The Most Important Thing

It isn't the camera that makes a really good image. It's the photographer. The camera is

only a tool. The camera is actually a toy. It's a very complex toy and it becomes very important to the serious photographer but it is a toy before it becomes a serious tool.

Really good photographers make really good images. Mediocre photographers make really good images sometimes but only by accident. Magazines like National Geographic don't want to depend on accidental images. Art gallery owners don't want to promote accidental photographers. And not a single member of the viewing public appreciates mediocre photography.

You can learn to become a really good photographer. It's not hard but the very first thing you must learn is not how to use your camera. The first thing you need to do is develop the photographer's eye.

Every photographer wants to learn as much as possible about the camera and very quickly becomes immersed in the technology. We can't help it. It's a fascinating technology, especially today when it's constantly changing. But when you become immersed in the technology, you remain there for a long time. If you've already developed your eye, you will be making good images from the beginning, but if you become enchanted by the camera and lenses and all the other gadgets before you develop your eye, then you're only going to become frustrated with the images you produce.

In the next blog in this series, we will begin exploring the concepts that are the basic foundations of really good photography. It is the only place to begin if you are serious

about becoming a really good photographer and not just an accidental one. These concepts have nothing to do with the camera but they are guaranteed to make you a better photographer right away.