Equipment Envy

Saturday Ambassador

Human beings are a conceited lot, particularly when it comes to our tools and our toys...and photographers are no exception. It is fun to arrive on the scene with a lot of impressive-looking equipment – a bewildering array to the casual observer. It is prudent, as well, to purchase the best you can afford, as this equipment is an investment in your future and better quality means better performance.

However, this does not mean that you can't be creative and thrifty when necessary. One of my first public photo shoots involved portraits for a high school senior in a park. As a student in my first year at the Art Institute, I had not yet amassed a great deal of equipment and I had to "make do" with some less-than-impressive-looking accessories. Okay, I had reflectors consisting of aluminum foil taped to cardboard. When I arrived, had to walk past a highly professional outfit with large-frame diffusers, exotic lighting and an immense crew to handle it all. The photographer approached me and, with a perfectly professional demeanor (read: a straight-face) discussed with me where I would be working and where his crew would be working so that we did not interfere with one another's shoots. I learned an important lesson that day: Photographers who are truly professional understand that we all have to start somewhere and extend courtesy to one another as a matter of course. Regardless of the man's personal opinion regarding my unusual gear, his attitude toward me as a colleague was kind and bolstered my confidence tremendously.

Clamps http://www.rockler.com/how-to/wp-content/uploads/Using-Clamps-in-Workshop.jpg

 

There is another valuable lesson here, as well: The ability to devise a needed piece of equipment on the spot is a valuable skill that will serve you through the end of your career. Buy (and carry) a roll of gaffer's tape, a flashlight, various types of clamps (from Home Depot, not B & H, though those are helpful, too), ratchet straps with hooks, a hammer and some nails, et cetera. Having to send someone (or yourself) after a piece of equipment wastes time; doing without might mean that you miss some great shots. The ability to improvise in a moment of crisis saves valuable time and money, impresses clients and allows you to get the shot that others miss.

A couple years after the senior portrait incident, I rented a park in the mining town of Superior, Arizona (yes, I rented the park...for $25!) in order to have full access to all of its amenities, to set up lighting equipment and run extension cords everywhere. My efforts attracted an audience, but everyone kept a respectful distance (I must have looked like I knew what I was doing).

Miner 27 Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2012, digital photograph

And I guess I did!

~Saturday Ambassador