I am a photographer without all the latest and greatest gadgets

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Neare

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I am a photographer.
I don't own anything like smart phones, ipads, macbooks, fancy shmancy this and that...

You look through flickr and people put their "in my bag" photos up. They have these classy leather bags, trendy notebooks and expensive pens not to mention an obsession with apple. It seems as if photography and 'accessorizing' go hand in hand.

I've got a phone, it's 6 years old and has a cracks, the cover to the speaker fell off and half of the paint has worn off. It has traveled around the world with me and to this date, works absolutely fine. I does all that I need a cellphone to do, calls and texts... I don't actually own anything that offers gimmicky conveniences and I don't feel any need to.

Am I the only one in this boat? Or do most photographers pride themselves on owning all this stuff? And if so, why?
 
Are you serious, am I offending people by bringing up this topic?

There is a clear trend regarding this, I think it can be a valid discussion.
 
Who cares what you own? What matters is your photographs. Do they suck or are they good? Who cares what anyone owns. There are plenty of people who buy Leicas to use as jewelry, carried in luxury bags, using stuff they don't know how to use just to show off their money. Doesn't matter to me, because my work is better than 99% of them.

For those of us who do this professionally, having the best gear is a matter of having stuff that works perfectly, no flaws that get in the way of working. I like equipment designed and made so well that it works smoothly without me having to think about the gear, I can just use it. Things you have to fight with, like the Windows OS, reduce my productivity and my profits, and my family depends on me making money and my clients depend on me getting the work done right, done fast, with no excuses.
 
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I don't have a lot of stuff like that but then again I live a little differently than most people. Were it not for an odd series of events in the last couple years I'm sure I'd have all that stuff you listed and more 🙂 Now I'm trying to learn to be minimal in some ways, but only because the way I want to live/the things I want to do aren't really compatible with buying lots of cool **** and drinking good wine (much to my disappointment when it comes to the last part 🙁 )
 
Seriously though I think Christopher is right, if you are a photographer it's how you use what you own. those people you talk about are irrelevant to the majority of people who are concerned with image and statement. My phone is simple too and my cameras all old as the hills but that means nothing.
 
^ Yeah, alright. I do agree with Chris

@Leigh common 😀

But people must have noticed how a lot of photographers love their gadgets, a lot more than people in other fields.
 
I think its an interesting topic, since film users can be judged by many as clinging to the past, and LF and MF shooters especially so. The resurgence in the past 20 years or so of Alt Process work also runs against the grain of having the latest and greatest equipment. Speaking of photographic jewellry, the best pictures I've ever taken on film cameras was with my OM1 and OM-2, and with my old Crown Graphic. I took totally crap pix with my M3 Double Stroke, but took very good pix with my Razzle 4x5; go figure.
I currently use a BB 8700 phone as all I need is a phone to talk to people with and text messaging; no internet necessary on my phone.
And for those saying 'who cares what you use' perhaps if you looked around you would notice you are on the RANGEFINDER FORUM, which is a very exclusive group where you can be a member IF you use a rangefinder camera... thus, rather obviously, everyone who belongs to this group cares that you are in fact a rangefinder user.
 
Let those people you talk about buy things that they don't know how to use or to show off their money, and like Chris said, don't worry about them. I am not exactly sure what you were trying to accomplish in posting this... So you don't have fancy gear, okay sweet, just go out and shoot!

Andy
 
This isn't about me caring about these people guys, I assure you what they buy affects nothing regarding my photography.

I was hoping people would answer the question I asked at the end of the post...
 
Wait, let me make it easier.

This is my hypothesis - "Photography and trendiness go hand in hand."

Prove or disprove it...
 
Neare said:
Wait, let me make it easier.

This is my hypothesis - "Photography and trendiness go hand in hand."

Prove or disprove it...
Click to expand...

You can say that about any hobby. My grandfather and I used to go fly fishing together. That's a hobby as gadget and trend oriented as you say photography is.

Grandpa and I had custom built fly rods made with grips to fit our hands and rod blanks chosen to match our casting styles. They cost $600 each, if I remember right, and we each had a couple of them. I have all of them now, since he died. Even though the reel is basically just used to hold the line, not to cast or reel in the fish (you pull the line in with your hand), many fly fishermen buy ungodly expensive reels made by machining the reel from a solid block of aluminum. They buy costly vests similar to those many photographers wear, buy expensive handmade wooden nets made with laminated strips of wood that cost hundreds of dollars. We had thousands of dollars worth of expensive furs and feathers and tools to tie our own flies.

You don't NEED any of this. An off the shelf rod works as well as a custom made one, expensive reels are a waste of money, you don't even need a net to lift the fish from the water and a cheap aluminum one would work just fine. The only reason to buy any of that stuff is to show off that you're wealthy enough to do so since fly fishing is seen as an aristocratic pastime (unlike bass fishing, a redneck sport, for example). Of course, I often fly fished for bass...was that a middle class sport since it combined rich-man's fly fishing with redneck bass fishing? LOL

Did having costly fly gear make grandpa and I better fishermen, or worse fishermen? Neither! It had no effect, so it didn't matter.

Is Photography trend oriented? For some it is, just like it is for some fishermen, or some motorcycle riders (Harley, anyone?), or golfers, or painters, or anyone else. You choose what you need and you use it and guess what, it is none of anyone else's business what you choose, unless you are making them pay for it!
 
myoptic said:
And for those saying 'who cares what you use' perhaps if you looked around you would notice you are on the RANGEFINDER FORUM, which is a very exclusive group where you can be a member IF you use a rangefinder camera... thus, rather obviously, everyone who belongs to this group cares that you are in fact a rangefinder user.
Click to expand...

I belonged to RFF for several years before I ever owned or even used a rangefinder camera! You do not have to have an RF camera to be here. There are SLR forums here and forums for film processing, digital editing, making money with photography, discussing art, etc. These are applicable to users of any kind of camera, and I hung out here because RFF's people were knowledgeable and it was a friendly community where I felt welcome.
 
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