I’ve seen this pattern over and over…people get into photography as a new hobby, experience some initial successes, then start yearning for better and more expensive equipment in order to continue on a trajectory of better and better images.

I followed this route for a while myself. After borrowing and/or owning the best digital SLR equipment Canon makes, I experienced just how far the equipment could take me. I’ll admit the equipment helps, but there’s still a gap toward success that can only be filled by the photographer’s skill and vision…and ultimately it’s the skill and vision that yields the success.

If an equipment-related problem is blocking the ability to achieve a particular vision, then it may be quite appropriate and necessary to buy (or make) some equipment.

I get the impression, however, that photographers tend to resort to equipment purchases/upgrades as a default, rather than really thinking the problem through and coming up with a free solution that uses their existing equipment–for example, a change in technique.

Of course the photography equipment manufacturers and retailers–and top photographers enlisted by the photography equipment manufacturers–encourage this type of thinking! But if you’re just a little clever and resourceful, you can loosen their grip on your photography-related purchasing.

You don’t need the best or most expensive equipment to make great or successful photos. It’s much more important that you really get to know the equipment you have and learn how to get the results you want using that equipment. *That* is what you need to know to become a truly successful photographer.

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I recently–kind of mistakenly–bought two Holga cameras with glass lenses. The original Holga has a plastic lens; the glass lens is supposed to yield sharper image detail than the plastic lens. Even though it has a glass lens, it still has all the other quirks that make Holgas beloved: light leaks, vignetting, focussing and framing irregularities, only two aperture settings, etc.

I decided to keep the one without the built-in flash and sell the other (the one *with* the built-in flash). Well, it went unsold on eBay.

Instead of relisting it, I’ve decided to give it away right here on my blog!

There are two requirements to enter this giveaway:
1) You must have a shipping address in the United States.
2) You must subscribe to this blog by email (just click the link in the righthand column that says “Subscribe to Lightmanship by Email”).

On October 15th, 2009, I will randomly select one email address from this blog’s email subscribers and notify that person of their free gift. The person I notify will have 2 days to email me a valid shipping address in the US. If the person isn’t interested in receiving the Holga or doesn’t return my email message with an address, I’ll randomly select another person from the list of email addresses and repeat the process.

If you decide to enter, good luck! Feel free to notify anyone else you know who might be interested in getting a free Holga too…:-).

Here’s more about the Holga camera:

This is a genuine Holga camera with a glass lens (instead of the usual plastic lens) and a built-in flash: model 120 GFN. The glass lens is reputed to give sharper images than the plastic one. I bought this new and have never used it (except to put 2 AA batteries into it to see if the flash worked…it did!). It comes in the original box with the camera, strap, frame insert (that switches between 6×6 and 6×4.5), and instruction manual.

The new Holga 120 GFN is a medium format camera with integrated flash and a glass lens. This new model has a standard tripod mount, a bulb exposure selector for extra long exposures and comes with two frames to take pictures in 6×4.5 cm or 6×6 cm size. The format arrow has been revised and slides smoothly between 12 and 16 exposures.

Features
– Bulb exposure selector for extra long exposures
– Standard tripod mount
– Revised format arrow
– Includes now two frames for the 6×6 and 6×4.5 cm format!
– Multiple exposures
– Vignetting
– Soft focus
– Integrated flash can be switched on and off
– Film to be used: 120 mm colour/bw film, instant film (only with polaroid holder), 35 mm film (modification)
– Glass lens
– Leaf shutter

Specifications
– Lens: 60 mm
– Aperture: f/8, f11
– Shutter speed: 1/100 s, B
– Focus range: 0.9 m to infinity
– Dimensions: 140x102x76 mm
– Weight: 0.2 kg

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Whenever I photograph a wedding, there are usually several people among the guests taking pictures…and it’s not uncommon for a few of them to have digital SLRs with flashes and even flash diffusers attached.

An increasing number of people perpetually have a digital camera with them, whether it’s attached to a neck or shoulder strap, in their pocket or purse, or built into their cell phone. Digital cameras are virtually everywhere.

