It’s fairly easy to differentiate between amateur photographers (even serious ones) and professional photographers. If you get a group of amateur photographers together, chances are the conversation will be about equipment. They will talk for hours upon hours about the latest gizmos and gadgets and subtle variations in equipment.

On the other hand, if you get a group of professional photographers together, the conversation will more likely be about the images themselves. Professional photographers know that the main point of photography is to create a great picture; and a great picture involves many variables (equipment being only one of them). Conversely, beginners and most amateurs tend to focus far too much on equipment; with the hope that “newer and better” tools will somehow lead to better pictures.

This mentality is common in almost every endeavor that requires equipment. The game of golf is a good example. Go to any course and you will hear golfers who can barely break 100 intensely discussing the advantages and disadvantages of a new club that may differ from the previous model by such a small amount that not even Tiger Woods could feel a difference.

The allure of finding the “perfect” piece of equipment that will suddenly make everything simple and wonderful is a powerful one. However, I strongly suggest you try not to fall into this way of thinking. The most important thing is to find a way to convey your unique and individual vision. This can be accomplished in an infinite number of creative ways; and the vast majority of these ways won’t require any special or extraordinarily expensive equipment. I discuss this topic in more detail in my ebook, “Money Shots: The Insider’s Guide to the World of Nude & Erotic Photography” (available for purchase and immediate download at http://moneyshotsbook.com).

Admittedly, it is certainly true that most good photographers use good equipment. However, a main point to remember is that they are not good photographers simply because they use good equipment. They are good photographers because they have a clear idea of what they want to do and how they want to do it; equipment is nothing more than one of the many tools they use to turn their ideas into reality.

If you’d like to see an example of great photography being done with minimal equipment, you might want to check out the work of Terry Richardson. Terry is one of the top fashion/portrait/erotic photographers in the world (responsible for far too many magazine covers and ad campaigns to even begin trying to list here). Amazingly, his equipment consists entirely of a simple and inexpensive “point and shoot” camera – no interchangeable lenses, no external lighting, no advanced features. The genius of Terry Richardson lies in the fact that the stark, brazen images that his simple cameras produce are the perfect match for what he sees in his head and wants to create.

Admittedly, it’s true that there are successful photographers whose personal styles require the use of elaborate lighting setups and expensive equipment. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. However, what matters most is your ability to capture the kind of pictures you want. Whether that will require elaborate equipment depends on what you have in mind. However, I can assure you that you can get started in this business (and have success in it) without having to invest a great deal in equipment.

Author Bio: Michael Charles is a professional photographer based in Los Angeles, California. He is the author of \”Money Shots: The Insider\’s Guide to the World of Nude & Erotic Photography\” (this book is available for purchase and immediate download at http://www.moneyshotsbook.com). For over a decade, Michael has shot exclusively in the world of nude, erotic, and adult-oriented photography. His work has been featured in hundreds of national and international publications and appears on a wide variety of prominent websites. For a complete course on the techniques, styles, moneymaking secrets, and amazing fringe benefits of nude and erotic photography, visit http://www.moneyshotsbook.com.

Category: Arts and Crafts
Keywords: photography equipment,photography techniques,nude photography,photography jobs, nude models