Will Not Buy Equipment For A While
Posted by photonovice on February 7th, 2008
Partly as a consequence of a comment I received and posted here and also strongly influenced by Paul Indigo’s post on why technical knowledge is not that important I decided not buying any news pieces of photography gear for a while. It might not sound completely honest straight after my new flash post but that was the last one for some time. And while I won’t be spending money on equipment I’ll pay for something else: I enrolled into a portrait photography training course.
The course will consist of eight occasions, one occasion every Sunday throughout eight weeks starting on the 2nd March. The instructor is going to be Martin Szipal. Martin Szipal is a Hungarian photographer, now in his eighties, having decades of experience in photography. He used to work in Hollywood photographing celebrities, however you can hardly find any track of that on the Internet. He’s not an active photographer today.
The topics of the course are:
- Introduction - the way to see shapes and forms
- Contemporary art
- Composition
- Portraiture in general
- Female portraiture
- Male portraiture
- Group photos
- Figural photos
Technical aspects like lenses, aperture and shutter speed settings, lighting gear and others are explicitly not covered on the course. Participants are advised to take their gear with themselves because there will be possibilities to practice shooting on real models.
I’m very excited about this thing. I expect to learn a lot for roughly the price of an SB-800 speedlight. 
I’m planning to post my experiences about the course, so stay tuned.
February 8th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I Will Not Buy Equipment For A While…
Influenced by multiple sources I decided not buying any photography equipment for a while but rather put money into my hobby in a different way….
February 10th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
I think it is a resolution most of us should take !! I would much better off learning the material I have then spending more on something new
Unfortunately I do not have the time to take photography courses
February 11th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I think you did the right thing
I ‘d really love to take a course sometime in the future, maybe an online one (here in Italy there are no courses available near where I live and besides they are too expensive). I’ll be looking forward to reading about your experience.
February 11th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Absolutely the right thing to do, I see too many people with thousands invested in gear that still can only take snapshots. On the flip side, plenty of people with point and shoot cameras that have an amazing creative eye that makes you want to go buy them a DSLR. Invest into your hobby, your future - bodies go obsolete after a few years. Good exposure, composition and light hasn’t changed in a long time.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Thanks to you all for your kind words.
February 18th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Photonovice, congrats! You have turned a very important corner on your path making beautiful images with your camera. The gear, while fun to use, has too little to do with creating beautiful art. Paint and brushes are available for a few dollars, yet how many accomplish the works of a Picaso or Monet? You need some sort of camera to take pictures, but talent and skill are the most essential ingredients in great photography. Skill is learned, talent is developed. Spending your money (and time!!!) on the learning and developing will bring FAR more rewards to you than spending money on yet another lens or body. Good luck, I can’t wait to hear how this goes for you!
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:54 pm
[...] Will Not Buy Equipment For A While [...]
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:50 am
[...] Will Not Buy Equipment For A While [...]
March 5th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
[...] Will Not Buy Equipment For A While [...]
March 17th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
[...] Will Not Buy Equipment For A While [...]
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:56 pm
[...] of this portrait photography class this week and it’s over. We have already covered all the topics mentioned, sometimes even more. I managed to keep my resolution and have not purchased any equipment since [...]