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This has happened a few times of late.

You're showing some of your fave pix to friends & family, and they seem be enjoying them. They go on to say "You must have a fantastic camera". My reply is usually something along the lines of "Yes, I do, but....."

So how much of it is the camera and how much of it is me?? I should run some experiments on this me thinx. Mix up some good shots taken with a cheap 2 or 3 megapixel camera with some taken with the d70 and see their reactions.

Until then, I'll just take em as cryptic compliments

The size of the pictures, that's your camera.

The skills, that's you.

Believe it or not.

That's like to saying to a great Chef, "You must have bloody fantastic pots and pans!" or to Picasso, "You must have fabulous pencils!", or to Mozart, "You must have a magic piano!".

Kab,

Matt makes some very salient points.

Putting a slightly different spin on the question (or perhaps answer), whenever something goes wrong, my first choice for the problem is that it's something that I'm doing wrong.

And as good as the camera might be, if something goes right and I happen to make a good image ... well, that's me too.

Funny the same thing happened to me yesterday. This girl at work asked to see my photos. There's nothing I'd rather do so we flick through them and she can't believe how cool they are etc, and said, I guess you must have a great camera. I just looked at her and said, "yeah, that's it"

Didn't really know what else to say, and not sure it would've made any difference. I think that before I knew anything about photography, I didn't know what made a good photo either. I probably would have assumed that it was the camera too. In fact when I first started a few years back with a film PHD, I was pretty sure the problem with the pictures was the camera.

dooda,
You're bad boy
1/ still awake at this time while the wife away.
2/ Show the girl at work your photos

Go to bed otherwise, you're in trouble

Here she is. A real charmer.

Yes, she's

Doodles,

Thats the look she gave when you opened your bare chest and she saw your huuuuge pecs.

Mic.

Mic,

I thought I was more subtle than that. What I didn't mention is that I cloned out the drool all over her chin. An ape's pecs have that effect.

Its a real hard one this one, and really hard to explain to people

You can take a snapshot on the D70 and have a great looking photo compared to what people see out of the digicams, especially if you do a little bit of PP. They usually are just better looking photos in general with regards to sharpness and things like DOF isolation.

So, from that point of view, a 'good' camera does definitely give a better result. However, the good camera also gives you far more latitude to take a really bad photo because of the artistic options you have. Conversely, in the hands of a really great photographer, they would probably get far better pics out of the P&S than you or I can.

Even we photographers suffer from the same problem to a degree. 'My pictures will be better if I had XXX lens or camera'. In some cases this is true, situations where you need specialized lenses to capture an image as you see it in your mind (eg macro or long telephoto's). In most cases, the better gear will just make the job EASIER or give you more options to apply creativity (eg faster lens gives more viable f-stops in low light without upping ISO).

My usual response is that a good camera does help, but that its only half the story. What makes a great photograph still comes down to the vision of the chimp holding the camera.

robboh wrote:What makes a great photograph still comes down to the vision of the chimp holding the camera.

Thanks for the recognition, but I'm an ape, not a chimp. Two different things. Atleast you're thinking about me.

thats funny....I've had the same thing happen to me as well. I think people that are not photography-minded see good photos and instantly assume that the technology inside the latest and greatest cameras produce these wonderful images.

These days, it is so easy to snap away, upload the pics to PC, do a little PP and then distribute to friends & family....the photog seems to get lost in the equation somewhere along the lines.

I think we all know how hard we work to get that "great shot", and I guess it can be a little disheartening when you show the average Joe and they look at it and say, "WOW, you must have a great camera !".

Perhaps we should start replying back with, "My camera is fantastic, you know I really love it. However, it's the person behind the camera that makes the shot great....not the camera !"

...of course, then they'd just think you're pompous and full of yourself

Or when they say "wow, you must have a great camera" we should reply:
"Nah, I took this one on a disposable P&S.....you should see the ones I took on my D70"

Aussie Dave wrote:...of course, then they'd just think you're pompous and full of yourself

Thats the hard part. Trying to get across that it isnt just the camera, without making it sound like you are an up-yourself pratt

Won't be a problem with me as they already think I'm pratty.