I have a confession: I only know what 5% of the buttons, dials, and menu items on my camera do. I haven’t done the math; I’m guessing it could be even less than that. But I know that my first cameras only had the ability to focus, select the aperture, change the shutter speed, and specify the ISO. The menu options on my Sony a1 bodies feel almost infinite—it would be overwhelming if I felt I needed them all. But I don’t. And you probably don’t, either.
There are photographers out there who know every button, slider, and menu option. I am not among them. My brain can only pay attention to so much. Yours too. And if you decide that you’d rather pay attention only to what you need (and this will differ for all of us, according to how we work with the camera), there’s no shame in that.
How many of the iconic photographs of the last century were made with a camera with no more options than what is needed to focus and expose? Shutter. Aperture. Focus. How many of the best images you’ve ever seen come down to how good the camera was? Some, to be sure. God knows I’m grateful I’m not focusing manually most of the time these days, and I am so grateful for the focusing speed and the tracking of the cameras I’m using. But those only help me get the shot; they don’t contribute to the mood, the story, or the composition.
This isn’t another “the camera doesn’t matter” post. Of course it matters. Dependable gear matters. Gear that does what it has to do, feels right in the hand, and acts like a trusted and loved silent partner in our picture-making matters.
Yes, the camera matters. But you matter more.
How many photographers know everything knowable about the camera but aren’t certain about their own preferences or don’t know how to make a photograph feel the way they wish it could? How many don’t know how to tell a story, or don’t know their own creativity so well that they’re willing to take the risks they need to take to make the images that thrill them?
It’s possible to know the tool better than you know yourself or the photographs you’re trying to make. Guess which one makes better images?
You need to know what you need to know. If you’ve never once thought, “Boy, I sure wish I understood my focus modes better,” then you don’t need to know them. Whatever you’re using now is all you need—until it isn’t. And then you do a quick search on YouTube. You learn. You figure it out. And then you know what you need to know again. There is no shame in not knowing. And there is no badge of honour pinned to the chest of those who do.
Give me any day the photographer who knows only 5% of what their camera can do but who takes risks and chases great light and meaningful moments, who has something to say, who is more obsessed with the music than the microphone, if you get the analogy.
What can hold you back from making the strongest photographs is shame. Fear. Doubt.
When you feel like a lesser photographer because you don’t know it all or you have vast areas of technical non-comprehension, and that keeps you from trying new things or stops you from learning because you feel like it’s beyond you. Nonsense. Everything is figure-outable. And if it’s not, there’s probably a way around it because, damn it, I’m not sure Henri Cartier-Bresson or Ansel Adams or Vivian Maier would have known what 95% of the options on my cameras are, and my photographs are still a very long way away from theirs.
I’d wager most of your favourite contemporary photographers also have large technical blind spots. But they can compose the hell out of a scene, have a knack for choosing the moment, a keen sensitivity to light, and a high tolerance for risk. And when they need to learn something new to add another tool to the toolbox, they know how to do that, too.
The importance of deeply knowing the things you need to know to do your work can’t be overstated. But only you know what that is. And only some of that relates to your camera. Would learning something new help push your work forward? Probably. Definitely. The more we learn, the more possibilities open to us, and creativity thrives on possibilities. But it also thrives on constraints and the tension between the two.
Creativity does not thrive in a closed mind or in a heart crippled by shame or a lack of confidence.
Maybe you don’t use more than 5% of the buttons and sliders and options our tools make available to you. That’s better (and more easily solved) than using less than 5% of your heart and mind, held back by fear and doubt.
Your camera can be daunting, but it can be learned. The same can also be said about your creativity, except that’s arguably more important. Both matter. But if you can already focus and expose the former, the rewards for focusing your attention on the latter and exposing yourself to the challenges of your creative mind are where you will make your most significant gains.
For the Love of the Photograph,
David
The biggest challenges for most photographers are not technical but creative. They are not so much what goes on in the camera but what goes on in the mind of the person wielding it. Light, Space & Time is a book about thinking and feeling your way through making photographs that are not only good, but truly your own. It would make an amazing gift for the photographer in your life, especially if that’s you. Find out more on Amazon.
