Hold it Steady!!

During a conversation yesterday I was surprised at how much blame a fellow photographer placed on the equipment he using rather than his technique. He’s been having trouble with blurred images and is losing too many shots. He’s using Canon gear and he’s putting the problem it down to the maximum sync speed oft the 5D, the Speedlights and Elinchrom studio stobes he uses. No matter what he does he gets a very large number of unsharp images. 

He’s looking at the equipment as being the problem rather than his technique. What he’s getting is camera-shake – he simply can’t hold a camera steady. When pushed he’ll admit this but he still thinks a different model camera or brand of flash will fix it.

It’s amazing how photography engenders this mentality. Digital has meant that a lot of people have to have a camera that gives the biggest file size. Maybe it’s insecurity – maybe having the latest camera is reassuring. 

The equipment you use is important and good equipment often costs more but it doesn’t make you a better photographer. In the end it comes down to what you do with it. I use Profoto, rather than the Elinchom gear everyone I assisted, because I find it more reliable and it just works, not because I think it’ll make me a better photographer.

The friend is making the mistake of blaming the equipment rather than looking at what part he plays in it. It’s technique – if he learns how to hold his camera steady and be more gentle with the shutter button he’ll get sharper results. As Joe McNally says in his excellent book “The Moment it Clicks” 

“No matter how many megapixels you’ve got inside that fancy machine you hold in your hands, they aren’t worth beans if you don’t hold your camera steady”.

You can buy Joe’s book here.