One of My Favourite Images (Was Shot on an iPhone)

A photographic image doesn't have meaning because it was taken with an expensive or pro level camera and lens. What makes an image stand out, then? Let's discuss (briefly, it's been a busy week!).

One of my favourite images → Laying first tracks down the Wildstrubel couloir during a Spring ski tour last season (2022/23), shot on an iPhone.

A photographic image has many ways of coming into existence.

And many ways of having meaning / being special.

This week I would like to focus on a bit of both.

First, the former (gear) aspect:

There is often the misguided perception that good images can only be made with expensive gear (pro level cameras, lenses, etc.).

False.

Although I use some expensive gear for client work, many of my favourite images were made with very basic gear.

This post with the image up top being a case in point.

Why use expensive gear, then?

Well, it depends on the use case.

The biggest reason would be if the final output needed to be printed large (high megapixel camera and sharp lens/es needed). Or if a very fast shutter speed to freeze motion combined with flash was the goal (pro level camera with pro level high speed sync flash/es).

And and and, you get the point.

But to get the emotion / feeling of a scene across?

Doesn’t matter.

Sometimes the more blurry / noisy an image is in a given situation can actually add to the overall impact.

Which brings us to the latter (meaning) aspect:

Why does an image have meaning / impact?

Simply put, it has meaning or impact because of it’s content.

The story it tells.

The emotion it evokes.

The memory it stirs up.

Which is why when learning / becoming better at photography, you won’t hear people saying get better gear.

Nope.

They’ll say things like focus on getting better at arranging elements within the frame (composition), anticipating a moment (be prepared), seeing light and how it interacts with the landscape / your subject (like learning a language) and practice (only one way to get better).

So, why is the image above a favourite of mine?

Several reasons, actually.

The personal ones would be because it reminds me of the great ski tour we did. Also the amazing weather and snow conditions on the day. It’s also our home down there in the valley below. It’s a reminder of the hard work of the previous two days to get to this rewarding situation.

The technical photographic ones would be the framing (skier bottom left heading into frame, leading the eye through it), the timing / moment as the skier makes a turn back towards camera (so he isn’t hidden behind the snow spray of an opposite turn).

And the story it tells.

Skier, fresh snow, valley far below, above the cloud.

One can look at the image for a good while and try to piece together the story that lead up to that moment in time. The only bummer is I wouldn’t be able to print it out really big (like A2 or A1 size) due to the small sensor and megapixel count of the iPhone (which I would be able to had I used one of my DSLR’s).

But why am I telling you all this?

Well, it’s actually more to remind myself.

However, if you are struggling with new gear syndrome (or G.A.S. - Gear Acquisition Syndrome), stop and take a step back.

Photography is supposed to be fun and sharing images should make us feel better (and not empty the bank account).

Now, where did I put that new Nikon catalogue…

The journey leading up to the image at the beginning of the post wasn’t always easy.

Any thoughts on camera gear and what makes an image have meaning, good or bad?

Simply hit reply and let me know / comment below.

PS - My first podcast episode went live (in case you missed it).

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Until next time ✌🏽.

Cornelius

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