Comments
Hi David, this is so timely. For many years I have used my Canon 5D (Mark 2 and then Mark IV) and I knew the buttons and the menues well.
But I just recently purchased a Sony mirrorless A7CR, and I am struggling with the menues and the options and the dials and knowing how to use a screen etc. I bought a book by David Busch which is over 400 pages and I am slowly learning. I’m shooting everyday- whatever I see just to get familiar with this new tool and in preparation for travel in 2025 (which is why I bought a lighter camera body and kit).
I’m not sure what % I am using but even 5% is a lot to learn
Hi David
I’ve followed you for many years and have a number of your books. This one will definitely be my Christmas present to me. Unfortunately it won’t be available in Australia until February.
I’m returning to photography after a battle with illness and motivation and your release of this book is serendipitous. Thank you.
This is exactly what I needed to hear. At the right time. Your book is on my Santa list! Hoping to more with your classes this spring as well. And then AFRICA. In July! Thanks for all the inspiration. I’m not a tech girl but I do like to have the and know the right tool for the right job.
I was shooting the solar eclipse with my Dad last year and he didn’t know how to use the intervalometer on his camera. I had no idea how his camera works. What I did know how to do was ask the AI app on my iPhone for help. I simply opened the app (I think it was Copilot, but any of them with voice mode will work) and asked the question, “You are a photography expert. How do I set the intervalometer to 10 seconds on a [camera make and model]?” It quickly replied with detailed voice instructions that worked perfectly.
No need to study your manual for a rarely used settings any more.
Hi David
Compliments of the season to you from a sunny and warm New Zealand. I trust you are well.
I absolutely agree about simplicity. I have shot Leica M cameras for years because they are simple. However I recently switched to the Hasselblad X2D which blends simplicity with more modern capabilities in a way that no other camera does.
A person’s photographic needs must meet what the camera can do: there are no enormously long tele lenses, it won’t shoot at 50fps and so on. If you don’t need what it doesn’t have, you get 102 MP, IBIS, a 1 TB internal SSD, functional (if basic) AF, superb glass and the best UI in any camera ever.
On top of that – and a major reason I switched from Leica – you get consistently mind blowing colour. Hasselblad Natural Colour Science is hands down the best in the world in my opinion.
Have a great Christmas.
Will order mine when the postal strike is over, then I will have them all
Dear David,
Such a wonderful, inspiring, helpful post – thank you so much ! Ordering your new book for Christmas today – present for myself 😂
As I’ve grown older (how did that happen?🤪), I’ve fallen more and more in love with images I’m making. I know what I love and where to go or how to position myself in relationship to the light source to get the shot.
For years, I wrastled with my little Olympus OM-DEM. I wore one out, took the pieces to the camera shop and got another used one. I have never been able to afford more camera than that.
But over the last couple, maybe three or four years, I just stopped trying and took a class in how to best use my iPhone 15 Pro Max for the kind of photography I love to do. I took a whole lotta David classes and learned to use LightRoom. My camera is lightweight. It makes awesome big prints that I now sell regularly.
I know a whole lot more so-called “technical” moves than your average bear without digging through crazy menus so tiny a flea can’t see them.
I have a fast, intuitive speed that allows me to be guided by my heart and by my eye…mainly because I have allowed myself to be guided by David for a very long time now.
Bravo… per usual! Your sharing and wisdom influence my writing, my photography, my painting, and zeal for living a creative life!!! Thank you David!
Hi David.
This article couldn’t have been dropped in my inbox at a better time. Had hit a rut with all my images looking, and feeling, pretty much the same. Resulting in a lack of enthusiasm. Had never really felt the need to learn everything my camera is capable of, but this article has motivated me to explore more of my camera and my own creativity next time I’m out.
Thanks. Dave.
I feel so vindicated to know that I am not alone in not knowing/not caring what all those buttons on my camera do! Thank you!
“…more obsessed with the music than the microphone…” – awesome analogy. I’ve been apologizing for not being a “technical” photographer for far too long. I love learning about my camera, but I’m not obsessed with it. I am obsessed with the music.
thank you David. I now own it – the fact that I don’t know what half the whistles and bells on my camera are capable of. What a sense of freedom. thank you thank you