What I find fascinating (and baffling), especially when it comes to photographic gear but seemingly it applies to most everything else, is that for many photographers no matter how good the camera, lens or accessory is, it is not good enough. People want more, better, faster, etc. No one ever seems to be satisfied with what they have. That, to me, is an unfortunate state of mind. It seems like a perpetual state of unhappiness.
Almost every time I watch a photo gear related YouTube video or read a gear related blog or listen to a podcast in which gear is discussed, the presenter is complaining that the camera, lens or accessory doesn’t have something he or she thinks it should have or what it does have isn’t good enough. Almost never do I observe the presenter saying the piece of photo gear is really great—as is. Maybe even never. But I never like to say never. Never mind… :-)
I’m wondering if more people resolved to be grateful for the excellent photographic tools they now have and not worry about what they don’t have, if they would be happier? That applies to all aspects of our lives as well, IMHO.
Just sayin’.
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Dennis A. Mook
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Amen
ReplyDeleteI find I want "better" until I reach a step past "good enough". But I'm capable of learning from experience when I have good enough.
ReplyDeleteFor example, I never bought an f/1.2 lens, and only a few f/1.4, and mostly had (and have) f/2 for my fast primes (way back to a collapsible Summicron 50mm bought used in 1973, when my previous 50mm was f/1.4). (The need for ultra-fast lenses is more crucial for people doing miniatures photography trying to get DoF effects on small subjects; I want them primarily for handling moving people in dim light, and high ISO in digital has helped immensely there.)
Similar to something I observed learning Photoshop and friends, and use when teaching (informally) digital editing -- take every slider you play with *past* "enough", then bring it back to "just right". You mostly don't know, at least early on, when you've reached "enough" until you've gone definitely past it.