Flash, bang, wallop

Wolf | June 28th, 2012 - 07:54

Yesterday I received delivery of a set of new studio lights from indisputably the most respected manufacturer of this type of equipment, Elinchrom of Switzerland. New equipment needs to be tested and, as I do not keep models in my wardrobe (they need regular feeding and constant attention), this was a brilliant excuse for a self-portrait.

I am not at all technology addicted but I do believe that working with reliable, appropriate equipment is as much part of a great service as the warm welcome and the delicious cup of coffee. It ensures that I do not need to spend my time thinking about the equipment but can concentrate on the person that I am photographing.

Equipment only ever supports the photographer’s work. No great photograph was ever conceived because the photographer used brand X or Y. The ability to express and the vision to interpret with the camera what can be seen, along with the requisite expertise, are still the most important ingredients of photography.

The late Ansel Adams expressed it perfectly when he said that “to visualize an image is to see clearly in the mind prior to exposure a continuous projection from composing the image through to the final print”.

The title of this post, in case you do not know, refers to the 1960s song about a photographer.

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