It’s not about the gear…

I entered photos in a series Gurushots competitions called “Your Best Shot” in the summer of 2019.  The result was Your Best Photo – The Second Challenge and this photo, called Rover, was selected by Dodho Magazine for their Top 100 of 300,000 photos submitted and more than 150 million votes cast in three challenges (see below). I’m absolutely thrilled that this photo placed, but it proves a serious point, it’s not about the camera or the gear.  It’s about almost everything else!  Lighting, composition, and clear subject matter more than just about anything else.  I have plenty of fancy gear and toys that are used daily.  However, this photo which was taken with a Sony DSC-W7 “point & shoot” camera back in 2006, gets placed in their top 100.  In many ways it makes me want to go back to basics, and in a way I will.  I’ve recently been shooting more with just a fixed 50mm f/1.8 lens (the nifty fifty) and 40mm f/2.8 “pancake lens” in order to focus more on composition and get back to the nuts and bolts of photography.  This photo placing where it did, right now while I’m shooting with fixed lenses, serves as a lesson to not give up on these lenses.  I’m back to manual zoom with two feet for a while and it’s actually nice not carrying a camera bag.