Vision vs equipment

[honozooloo]

Equipment = That thing in your hand that you point at the stuff you're photographing.

Vision = The reason you point any camera at something you want to photograph.

Personally, I believe Vision > Equipment every day of the week...the Equipment is merely a means, your Vision is always the end.

 

[helen.HH]

Certainly they Work together
But Without 'Vision' it won't matter what equipment You use...

 

[isorgb]

"Vision Without Action is a Daydream, Action Without Vision is a Nightmare." - Japanese Proverb.

and this sentence should be the mantra!

Picture has 'something'. What is something? Your vision(!) could be .....
.....
....
...
..
.

Take one lens on one camera and do your vision.

 

[lukitas]

I agree that vision is more important than equipment, but equipment comes first.

The use of equipment has to be learned first. Vision is about learning to look, equipment is about learning to shoot. Different things, and, as in the japanese proverb, they become meaningless without each other.

Cheers

 

[Mcary]

Today, the thought struck me that "I am buying (too many) cameras and lenses in search of a vision".

Except I don't know exactly how that vision should look, but I think that I will know when I see it.

Does that make sense?

How long do you use a piece of gear before you decided its not providing the vision that you're looking for? Have you ever thought that "Vision" has been just over the next hill, but because you keep switching/trying different gear you keep ending up back were you started?

Just wanted to add that I think this is something we've all done at one time or another when we've feel like we've reached a plateau and feel stagnated and most of the time sure enough that new piece of gear makes everything seem fresh and new but more often then not the effect is short lived.............

 

[x-ray]

Guilty here

I'm guilty too. I enjoy using fine equipment. I do however get the guilt thing if I dont use a piece of equipment. If I use it regularly then no problem if I don't use it it's gear lust and that's bad. For instance I have 3 50's for my Leicas. I use two, one on my M bodies I use on most projects and one on my CL I carry in my car. I have a beautiful Summitar that just sits in my safe and I'm starting to feel guilty because it just sits there. Oops forgot I have a Russian copy of an Elmar too but that hardly counts. What happens to me is I get the guilt thing then later regret selling it and buy one back for a higher price.

 

[nikon_sam]

I had a vision but couldn't get it with the gear I had...then I bought a 4x5 view camera...that allowed me to get the vision or look I was after...
I had the Mamiya m645 then bought the WLF for it and that gave me a new vision I wasn't even aware of...

 

[farlymac]

One's photographic vision is so individualized, it's hard to say how much equipment has to do with it in general terms. The only way to find out is to experiment with as many forms as you can, until you either hit on what is you, or run out of inspiration.

PF

 

[mfunnell]

My photographic hobby comes in two parts, which are only somewhat related to each other.

One part is my interest in taking photographs - mostly assorted types of the "documentation" variety (birds & wildlife, travel, friends & family etc.) and with the intention of adding "something" (whatever that may be) to the documentary value of the photographs. I'm not sure how well I succeed in the latter part of this, but I'm trying and like to think that I'm getting better at it.

The second part is my interest in cameras and other photographic gear (but often mostly cameras). Much of this is exploring different types of cameras and working out what they're good at, and what they're not. How they're best used, the tasks they're suited for and things they seem unsuited to. The types of cameras that suit me - or that I just plain like - and ones that don't etc. Some of that feeds back into my interest in taking photographs (knowing what gear to use to take a particular type of photo I'm after) but much of it doesn't. A lot of it is working with (or, really, playing with) gear just to see what it's like to use - even if I've no real need for it to take the types of photos I want.

I've mostly settled on the equipment I use to take photos when I'm setting out with that as my primary purpose, and I don't change it much (though, as it happens, I did make a few changes in 2014 - for the first time in about 6 years). That doesn't stop me from having, and using, and playing with other equipment and possibly won't stop me from trying more things. I have exhausted exploring many of the cheaper and more straightforward options, though, so that will likely slow down (but still leave me with many toys to play with).

I don't see anything wrong with or contradictory between either aspect of my photographic interests. I can like both taking photographs of the kind that appeal to me and playing with different kinds of equipment, even if I don't need to for a particular photographic purpose.

...Mike

 

[emraphoto]

It sounds like you need to spend more time thinking about what interests you about photography. What are you trying to communicate through your work? Or are you using photography as a means of understanding the world?

Gear is never going to help you find your vision...

some wise words. gear can be a trap for some folks. i am not criticizing anyone with a passion for cool cameras, i am one of them. for me, the image making is a whole other world.

developing vision, in my opinion, takes a little training and a mountain of commitment. there are a lot of stops along the way that can steer one away from the idea of vision. clients being number 1

 

[Paul Jenkin]

I became a keen photographer at the turn of my teens in 1973/4. I had a very basic 35mm SLR and a couple of not very good lenses. I got what I could out of them, given my subjects were shooting m/cycle speedway and landscapes.

I started work in 1979 and became friends with a local pro who had more wrk than he could handle and took on some of his surplus on a part-time basis. I upgraded to a simple but good OM rig. I got hooked and started to see all the gear that was available from Nikon, Canon, Pentax and others - but I could afford very little of it.

When I gave up the paid weddings and portraits (which I actually disliked doing - but the cash was useful) I settled down to having a decent, if uninspiring, set of kit and lived with it for many years. Then digital hit and the price of s/hand film gear of all formats bombed. As a result, I could start to buy and use the sort of gear of which I'd only been able to dream 20 years previously.

I've owned way too much gear but it's been fun. My "vision" is what's been lacking and it's something I'm only now starting to really consider at the age of 53. I have some nice 35mm and MF kit and a refurbished 5x4 MPP. I'm hoping to either develop or find my vision. Im not a pro, so it's not the be-all or end-all if I don't become a world-renowned landscape fine-artist and I don't seek approbation - but I'd be lying if I said it wouldn't be nice if other people found what I did at least interesting or worthy of a second look.

 

[Daniel Teoli Jr.]

Today, the thought struck me that "I am buying (too many) cameras and lenses in search of a vision".

Except I don't know exactly how that vision should look, but I think that I will know when I see it.

Does that make sense?

Test them all out.

Pick out what serves you best.

Shoot the hell out of them.

Sell the rest.

 

[FrankS]

I have no lack of gear which would limit my vision. 🙂

 

[Hsg]

Gear is a set of tools and like all tools its about suitability for the task in hand.

Vision, in my opinion, is a desire for self expression. Its not that you know what the vision is but you have the desire to go out and find out... but how do you make a connection from gear to vision?

If your vision is to capture street scenes, street photography, then you can think about what is a suitable camera for photographing on the streets. A compact and discreet camera is what you need. But then such a camera can range from a Leica M to a P&S, which one do you decide on?

For some that is an easy decision for others its a constant struggle. If your circle of friends shoot Leica, you're more likely to shoot Leica too, if your friends shoot Lomo and Holga, you'll do the same, if you're someone who likes to be different then you pick a camera that none of your friends use... Or you leave all that aside and pick the best camera for your need at the best price point.

But what about the cases where gear inspires someone to go out and photograph? I'd say in that case gear is part of the vision. If someone really likes to photograph with a certain camera then that is their vision.

Vision needs the right tools and sometimes the right tools inspire vision.

 

[gb hill]

I just won't a bigger bag to carry my equipment so I can photograph my vision.😀