photos.

There are in fact a lot of professional shoots being done with iPhones or other smartphones. Here's the thing: in most cases, the lighting equipment is virtually the same, it's just the camera that is different. While some enthusiasts gush about how “pros demand” the utmost in image quality, the reality is a pro doing fashion shoots is at least as interested in taking photos that set him apart from hundreds or thousands of others doing fashion shoots. For some, using an iPhone has been the factor that sets them apart.

My point is to encourage people to not sell themselves short if they don't have premium gear. Look at photos you admire. Learn how they were made. Then find out how to produce images along the same lines with the gear you do have. Don't worry if the image quality isn't on par with photos taken with top of the line pro gear. Only be concerned that you are enjoying what you are doing, are making an effort to produce photos that are yours, rather than just copies of someone else's photos, and that in the end you can look at your photos and show them off to someone else with a smile on your face.