Master your tools

[@peternavanac9310]

Wow, phenomenally helpful advice. Taking and processing good pics involves massive number of possibilities. Only a few will give the best result. Keeping it simple, resisting being a master of many things and consistently practicing.

[@WalksInCamera]

'It felt right' is the best term! Agreed!

[@andycakebread7663]

Second that

[@scottcosta7119]

"Stick to one thing. ANYthing." You were talking to me, and I appreciate that. Thank you!

[@IsabelCurdes_photos]

I agree, we cannot create authentic work without giving ourselves time to learn, practice and develop. A new camera or lens can never replace that.

[@seaeagles6025]

Hi Adrian, it's a good idea to study the Masters, we can pick up some great composition tips. Spotting a good photo and knowing what to include in the scene and also what to exclude from the scene. Keeping it simple will make going out and enjoying taking photos. Thanks Adrian for your kind advice. 😊

[@fernandosocorro4175]

¡Asssúúca'! (Quoting our Goddess of Cubanness, Celia Cruz.) We can only achieve personal expression after mastering the technique through repetitive practice." Hot diggity dog damn. This brings to mind my embracing the notion of working with recurring themes. You approach the same concept of repetition but for achieving technical prowess that eventually feels instinctual. Bravisimo.

[@haraldwarholm2396]

Good to have you back, señor! 😊 Good advice, too.

[@robertmathieson1083]

Brilliant. Maybe it's stating the obvious but it's a great lesson to learn and put into practice.

[@jasongold6751]

Good Advice! One thing! Leica-M analogue cameras, with Leitz lenses are special! Soul! after 57 years working with my Leica-M 3 has soul.Can't compare to plastic hand held computers.. Fine chef meal vs MacD.

[@ianmacmillan6744]

Everyone! Listen and learn

[@innstikk]

While I agree that cameras are just tools to get a photo, there is another side... For me, the process of taking photos is as important as the photos. That one has cameras that one enjoy are an important part to the process. Some cameras I have had stayed home most of the time. One main reason was that I didn't like the handling, menus etc... Didn't bother to learn how to find the settings I suddenly needed hunching under an umbrella in the rain. A simplified way is to say that the camera didn't have a soul, not something that made me happy and I felt I could use it well. Long explanation, but I do have cameras I will never sell as I enjoy them every time I take them with me. 😊

[@AntoineSteen-f5l]

These are smart words, my friend. I totally agree with you.

[@justamanwithanopinion]

Using a camera is deceptively easy. Composition and using light is tough!

[@bernym4047]

I like to shoot landscapes. A rather slow moving subject. But I have missed the ideal lighting on occasion through 'messing' with my camrera. Great advice. Thank you

[@embracenoise]

Were you playing Bach?

[@EdwardMartinsPhotography]

Digital - recklessness. Film - more sacred, more precious, more important. Recklessness doesn't induce discipline. Reverence does. But these attributes are what the photographer brings to the art and can be adapted. Approaching digital with the reverence and sacredness of film, while maintaining digital's effortless and inexpensive experimentation can be great. But it does require effort on the part of the photographer. Or even a recognition of the concepts.

[@mikafoxx2717]

I sort of disagree - you will get far more practice with digital and also more pictures you otherwise wouldn't have taken that you might fall in love with later. Sure, you can take more bad photos as well. Delete them. As he said, moments are fleeting, they come and go very quickly and more practice and automatic features mean it'll likely get a good result when you don't have the time to try with film, plus you'll waste a lot more bad shots on film if you don't have the time to set everything up perfectly, and if you can, both will give you great results. More can go wrong with film as well.

[@EdwardMartinsPhotography]

@@mikafoxx2717 Practice? maybe. But if you think less about what you are doing because it's so much easier, you will accomplish much less. Moments may be fleeting, but there is no substitute for practice and skill regardless of which medium you use. I'm a lot more confident in Michael Kenna using 40 year old Hasselblads and 10 rolls of film coming back with a photograph vs a person new to photography using an A1 II and $10,000 worth of lenses whose taken 1000's of frames of the same subjects. But the same would be true if Michael Kenna used the A1 mark II as well. So it's not the gear, it's the mind experience and practice of the photographer that counts.

[@mikafoxx2717]

@EdwardMartinsPhotography Very true. I just mean that people with less budget can afford to take more photos and more practice, that need not apply to a gear chaser with an A1 mkii.