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The secret to amazing photos

This article is written by a member of our expert community. It expresses that member’s views only. We welcome other perspectives. Here’s how to contribute to MM EDU.

What is the secret to amazing photos? Is it better gear? A new lens? A new body? More lights? For photographers, one of the easiest traps to fall into is new equipment syndrome. This is where you are always lusting after the latest and greatest gear. I know this because I myself am an equipment-aholic. And I have been clean (from buying photo equipment) for over two months. :)


Model: Michelle Nikole Rivera

So how important is your camera gear? Is getting better gear the secret to taking better photos? Take a look at the following photo and figure out if I am using a Canon or Nikon, zoom or prime lens, natural or studio light…

Now, what if I told you that this photo were taken with an iPhone 4? Really? Yup. A few months ago, the iPhone 4 became the most popular camera on Flickr. If you haven’t seen this yet, Fstoppers has a great video showing an entire photo shoot taken with an iPhone.

There you go. If amazing, professional photos can be shot with an iPhone then you know the secret to taking really, really, really, really ridiculously good looking photos. You don’t need a better camera or a faster lens or a more lights. The secret to great photos is the photographer.

What is in your head and how you uniquely see the world is what will make you a great photographer and allow you to take great photos. The more you learn about your craft – the technical aspects of taking photos and the artistic component of composition, color and character – the better your photos will become.

Glamtography

I am Reuben. I take pretty pictures of pretty people for Glamtography. Please do not ask me to shoot nude or implied--I always wear clothes when I shoot ;)

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  • Brian

    Sorry, I don’t think this is that useful of an article.

  • http://www.facebook.com/reubenpicturetaker Reuben Dixon

    Hi Brian, what do you think would make this article more useful? Perhaps it wasn’t useful to you because you are a seasoned photographer and already know this? I would love your feedback so I can improve future writings.

  • Raymond

    I disagree with the article. Gear is important. Light is important. Posing is important. It depends on what you are shooting. I would be surprised if a iphone can capture movement well, low light situations, creative effects such as shallow DOF.

  • Mar

    I think this article would be more useful if the author showed some of his own examples of “amazing photos.” Looking through the author’s portfolio, I can’t find anything that qualifies…I’d consider the majority of it downright bad, in fact. :/ Which begs the question: why should any photographer, new or experienced, listen to what the author has to say?

  • brian

    The whole article comes down to one idea.

    A skilled photographer can make a great picture with a box camera.

    I know the author used camera phone as his example, but I’m going to take it ti its most basic level. That is the article right now. Everything else is fluff, it does nothing to convince the gearhead that you are right. The one photo cited is an ok photo. It doesn’t have a wow factor. It is also easy to dismiss the popularity of iPhone photos. There is a perception that the internet has dumbed everything down. (even if it is not true).
    What is needed are examples of great photographs taken with minimal equipment, be it 100 years ago with a brownie, or 10 seconds ago with an iPhone. You can go back 150 years and easily find examples that were taken with the most primitive of equipment. That is what would be needed to make the point.

  • http://www.facebook.com/reubenpicturetaker Reuben Dixon

    Hi Raymond – I COMPLETELY agree with your point. But all of those are things that the PHOTOGRAPHER needs to know. If you take an average joe and give him the best camera and the best equipment and the best lens then he is not destined to take a great photo.

  • http://www.facebook.com/reubenpicturetaker Reuben Dixon

    Hi Mar. I’ll be honest, that does strike a chord with me. But I am always striving to be a better photographer. What elements of my portfolio do you consider bad and why?

  • http://www.facebook.com/reubenpicturetaker Reuben Dixon

    Hi Brian – great point. I did need more photos with examples (both my own and others). I will definitely keep that in mind for the future. Thank you for the constructive comments, I appreciate it!

  • Mar

    If you head on over to the critique forum, I’d gladly give you an in-depth critique, and I promise it will be as constructive as possible. I’m sure many other photographers and retouchers would also give helpful advice.

    I hope I didn’t come off as too harsh earlier, but when readers click on an “educational” article that promised AMAZING photos…well, you can understand the plethora of negative comments here. The only included photo was a snapshot that obviously came from either a phone or point-and-shoot, and contrary to what your article suggested, it was not hard to believe what was used to take the photo. So I took the time to look through your portfolio, and didn’t see much better there.

    Anyway, please do post in the critique forum and I’ll do my best to give you honest, helpful advice. I’m glad you are always striving to get better…that’s what we’re all here for, right? :)

    Best,
    Mar

  • THRobinson

    I watched that photoshoot with an iPhone and well, still shows that equipment makes a good photo. Yes the camera was a cell phone, but they still had a studio with a tonne of lights and sent the images off to a full time professional retoucher when done.

    Lights, studio, computer for post = gear

  • Kevin

    Reuben, good try, but I don’t think the article is very good. This is not a bash, but just constructive criticism. The first thing that turned me off is when you said that the photo you took was amazing. It’s okay, but not amazing. I would have no problem believing it came out of an iPhone 4.

  • Erik

    Please dont show up to a red carpet or in the pit at a concert with your Iphone; you’ll be elbowed all over the place. These are the type of shenanigans that is ruining professional photography.

    While I do agree the Iphone has the capability to take decent photos for what it is, there is no way it compares to using professional equipment.