Believe it or not

I keep notes on things I experience in the world of photography and one subject I make note of are the different myths and misconceptions floating around related to the subject.

Things I’ve heard and read online, in photography clubs, from students, discussed by amateurs and professionals, frequently repeated in online articles in the photography press. I don’t know the origins of most of these false beliefs, I haven’t tried tracing the origins of these myths, but I believe that some of it is just repeating something without really knowing who came up with it. Many seem to be imagined or rationalized into common beliefs. I’ve probably fallen prey to some of these myself over the years, but it’s my nature to root out BS and exile it from my thinking.

My list is long though, so I’m going to trim it down a bit, down to the ones I’ve most commonly heard repeated either in person or online.

1. Amateurs aren’t good photographers: This may be the biggest crock I hear all the time. A glittering generality that has no basis in fact. I know dozens upon dozens of amateur photographers who create excellent photographs and who know photography as well or better than many “professionals.” This is pretty simple to me. A professional photographer is a photographer who makes photographs with the intention of earning an income from their photos. You can also find a dozen or so different definitions for what a professional photographer is. Most definitions of the word “professional” involves earning income, so I’ll leave it at that. Being a professional photographer has nothing to do with how good a photographers images are.
2. Macs are better for artists than Windows PC’s: I’ve used both Mac Pros and Windows based computers in my photography business. I like Macs just fine, I like Windows just fine. My personal experience is that I’ve found Windows based computers to be better supported by the photographic industry and that they are cheaper to use in the long run. I loved my Mac Pro, it was a great workstation, but when it came time to upgrade the computer and monitors, switching to a Windows platform was far less expense, with no loss of creativity. Everything else is marketing hype in my opinion. There’s nothing you can do on a Mac that you can’t do with a Windows PC and do it cheaper and with more options.
3. A better camera will make you a better photographer: This one comes up all the time. The most common response to this assumption is “No, a better camera doesn’t make you a better photographer. The truth is, a better camera can make you a better photographer. But not out of the box. If you’ve invested in a camera and have reached a point where you have mastered that camera and want to grow into new or more complicated or sophisticated photography techniques or improve upon the capabilities that your existing camera can’t do, then at that point, a better camera can make you a better photographer. If your camera can’t do something you want to do, a better camera is where you have to go. Just buying a better camera though isn’t a solution in itself. You have to upgrade your mind too.
4. Prime lenses are better than zoom lenses: This one always makes me ask; better at what?” About the only thing I can come up with is that prime lenses in general may have superior optical performance in some situations. We’re talking test charts and pixel peeping. But there are a lot of high quality zoom lenses that give good test chart results too. This is the realm of techno-worship. I personally find that zoom lenses are perfectly adequate optically and far more flexible in the field. Of course, there are a lot of low quality zoom lenses on the market, but there are also many prime lenses on the market that don’t live up to the myth of optical superiority. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a photographer bring a big-honker exotic prime lens on a wildlife shoot, lugging it around on a tripod, taking ages to get setup and start making photos, and then realize that telephoto zoom lens in their kit is a better solution. They then pack the 600mm prime away and leave the zoom lens on the camera and they get more opportunities and photos of wildlife. Happens all the time. If you’re rich and enjoy lugging a lot of heavy and expensive lenses around, you’re not really impressing anyone but yourself. You can always say “it gives a better image quality.” But really, better image quality comes from better compositions and the ability to make changes in the field. You’re kinda stuck with one perspective using a prime lens. Is that better? I will tell you where primes are better. Macro lenses. Some zooms have macro capability, but if I want to go macro, I wouldn’t dream of using a zoom lens.
5. The best camera is the one you have with you: I love this one. The best way to put this statement into context is to examine the reality in the real world. I usually hear this when someone whips out their cell phone to grab a photo, because they didn’t have a better camera with them. Most photographers I know have more than one camera, and I’m quite certain they consider one of those cameras to be their best camera. The trick is to have that camera with you when you need to make a photograph. It could be that the best camera is the one you didn’t have with you. It’s just a bullshit phrase imo. The true intent of this philosophy is to rationalize doing the best you can with what you have. Sometimes you may have to settle for something less desirable.
