Don’t be a gear hound!

Oh, how tempting it is to buy buy buy! We pore over the B&H catalog or compile an online wish list. We can’t send the link to anyone because no one can afford a thing on the list. But there it is, waiting, just in case Ed McMahon pays us a visit sometime soon.

Every spare cent is spent acquiring the latest piece of gear. We’ve got a long way to go to get caught up to our photog buddies, so we put our heads down and work work work.

I’d like you to stop. And don’t buy anything new for a month. Yes, seriously. One month. I want you to get out your camera bag and completely empty it. Find the manuals for each piece of equipment that you have and place it with the item. If you don’t have a manual for something – download it from the www.

Now, learn how to use what you have. Learn it inside and out and then learn how to use it in the dark.

Take the batteries out of your camera and flash and stick the batteries in your pocket. Then close your eyes and put the batteries back in. Bet you can’t do it. Come back when you can.

Learn how to adjust your shutter speed and aperture without taking your eye from the viewfinder.

Go through your manuals and learn everything you can. Use your lenses at both ends of the aperture scale.

After you know everything about what you currently have, sit down and make a list. Decide what you still NEED.

NEED, not WANT.

I teach a couple of beginning photography classes. The introductory class is designed to learn on your current equipment. The only suggested purchase during the 4 week class is a $2 sheet of project board from the drug store for reflecting.

I have a philosophy that you should learn to use what you have to the best of your ability without making additional purchases. There is nothing more frustrating that paying tuition for a class to only be told that you must spend more money.

In my 102 class, I still don’t require additional purchases, but I do have each student bring every piece of gear that they own. In a recent class, one of the students brought the four lenses they currently owned and discussed the purchase of an additional lens that had caught their fancy.

I was familiar with the photographic interests and style of this student. They shot mostly floral macros and family photos of several children. The lens currently being coveted was a 30mm lens owned (and for sale) by a relative.

I asked the student why they wanted this lens. Although several reasons were given, none of them had anything to do with the capability of the lens or the meshing of that lens with the student’s particular interests or styles.

I think, too often, we think that more is better. I’m sure that folks taking a look into my camera bag right about now would accuse the pot of calling the kettle “black,” but there is not one lens in my bag that sits unused. I did buy a 10.5mm fisheye purely for fun and I do use it for 4-5 shots at each wedding, but it would be the first lens offered for sale if I got into a financial bind. Other than that – all my lenses are used on a regular basis.

There is no need to run out and buy the latest and greatest piece of equipment if you don’t truly NEED it.

I’m a big supporter of considering ROI (Return on Investment) when making purchases. If the item in question will help me make more money, then the purchase is warranted. If the item in question will add to my coolness factor or because the ROCKSTAR du jour has one, put it on the backburner until you’re rolling in the bucks and need to spend some money for tax reasons.