Tools Can Be Obstacles

I don't think I'm alone when I say that when it comes to my artistic projects, the gear I use is a big part of my fun. The idea of editing video on a sixteen core Mac Pro is certainly exciting, as is the idea of shooting photos with a Canon 5D Mark II, but I've started to think that maybe we've placed too much importance in the gear we use. Having the latest and greatest insert-gadget-here would be nice, yes, but it's not nearly as important as the person using it.

Here's what started me thinking about this. A few weeks ago I was in a book store looking for a magazine that had something to do with creativity, when I found one that was on web design. Now I'm certainly no web designer, but it is something I'm interested in so I brought it home and started to read. I was expecting to find articles talking about interesting design, tips on how to make a webpage easy to navigate, maybe some examples of good color schemes. I was severely disappointed, however, because the entire magazine was focused on gear. Articles looking at different HTML editors, reviews of monitors and keyboards and a thousand different ways to monitor the traffic of a website. That's all well and good, but I didn't see a single page that talked about how to design a good looking, easy to use website.

As I said before, I love gear and I have nothing against it. But I have found that some people... myself included... Use the fact that they don't have a good enough computer or the best software or camera as an excuse. I used to think that because I didn't have the top of the line HD camera that I wanted, I couldn't make good videos, when the reality was I simply didn't have enough skill yet. If you give a bad photographer a great camera, he's still going to take bad photos. But if you give a great photographer a really bad point and shoot, he's still going to take some amazing photos with that camera.

The bottom line is, I think that it's more important for us to keep learning more about whatever it is we do than moan about how we don't have the latest gear. I once made an hour long documentary on a camcorder from the late 90s. And you know what? It was a pretty good little documentary, despite the fact that it wasn't shot in HD with a shotgun mic, a lighting kit or even a tripod half the time. Your gear can't limit you, unless you let it. That's what I've decided. Although, there's this new camera that just came out...