I grew up with a healthy disrespect for ‘name brands’. From a very young age I worked out there was such a thing as hype, and the flock of sheep type tendencies in the human race.
I was the weird kid that grew up never really knowing about the wonder of certain cola soft drinks. Due to my mother witnessing an accident one day where a barrel of the stuff landed on the road after falling off a truck. What it did to the bitumen has stayed with her ever since. Do I feel somehow I have missed out? Nope. By the time I could afford to go and buy a can of the stuff I had developed my own tastes and these drinks were no where on my list of things to consume for the rest of my life.
As the world has progressed it seems there are the brands to have and the also ‘rans’. I have my own likes but if something is not available, I don’t move straight into ‘my life is over’ mode simply because my brand is not available. To be completely honest I couldn’t give a flying fat rat’s freckle about brands. Or the brands other people use. But there are times when I have to admit to a certain amount of quietly ticked off with some peoples perceptions about brands and your overall standing in society based on what name is on your gear.
The other day I was out doing the proud parent thing and attending a local shopping centre where my girl was singing with her choir. Of course the camera was in attendance to record the happy occasion. I was fine until I noticed another mother verily sneering at my happy snapper. Up until this point I had assumed my mask of indifference about her particular preference, as I always do when confronted with these photographic wanna be’s who consider themselves the digital imaging equivalent of a certain brand of Utopian computing.
After catching her sneer in my direction I gave her camera a closer look. Yep, the bottom of the line special bargain package from your friendly discount electrical goods shop. Now I have nothing against these little bargains, but the simple truth is my outside the square little beastie has about a couple of dozen more features than the dear soul’s name brand special. Put another way, the special bargain package is that price for a reason. There is bugger all to it except the fact people can wander around with a camera and ridiculously obvious neck strap that ensures you don’t miss what brand the owner is using.
People if you have a camera you like, be happy, but please don’t follow the IT world and decide you are a part of a higher society simply because you fell for the lure of ‘belonging to the in crowd’ due to a relatively new kid on the block in the camera industry. Hell, if you know what you are doing, you can get away with using a semi-decent point and shoot camera and you will still have awesome shots at the end of the day which is roughly the same time other fanboi’s and girls are still sitting in front of their computers looking at their efforts, wondering why after all the money they paid, they still have crap shots.
Or in other words, you want to impress the hell out of me? Have me seething with jealousy and feeling all sorts of left out? Go and buy yourself a bloody Hasselblad* and a few lenses from the same mob. Then I will be impressed. Other wise bugger off. I probably do happen to have a better camera than you. More to the point I know how to use it. Deal with it and move the hell on please. I know in a lot of cases most proud owners of these pretend ‘proper’ cameras don’t have a clue other than the on/off switch and shutter button with their new toys. Yet they still think after shelling out a wad of cash they instantly become the most amazing photographer ever. Try to understand, money does not buy technique, experience, or talent. Simple as that.
P.S. I do have friends who are serious photographers, and they are some of the nicest folk around, these people I listen to, because they also know, it is not the camera but the mug pushing the button that is really the making of a killer shot.
