Excuse Me? Why, Yes, My Camera DOES Take Great Pictures. Thank You For Noticing That
Apr 22, 2015
Missy Mwac
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“Excuse me?
Why, yes, my camera DOES take great pictures. Thank you for noticing that. You have a keen eye and a very good sense about these things-not everyone does. Well done!
But can I share something with you? I mean no disrespect to my camera but…it didn’t used to take great pictures. I mean, not at all.
I bought it because I’d heard how good these nicer cameras were, so I was expecting great things from mine, but when I got home and opened the box, it didn’t do anything. Nothing at all. For what I paid, I expected it to jump out of the box and work with people to get great expressions and select locations and create natural posing and compose images filled with warmth and beauty and light, but nope. Nada. Zip. Zilch. What a loser it was.
It simply refused to do anything. It just lay there, motionless, like me after my 5th margarita.
I thought it was broken. I even considered taking it back to the store to replace it with one of those nicer cameras that take the Great Pictures.
And then, a thought occurred to me: if the camera was going to take the Great Pictures, I was going to have to show it what to do.
Kind of like a puppy.
And so, I’ve worked with it over the years. We’ve trained together almost every day. It hasn’t been easy. There were times I let it try to do it on its own and sure enough, it blew out the sky or put the wrong part of the image in focus and we had to start over. It was frustrating, but after a lot of hard work and dedication, it’s finally taking those Great Pictures.
So, again, thank you for the compliment and for liking my Great Pictures. It’s taken years of training, but I think, finally, my camera gets it.“
xoxo
About The Author
Lynn Cartia (AKA Missy Mwac) is a photographer/eater of bacon/drinker of vodka and a guide through the murky waters of professional photography. You can follow her social media links here: Facebook, Tumblr. This article was originally published here and shared with permission. Lead image by glasseyes view.
[P.S. Editor note: of course this is not the only response….]
We love it when our readers get in touch with us to share their stories. This article was contributed to DIYP by a member of our community. If you would like to contribute an article, please contact us here.
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17 responses to “Excuse Me? Why, Yes, My Camera DOES Take Great Pictures. Thank You For Noticing That”
Easier is, “Thank you. Your mouth pays nice compliments.”
I have been training with my camera for years. Several cameras in fact. And still they don’t do anything right if I’m not telling them in detail what to do. But let me tell you, the trainer has become better at instructing. And together we make a great team. :)
Or say “Yeah, it sure cost me a lot”. I am still kinda dismayed with the endless flow of articles where photographers scream to the world “I take (make) those great pictures, the camera is just a tool, I and only I deserve all the praise and glory” Like the praise from somebody who is complimenting you on your camera really meant something. It sounds more like it comes from a random strange, trying to strike a chit chat conversation than anything. Why would you be pissed about that.
Or you know, they honestly feel that the camera does all the work and you are just pressing the shutter regardless of whether it is true or not.
I must say, that it never happened to me once, at least as I can recall, that anybody would say that to me. Maybe it is because most people around me see me with some 70’s SLR around my neck and such compliment in their mind applies only for the cameras in the digital realm. I am not saying “go analog” or “photoshop more”, perish the thought, but if people around you feel that you are just pointing the camera and pressing the shutter, you might want to think a bit about that. Maybe it is true and you are just pressing shutter and applying latest set of filter presets in LR you bought once because you had a voucher…
This all is besides the fact, that some cameras does take great pictures and photographers pay big buck for them and I am not talking (just) about leicas here. “Yes my lastest Phase One does take great pictures”, “Yes my Linhof Technikardan with Schneider lenses does take great pictures”.
To conclude “Big deal”.
Great no, big.
♡
Cameras don’t photograph people; people photograph people.
Isn’t any one else tired of this whiny response? People just think what they think. If someone looks at my photos and comments about the camera, I don’t take it as an insult. You know what? My camera does take great photos, and I invested a lot of money and time understanding what I need to make great images. And that’s part of what makes me a great photographer.
photographers, the biggest hypocrites on the planet. They’ll circlejerk over gear and justify why they need gear so much, then when someone says that they take all the credit for the gear they justified. Also, “Never work for free” yet will post “looking for a stylist, model, make-up artist, assistant” all day/nopay.
Thank you Rob Timko. Glad I’m not alone in feeling this way.
Seriously. Glad you mentioned the money thing too. That’s another one that keeps coming up. I’d much rather see articles that encourage and teach photographers how to increase and protect their prices, instead of whiny victimizing bullcrap that complains about people asking for free work.
A simple “Thanks, I taught it everything it knows” works for me.
It’s same story. Nothing new. I do not pay attention to such remarks.
my wife’s oven made the best lasagna last night. Man, that stove can really cook.
Lauren Langley! Haha!
Perfect.
I think it’s possible for people to appreciate both the composition and other artistic aspects of great photography AND the stunning image quality you can get from modern cameras. Often people are unconsciously reacting to the depth of field/subject isolation, dynamic range, color rendering, sharpness and microcontrast that you don’t see on P&S or cell phones. It’s a recognition that the gear unlocks creative possibilities and provides IQ that gives a well-composed shot some pop.
And let’s face it, it doesn’t take years of practice to catch some nice light and get a bokeh-rific portrait with a good camera and a fast enough lens.
Congrats on training your camera! Mine has been a little more stubborn, but is mostly doing what I tell it to do.