When Kodak came up with the Instamatic 35mm film camera in the 1960s, many more people started carrying around cameras. But that’s nothing compared to the percentage of people walking around with cameras now in the digital camera age!

So, what does this omnipresence of digital cameras (usually with built-in video capabilities as well) mean for photographers trying to make a living from photography? This is an interesting question for me because I’m one of those people trying to make a living from photography.

It’s a dual-edged sword. It means that:

1. More and more people are interested in photography because digital cameras are so readily present and available.
2. More and more people are making and trying to sell photographic images (often as fine art prints or to stock photo agencies) or parlaying their photograph-making into income-producing services (e.g., portrait and wedding photography).

Item #1 is a good thing. I have sold a non-trivial percentage of my fine art prints to photography enthusiasts. Also, photography enthusiasts are interested in paying successful and established photographers for some of their acquired photography knowledge and/or tools and shortcuts they’ve developed.

Item #2 tends to be a bad thing, especially if you are trying to sell photographic images and/or services to the same audiences. (More about this: a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle called “Photo hobbyists snapping up more business“.)

Photographers of the “weekend warrior” type threaten to bring wedding, portrait, and other event photography prices down. However, from my experience, there will always be customers wanting to pay extra to know they’re hiring an established full-time professional who has proven him/herself over and over and who they can depend on to deliver the “goods”. I believe a very small percentage of weekend warrior photographers actually end up becoming professional photographers. (Once you turn it into a professional occupation, it’s not that fun little hobby anymore…!)

My quandary is what if it’s really from the fine art and stock photography markets that you want to make most of your income?? For some reason, this reminds me of something photographer Chuck Close said (next 3 paragraphs):

“The thing that interests me about photography, and why it’s different from all the other media, is that it’s the only medium in which there is even the possibility of an accidental masterpiece. You cannot make an accidental masterpiece if you’re a painter or sculptor.”

“This is simultaneously photography’s great advantage and its Achilles heel: it is the easiest medium in which to be competent. Anybody can be a marginally capable photographer, but it takes a lot of work to learn to become even a competent painter. Now, having said that, I think that while photography is the easiest medium in which to be competent, it is probably the hardest one in which to develop an idiosyncratic personal vision. It is the hardest medium in which to separate yourself from all those other people who are doing reasonably good stuff.”

“A recognized signature style of photography is an incredibly difficult thing to achieve.”

What Chuck Close said about photography has not changed. And if–as it seems–many more people are doing photography now with the advent of digital photography and (another important factor) photo-sharing websites, it can only be *more* difficult now to distinguish oneself and one’s photography from the mass of photos being produced and displayed on the web and elsewhere.

If fame is your goal, that’s one thing. If making a living from photography is your primary concern, it would be good to remember an important marketing principle that hasn’t changed: you must find a market for what you have to offer; this applies to photos and any other product. Photographers who are successful in fine art and stock photo markets will have found that market for their photos.

It’s easier to find a market, then produce what that market wants. Doing it in the opposite order (producing, then finding the market for the product) can be much more difficult…and could, ultimately, exhaust one’s resources (time, money) before success is achieved.

So, “where” do I think photography is going?

Having so many suppliers of photos/images–and even photography services, like portrait and wedding photography–does tend to push market prices for these products and services down (it’s a basic economic principle!). However, I don’t think this large supply is going to reduce people’s interest in photographic images or services. Quite the contrary, I think it’s expanding people’s interest in photography!

As a result, those photographers able to distinguish themselves and rise about the heap of suppliers out there, will actually benefit from the increased interest in photography! Photography enthusiasts is a great market for photography-related goods and services, like fine art prints, books, training, consulting, portraiture & weddings (yes, photography enthusiasts want the best photography for their weddings!), and so on.

Related to what Chuck Close said, the tricky part is distinguishing your work from the work of the other thousands of photographers out there jamming the Internet with digital images! This is where such principles as “branding” come into the discussion. But branding is a topic I’m just coming to terms with and which I will likely expound upon further in future blog posts…:-).

Visit Michael's Art Photography Portfolio at SaatchiArt.com!