I love creativity and talent. The great thing about both of these characteristics is that while good equipment and the right “stuff” can really enhance them, both can shine through no matter the medium.
Photographer Chase Jarvis has a book and an iPhone app named “The Best Camera,” as in “The best camera is the one that’s with you.” He spends a lot of time actually shooting photos with his iPhone even though he has a full lineup of high-end cameras as well. And the pictures still look great because Chase really knows what he’s doing.
I like to do the same thing with photography (and I am not a photographer). We’ve got a few DSLR cameras but more often than not, I like to walk around with my trusty 7MP Canon Powershot and take pictures of things that interest me. And some of the pictures actually turn out nicely because I’m focused on the actual shot and not so much on the technical aspect.
It’s the same with music: More often than not, I prefer the early albums of my favorite artists over the big-budget, professionally-produced later albums. For example, while I enjoy all of David Gray‘s music, my favorite album is still White Ladder. It’s a super low-budget album but contains some of his best songs. The content over-rides the fact that he didn’t have access to the “biggest” and the “best.” Artists do more with less.
Often times low-budget, independent films have better storylines than $100 million epic adventures. And some of my favorite videos on Vimeo are those shot with the HD camera that I’ve got: A Canon HV30, consumer video camera that dwarfs in price and features compared to what the pros use, but people are squeezing amazing creativity out of it.
There’s something fulfilling about knowing you are getting every possible ounce of usefulness out of your existing equipment. This is especially relevant to do-it-yourself entrepreneurs and freelancers because we don’t have the budget of a large corporation.
Squeeze everything you can out of your Photoshop CS2 software instead of feeling paralyzed because you don’t have CS5.
Push the boundaries of what you can do with iMovie since you can’t yet afford FinalCut Pro.
Make the most of what you’ve got and focus instead on what you are doing. Take note of the current limitations but don’t dwell on them. Someday you’ll be able to afford bigger and better, but right now you’ve got what you’ve got and what’s important is that you continue to evolve your craft.
Dave, that is such a great point. Instead of focusing on what you don't have… do something with what you do have. That be applied to so many things. Some people wait until they have perfection to get started… others actually start. We have to remember that perfection is great to strive for but truly unattainable and the next best thing may or may not make things better.
I agree with Jeremy. Work with what you have! If you can get good with it, it will be that much better when you can afford the extra help the high tech gear can give. Extremely hard to do as a photog though! Too much gear!
Good stuff – thanks for your insight. A great argument for the blessedness of contentment.
Thanks Tom!
Oh yeah, plenty of goodies out there!
Fun to squeeze everything you can out of what you've got while you wait, right?
I like it Jeremy: Just start. Well stated.
Great post. I too have submitted to the fact that I have limitations. I used to get so down about not being the “best designer” or this or that. I then came to realise I just have to embrace who I am. The fact is I love doing more entrepreneurial things than design, but can utilise my “ok design skills”, more than someone that didn't have any design skills.
I don't think I can ever be a brilliant designer, as I am a bit of a jumper, I jump from this to that. I have no sort of focus…hence my entrepreneurial tendencies, but I'm ok with that. As long as I can follow things I love to do
I think you've got GREAT design skills, so keep doing what you are doing!