"Skill will always be more valuable than the newest camera."

I was thinking about this idea a few weeks ago, skill vs quality equipment. Some of you might believe that owning the newest camera with all trending attachments will help your photography, and to you I say you're correct (to some extent). Some of you might see any camera as sufficient so long as you use it exceptionally well, and to you I say you're also correct (again, to some extent). In this post I'll be weighing up whether advanced skill outweighs advanced equipment. If you're a photographer looking to make a success of your hobby/profession, someone looking to change their creative mindset, or someone simply looking to see what I have to say, definitely stick around!

First off, for those who are unaware or need a reminder, I'm Aaron (founder of Speak Portraits)! With an aim of capturing the epitome of what the world has to offer, Speak Portraits specialises in providing the most affordable portrait photography in the UK. With a range of offers available for individuals, groups, and businesses, Speak Portraits truly can accommodate all photography needs. I started Speak Portraits in June 2022, never realising how many doors it would open! In the past year I have worked with various clients, including a local musician, students from a nearby college, and domestic abuse charity Fortalice. All this while balancing a rollercoaster of a personal life with A-Levels! Honestly though, I would not change a thing: I will always be grateful for what photography has done for me. Thank you to everyone who is even just thinking about working with me, I'd love to speak portraits with you soon. Now back to this fascinating debate!

Firstly, what are the advantages of the newest camera as opposed to an older model? More pixels mean you can crop more without losing quality, design improvements boost comfort, and storage cards reduce the time once needed to process a photo from film. Sounds brilliant! However, it soon becomes quite clear that the newest cameras are an unnecessary purchase. Take a look at the below two portraits:

This photo was one I took with an iPhone 11 in the car. Before taking the shot I focused the camera on my face and lowered the brightness to emphasise the light hitting my face through the window. I then used standard editing tools in the photos app, with the exception of a photoshop brush to remove some distractions in the sky and marks on my face. In particular I increased definition substantially, as I do in most of my photography, and added a dark vignette to create a sense of focus (and again emphasise the natural light). You can find more self-portraits like this on my social media platforms.

Next, this photo was one I shot in Bolton Town Centre using a Sony Alpha A200 with a Minolta 70-210mm lens. I followed a similar editing process to the self-portrait, but chose not to use a vignette given that the natural light was excellent! I was not as radical when increasing definition on this shot, given that I was prioritising the ethereality of my subject rather than the seriousness of myself in that particular photo. The natural light really did most of the work for me when getting this truly amazing close-up. There's a clear difference between this shot and the self-portrait, but how much of that was about more advanced equipment?

Well, the Minolta lens was released in 1985, while the iPhone was released in 2019. Granted, the iPhone camera is not a DSLR camera built for photography, but the point stands: newer does not inherently mean better. Still in doubt? Let's compare two shots taken with different DSLR setups. Consider the photo taken with the Sony (above) with the shot below:

This shot was taken in Queen's Park, Bolton, with a Nikon D3300 (50mm lens). Here I was able to create a crisp look similar to my self-portrait, while retaining some ethereality as can be seen in the photo taken with the Sony. The contrast of blacks and yellows really worked with the natural backlight here!

So when we compare the equipment used and skill level, what do we find? Well, the shot taken with the Sony, as we know, is using a lens released in 1985. This latest shot, in contrast, uses a Nikon released in 2014.

However, I took the shot with the Sony AFTER the shot with the Nikon. Looking at these two shots, I honestly have more regrets (things I would now change) about the Nikon shot.

For a start off, I would use the Minolta lens instead (yes, I would use older equipment)! This is because I know now from experience that I can easily get stunning bokeh with the Minolta lens, and that bokeh would've really fit in here to blur those sharp leaves!

Don't get me wrong, the sharpness is a great look, but I feel as though the subject would've popped far more without the background posing as a potential distraction. What this tells me, furthermore, is that my skill influences the quality of shot far more than having the newest equipment. I love both my cameras and they always serve their purposes well, but my skill in using them is what makes the shot ultimately.

Moreover, neither of my cameras are the "newest." The skills I have developed over the past year will always serve me far better than the newest camera model (the Canon EOS R8 released in Spring 2023 for example). It's not the camera that truly makes the shot, it's the photographer and the skill they possess. Of course, newer camera models have benefits, but the newest is quite unnecessary unless it serves other purposes beyond the shot (eg: affiliate marketing, influencer review). Equipment is important, but not nearly as much as skill. That's even true for the monkey that took a selfie after stealing a photographer's camera (see the case of Naruto v Slater, 2018)!

On that note, you have reached the end of my first Speak Portraits blog post. I hope you have took something from my thoughts, whether it be a changed mindset, an intent to get in touch, or something else entirely! I would appreciate it if you supported my blog, and my socials (these are linked at the header and footer of every page). If you can afford, you can also "buy me a coffee," leaving as little as £1.00 for the effort I continue to put into this blog and Speak Portraits more widely.