6. APS-C sensors have less depth of field than full frame sensors: The quickest way to the truth on this is to simply say, no they don’t. Depth of field is a function of lens focal length, aperture and distance to subject. I wrote an article on this years ago. It’s a common misconception and you’ll hear or read it repeated by some of the most popular photography websites. All I can say is they don’t understand camera optics very well. You can read more about this particular subject at this link. The Depth of Field Myth.
7. Making photographic prints at 300dpi: Oh boy, this one is so far away from reality that I have to choke on my coffee when I read someone writing about making prints at 300dpi. I’ve heard this from many “knowledgeable” sources too. No, you don’t have to make photographic prints at 300dpi to avoid loss of detail or get a great print. Yes you can make large prints on 8 or 12 megapixel cameras. I have worked in printing since 1981 and I know the facts on this matter. Rather than explaining the whole thing in detail here, I recommending reading my article at this link. Print Sizes And The 300 DPI Myth.
8. It’s all about the light: I could pick this one apart in detail but I won’t. Light is a fundamental aspect to photography for sure, but there is really no such thing as perfect light. Every situation is different. We tune our photographic behavior and thinking to the types of lighting we’d like to see, but outdoors are not a static thing and one must understand what they can and can’t do with the light they have available to them. There are many things that are more important than the light though. Having a charged battery is kind of important. Can’t make a photo with a digital camera if you have a dead battery. Location, location, location, for starters. If you’re not in the right location to get a great composition, you are screwed. Being in the right place to get the photo is primary. It won’t matter what the light is. Your composition is going to account for 90% of how compelling your image is going to be. Great lighting of a poorly composed scene is not going to win the day. You can make a great composition and still win the day with less than optimal lighting. Really, this statement should be “It’s all about your ability to work in different situations.” I consider composition to be primary. Light is a modifier.
9. Always use a tripod/you don’t need to use a tripod: I’ve tried to lump two different tripod myths into one explanation, because neither of these statements are accurate. If you have a big, heavy lens and are hand holding using that lens, you will not always get generally good results. I’ll go to the reciprocal rule here. The slowest shutter speeds for hand held photos using any lens should be the 1 divided by the focal length of the lens. So, you have a 600mm lens you’re trying to hand hold, you need to have at least a shutter speed of 1/600 second. You’re going to need a tripod if your exposure requires a slower shutter speed. Image stabilization gives you some relief to this rule. A tripod will give you a lot more relief to this rule. As you get a little more wide angle, your hand held shutter speeds options get better and you can shoot slower shutter speeds, to a point. Lets say you want to take a hand held photo using a 50mm lens, you can probably manage a sharp photo down to 1/50 of a second. If you aren’t all wobbly and such. If you are walking around in good daylight, and you have image stabilization in your camera/lens turned on, you can probably do away with the tripod in most situations. Don’t listen to anyone claiming you don’t need a tripod or claiming you should always use a tripod. The idea would be to understand your circumstance and adjust accordingly.
10. Photographers claiming to be a “natural light” photographer probably don’t understand how to use a flash: I hear this thought spouted all the time. Now this may be a true statement if you look at the skill set of some photographers, but there is also a thing called style and preference and most good photographers know what they can and can’t do with and without using a flash. I mastered the use of flash as I studied photography. I don’t always like it though. Given the choice, I try to avoid using a flash. If I can get a compelling photo without a flash, I will try it. When I was photographing weddings, there were a number of challenges where I had to decide how it was best handled. One can make amazing photographs in tough lighting situations without using their flash. I had to decide on the use of flash. Sometimes using a flash makes things less compelling. It’s ultimately a question of the creativity and visual style of the photographer. Some photographers don’t use flash a lot, because they are getting the results they want to get without flash. Don’t assume anything about how a photographer works until you have examined their results. Flash is great for some folks, others don’t like it. Good photos can be made without a flash. The flash is a light modifier. Properly used, it works wonders, but it’s not a requirement for making great photos and sometimes it kills a great photo.