Recently, I’ve gone back to the basics of photography to reconnect with my roots just because… and what this has afforded me is the opportunity to see things from a completely different perspective or in simpler words; from the perspective of experience. When getting into photography, it’s easy to get your ideals set using other people’s opinions and when you work with these, even as you progress, since its what you’ve always done, even when you find out new truths or easier ways to perform certain tasks, it becomes hard to break habit or unlearn these doctrines.
Today We will briefly peek into some of these myths and try to debunk them.
- Primes Are Better Than Zooms: I’m a prime lens advocate (being one with only prime lenses in my kit bag) but zoom lenses are pretty spot on these days. Prior to DSLRs and Mirrorless Cameras, zoom lenses are the distinct feel of not producing tack sharp images and so were avoiding and some photographers carried the same ideals into the current era but with auto focusing systems getting better and better by the minute (I’m talking bout the Nikon Z9. Yes, Nikon shooters, I’m giving you all your flowers) and the build of these lenses getting lighter whilst maintaining top notch image quality, prime lens images are becoming indistinguishable from prime lens images.
- Strobe Shooters are the True Masters of Photography: Mastering off-camera flash photography doesn’t make you a master of photography any much more than someone who shoots with artificial continuous light or natural ambient light. Knowing how to shoot with both light sources does put you at an advantage but does it make you a master of photography? No. That’s a title that’s almost impossible to earn but when I figure out the status where you earn it; I’ll be sure to update you all.
- Mirrorless Cameras are better than DSLRs: This is no myth. Unless you’re one that loves the bulky nature of DSLRs then go ahead but the ease that mirrorless cameras provide cannot be shunned. A couple of years back, one would have made the argument for DSLRs because of their superior battery life but current mirrorless cameras come with great battery life (asides from the Canon R5C but that’s a mirrorless camera-sized cinema camera so it doesn’t count).
- You should only shoot RAW as opposed to JPEG: So this is a Apples to Oranges type of situation. Depending on what you’re shooting or what your camera shoots is what is going to be the final deciding factor in a situation like that. Modern point and shoot cameras are capable of shooting RAW but if you’re shooting with the intent to publish straight to social media then you’re better off shooting JPEGs but if you’re going to pop that/those images into some post processing application, then shoot RAW cost that will offer the best range for edits.
- Gear doesn’t Matter: This is a big LIE. Gear does matter but its unavailability shouldn’t keep you from trying to put out work. There are certain styles and techniques of photography that you can’t execute without the right gear but that shouldn’t stop you from trying with what you have to achieve something else.
There are so many myths out that that we didn’t explore in this post (drones will replace aerial helicopter cameras and their pilots are one of those hence it’s important every now and again to push yourself off the pedestal that you (and sometimes your client) put yourselves on and go back to the basics. You do deserve that pedestal though so when you’re done relearning, get back on that throne and accept your flowers; you earned them.
