The art of thick skin

What would you do if a complete stranger came up to you and said: ‘I was told there would be a photographer shooting this event {looks at you pointedly} but then I saw your camera.’

followed by

’I brought my camera and lenses if you want to use my stuff instead.’


It happened to me over the weekend. I was taken aback by it to say the least. Since I was caught off guard, I agreed to look at her equipment. She happily showed me her telephoto lens, that I quickly gave back to her, her external flash, that I declared I didn’t know how to use and wasn’t going to ‘practice on’ that night and her other zoom lens that I said I’d check out.

She continued to tell me that I needed to use my built in flash in the low lit room and proceeds to take a picture with her camera w/flash to prove her point. Showing me the LCD screen, saying ‘see? this is how your pictures need to look.’

I took a picture with my camera, explaining I changed the white balance, lowered the aperture and fixed my ISO and showed her my LCD and said, ‘this is what my pictures look like.’

She then informed me she doesn’t know anything about that, and shoots from auto the entire time, where I let her know I shoot in manual.

At that moment, she turned around back to her bag of equipment and insisted I use her camera body, a Canon 30D. I said I wasn’t familiar with 30D’s and was content with my own Rebel, but she persisted over and over again. I again stated our cameras were different and I knew mine, so I preferred to continue using mine, but she kept pushing saying they had ‘all the same features’ and showed them to me.

I politely declined for the last time. But it seemed like what may have started out as kindness to her, became a ‘my equipment is better than yours’ game…that she clearly won.

After taking 5 pictures with her lens, I quickly took it off and put my simple (to others) 50mm 1.8 lens back on and went back to work.

I thought I was in the clear after crossing the room, but was approached 20 minutes later by a man with a very fancy camera and external flash, who began questioning my photography abilities and choice..or lack of equipment.

I was starting to feel defeated at this point. I realize I have an older model Canon, and I realize I don’t have an external flash for low lit rooms or a fancy zoom lens that looks more professional than my small 50 I had to use, does, but to have people…strangers! pointing it out is a whole other thing.

He turned out to be a very sweet man, who ended up knowing half of what I know in terms of photography and who in the end, paid me a compliment, but it was a rough start.

What made it all okay, was after both encounters; approaching my friend, who asked me to shoot in the first place; and her saying she trusted my abilities. That’s all I needed to keep going.


~~~~~~~
There will always be someone who has better equipment than you, who will be better at something you think you’re good at doing, but someone will always have more and be better than them. Trust in what you can do. Don’t let someone make you think what you have isn’t enough to be good…to be great. It might turn out you know more with less.

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