I was out driving my Honda the other day and a guy pulled up next to me in a Vette, I sure felt outgunned.
Then on that same trip I was going through a wealthy part of town and all the houses were far bigger and nicer than mine.
Then I stopped at the store and I saw another guy who had a wife was was more beautiful than mine.
I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, then I went to shoot a game and there was a photographer with a D3x. Darn, the one area in my life where I can feel better than the other, because I've got at D3 and now I don't even have that
But then I saw a kid at the game shooting with a film camera and some slow Vivitar like zoom lens.
And you know what, he was happy to be there and happy to be taking photos.
Didn't seem to care at all that other people had nicer stuff, he was simply doing the best he could with what he's got.
So perhaps we all can learn a bit from that kid and stop worrying about if the guy next to you is richer or has a nicer car or more expensive camera and just enjoy what you've got.
Lens envy is really just a step above looking over at the guy in the next urinal to you in my book and no want to shooting, nor in a restroom with that sort of guy lol
Last spring I put a used 5D on a credit card right before wedding season. $1600. One of the best ideas I ever had. Paid it off in a month. ONly had a 20D otherwise.
J ADEE wrote:
My main focus in photography is ATV and 4x4 motorsports. I shoot at a lot of big events and always feel out gunned when I see another photog with 10x the equipmnet that I have.
I saw the Allman Brothers live a couple of years ago. The opening act was Moe. They had a couple of dozen guitars on stage and one or the other guitarist swapped every couple of songs.
The Allman Bros featured Derek Trucks and Warren Hayes. Derek played one Gibson SG the whole gig. Warren swapped guitars once, when he broke a string. I doubt either of them was put off by the spread Moe'd had.
Someone will always have more gear and better gear. Some will be pros who own their equipment, others will be pros using pool gear, and yet others will be amateurs and hobbyists. That's just life. No big deal.
During my first LPGA event I remember seeing an guy running around with two older bodies and nothing focally larger than 70mm. He was surrounded by other photographers with D3's and Mark III's along with lenses in the 400mm - 600mm range. Yet he didn't have the look of someone who felt "outgunned". As a matter of fact he was shooting for Getty and seemed to be having fun.
As far as how someone acquires their gear is of no consequence.
Jul 09, 2009 at 11:49 PM
Andre Labonte Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
Steve Perry wrote:
But in this context, if you don't have all the toys you'd be a dead loser - and the guy with all the toys would be making fun of you for all eternity.
Ah, but when he dies, I take all HIS stuff and then I have both his and my stuff!!!! Then I have the most. Alive and more gear!
poisonpill wrote:
Are there no Buddhists here? Isn't nothingness the goal?
I'm no buddhist, but I like the idea. Minimalism is challenging and therefore a good thing in many ways. But you can be a minimalist with very expensive gear. Just a few of them.
I find myself walking around with my 40/2 all of the time, not bringing even one of the other 7 lenses I have. I also like its smallness, which makes the camera unobtrusive and easy to handle.
The less people notice me, the better I feel when photographing. That's sort of a task if you like really good image quality, since the manufacturers have decided that FF cameras must be huge.
Let the gunners outgun you if they feel better. I feel better if I don't.
