Creativity is Born in Times of War
Many of the many e-mails I get from aspiring photographers start with “I only have …” Usually followed by an entry level DSLR and a lens or 2. Well, I started out too with only …
Many of the greatest inventions and most tasty dishes where invented in times of war. Times when people had limited resources and had to rely on their creativity to get by. There is creativity on a esthetical level but there’s also the creativity to improvise with what you have available. I think photographers need both kinds of creativity.
Owning a limited amount of gear shouldn’t hold anyone back from becoming a better photographer. Off course as a pro you don’t want to show up with just a Holga on a big shoot but in your quest to become a photographer having limited gear will force you to think on your feet and be creative with what you have. I guarantee you that this experience will come in handy sooner or later.
A few weeks ago I was talking to an avid amateur photographer who complained that it’s impossible to make good pictures at a party without lots of expensive gear. In an attempt to prove him wrong, I played around with my little compact camera at a cool party. High iso on this thing sucks big time and I couldn’t use off-camera flash … or could I? I noticed the DJ had this stroboscope. Usually these things have some kind of connection to the sound so they can flash at the beat of the music. And even if it’s controlled manually the music will probably influence the guy who flicks the switch. So I watched to discover a pattern while trying to feel the beat. I discovered there always was a double flash at a certain point in the rhythm. I tricked my Ixus into using a shutterspeed of 1 second, that’s long enough to capture a flash that you know will happen at a certain beat. First I tried capturing the second flash only but a happy mistake learned me that capturing both flashes in the shot worked actually better.
Could I have made better pictures if I had all my gear with me? Probably so, and I could have certainly made more good shots. But that’s not the point here. I wasn’t hired to shoot this party (in fact I spend quite a lot of money on beers) so I had no obligations at all. I do this all the time, just go out and shoot with limited equipment (and preferably what’s considered the worst choice of gear for the occasion) seeing what I can get out of it.
More often than not you learn something on the way. Next time I have to shoot a party with access to all my gear, I might place an off-camera flash in the same position the stroboscope was. I’ll probably try to trigger it twice manually to see what I get. That’s something I would never have tried if I hadn’t discovered the effect.
HAVING LIMITED GEAR IS NOT A DISADVANTAGE BUT AN ASSET!!!
So true. I often seem to forget this, thanks for the reminder.
Oh so true and reckonisable: necessity is the mother of invention. Limitations are great, though I prefer the ones I set myself
.
I love these flashes of insight when a negative thought (“why don’t I have” or “why didn’t I bring”) turns into something positive like “what if I tried this …”
I think (a part of) the strobist motto sums it up quite nice: less gear, more brain. Plus your back isn’t killing you at the end of a days shooting.
Great post! I’ve made “do more with less” something of a motto, and try not to upgrade until some piece of gear is absolutely holding me back. It’s amazing how far you can go with good (but maybe not professional) equipment.
That’s a great picture Bert, I would never have guessed it was taken on a simple compact camera.
Guess you stood the camera on the bar to keep it stable for 1 second
)
Thanks! I’m happy you are making us awake again.
I couldn’t agree more, Bert.
Funnily enough, I was talking with another photographer today about the use of prime, fixed-focal length lenses – a great discipline for really pushing yourself to explore the subject and think about light, composition etc.
I, too, am all for sharing information – hence running a blog also. One of the things I’m always trying to get across is that it’s not always about the equipment. The sooner people learn this the better… and the more creative they will become.
Yet one more illustration to the fact that photographer makes the picture, not the camera! Completely agree with you Bert.
Now if only I had an IXUS I could take pictures like that, too….. oh, wait a second…
Awesome post! I find myself every now and than thinking “if only I had….” Thanks for the reminder that creativity has no price tag
Greetings form Munich,
Phil
Seriously killer example of using what you’ve got.
The image is truly great and the story behind it has to make one stop and think “Okay, time to stop compaining about what I don’t have and concentrate on becoming better with what I do have.”
Damien Franco
I often overlooked this, but not so long ago I realized that too. I recently saw a chart, which showed that in times where the worldwide economy is really down, there are a lot more innovations… For me thats about the same.
thx for sharing my opinion
@Pat: it was handheld at 2.30am, all those beers make for a good stabiliser I guess
Very wise words. I have been very guilty of those words “if only I had a …” in the past but how right you are when you say that the photographer’s creativity can be enhanced with a “make do” attitude. Certainly this photograph is testament to that. What a great photo which truly portrays the atmosphere within the club. Its great to see the upsurge of interest in so called “toy cameras” such as the Lomo cameras. These truly are crude little beasts with plastic lenses and light leaks all over the place but many terrific photographs are produced with them.
Well said. Our only limitation is between our ears.
[...] 9:08 pm Ingedeeld onder: broodkast, fotografie Bert Stephani zei het een paar dagen geleden op z’n blog: Je hebt niet per se een uit de kluiten gewassen reflex camera nodig om leuke foto’s te [...]
[...] states in his columns that equipment doesn’t matter, and Bert Stephani goes as far as to say that having limited gear is an asset, not a disadvantage. These are photographers at the top of their game, so you’ll forgive me for reffering to them. See [...]
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