Just got finished reading an article by a portrait photographer where the author address one of the most irritating comments photographers receive: your camera takes great pictures!
She very eloquently compares that comment to giving the oven credit for someone's decadent masterpiece.
Imagine that you’re baking dessert for a party. It’s your special recipe: the one everyone asks for. You make it from scratch, of course, never looking at the recipe that you committed to memory so long ago. Sugar, beaten eggs, sift in the flour… you’re crafting something delicious from basic elements. Now you’re at the party and everyone is gushing about your dessert. The flavor! The texture! But most of all you’re being asked, “what kind of oven do you have? It makes great cakes!”
That’s pretty much how a photographer feels when people look at their photos and say, “your camera takes great pictures.”
Then she goes on to hand her expensive camera which "takes great pictures" to a non photographer and she compares his photos to hers. http://www.erinfarrellphotography.com/theblog/?p=817
I'll admit, comments like that do bother me a little. Not that I need credit for what I do, because lets face it, I know all about the hundreds of hours I put into mastering my craft, I don't need you to tell me.
But the reason it bothers me is that I know the same person who would go out and spend $3k to get a camera like mine really cares about the quality of the images they present. And I know they are going to be really disappointed when they realize that a great camera doesn't take pro quality photos any more than a great oven makes you a master chef.
On a side note, my cooking really does suck, but I don't plan on purchasing a new oven any time soon.
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Sandy Jagmin
Brick Road Visuals
We offer professional photography, virtual tour production, and property marketing tools in Northwest Arkansas.
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