Everyone has some bad habits. This is one you'll definitely want to avoid as a photographer.
Coming to you from James Popsys, this great video explores the idea of how we assign blame for our failures in photography. Not accepting responsibility for our failings as photographers can have a lot of negative and sometimes very expensive consequences. One of the most common (and costly) manifestations of this is blaming gear when we miss a shot. That's not to say that sometimes, yes, your technique was sound and your autofocus system simply couldn't keep up with the fast action or something like that, but a lot of the time, people fall into the trap of thinking they're missing shots or not producing quality images because their gear is holding them back, and they end up dropping large amounts of money on higher quality equipment only to find they're producing the same photos as before. Not only is this obviously quite detrimental to your wallet, it also holds you back from improving until you're really honest with yourself and you address the true root of the problem. Check out the video above for Popsys' thoughts on the matter.
It would be great if you could put it in writing rather than making people watch videos.
Especially James Popsys who's not very good.
It would be great if FStoppers were more than just a YouTube cover band.
We literally release 4-7 original articles every single day: https://fstoppers.com/originals.
But that does not excuse you
I really hate watching videos. I look at how long a video is and decide whether or not to watch it. More than three minutes, unless it's a tutorial, I'm not watching it. I can read the script for a seven minute video in a minute.
So...even if you think its just a youtube cover band. Which it's not, the info in here is always quality content. So what are you complaining about??
"ALWAYS"?
.
I really wanted to hear what he had to say, but at 90 seconds in, even the beginnings of a point seemed far off.
I don't understand what all the complaining is here in the comments. I haven't watched the video because Alex covers what I assume is the main point in the writing. From reading the paragraph I assumed that the video was just a "don't blame your gear for a missed shot" video.
He has a great radio face.
lol
Thank you for sharing this. I find that by taking the time to watch, to listen, to contemplate if there's an element of Truth in the content that also reflects in my life, behaviour and choices, I can learn and get better. It's not so hard - but can pay off in spades! Two additional fun facts - 1/ I'd scrolled by this video several times on my YouTube feed and not stopped to watch it (there were other more 'exciting' thumbnails to click, but your singular focus obviously did the trick) 2/ The lesson James references (audio was good enough for me to learn) has directly impacted on me today ... and I'll be off out shortly to fulfill a clients request rather than stalling under a convenient but not success building excuse.
A very valuable couple of minutes spent, thank you again.
The video complains about people who complains on their gear, the comments are full of complains about the video and articles, and here I am complaining too..
Isn't that wonderful :)
Sorry, but I have stopped to watch after 3 minutes of "saying nothing".
And about humour (it is supposed to be humorous, right?), I am probably more impermeable to British humor than I imagined ;)
I blame myself for watching the video. Big waste of time.
Skipped it. I don't watch videos. Writers write.
"...and your autofocus system simply couldn't keep up with the fast action or something like that, but a lot of the time, people fall into the trap of thinking they're missing shots or not producing quality images because their gear is holding them back"
Isn't this a prime exemple of your gear holding you back?
Yes, I acknowledged that at the beginning of the sentence. The point was to acknowledge that gear does matter sometimes, then say it doesn't always matter.
My wish for articles sharing video content like this, is getting a link taking me directly to the point in the video where the actual topic is discussed – so I don't have to spend time learning about the videographers sponsors and daily life.
In this case, that point seemed to be past halfway through at 03:55. It's interesting how the personal vlog style format is blending into more and more videos about any topic in this field. To me, it just gets in the way of the actual content and wastes the viewer's time. If I know I'm coming into a personal vlog, my expectations are different and I can't blame anyone for reporting on daily life issues before eventually touching on anything remotely interesting.
This video is terrible, it's nearly 5 minutes of rambling, self promotion, and humble bragging about traveling as a photographer before he starts to dive in to 90 seconds of not blaming your equipment. Waste of time.