What I don’t want to be asked when someone sees my photos or sees me taking photos:
That’s a great photo! What camera/lens do you use?
Even though I prefer Nikon, since I know that brand, I actually don’t give a flying F about what camera that was used for a picture. Asking about the lens is slightly better but not by much.
When I meet another photographer there’s a heap of other things I want to talk about.
- Which photo do you consider your best one? Why?
- What is your style when it comes to photos? How can I see that a photo is taken by you?
- Where did you found the most magic/dramatic light? What did it look like?
- What photo(s) and photographers have inspired you? How come?
- Which motif is your favourite? People? Animals? Landscape? Flowers?…?
- What place/situation makes you excel in your photography? When do you get most creative?
Also, think of the story about Ansel Adams doing photography of Ernest Hemingway. The mood wasn’t the best when Hemingway asked Adams “I’ve seen a lot of great photos taken by you. What camera do you use?”, to which Adams responded “I’ve seen a lot of great books written by you. What typewriter do you use?”
So please, don’t ask me about my lens or my camera anymore! If you find the questions above hard to remember, at least change the initial question to
That’s a great photo! Could you please tell me more about its creation?
