This week I had one of those classic experiences which almost every photographer had in his career. At my workplace they were looking for somebody to take pictures of an event. I was asked to do it, and the conversation went like this:

Co-worker: “Say, could you take pictures of that event next Tuesday ?”
Me: “No, I will be out of office.”
Co-worker: “Darn, we need pictures.”
Me: “John could take some pictures, ask him.”
Co-worker: “But does he also have a good camera ?”

Ouargh…. not again. What is it with people that they associate a “good” camera with photo quality ? That conclusion is done in no other field, or have you said or heard one of the following sentences ?

“Great pen, it must write excellent poems”
“Wonderful car, you must be a good driver”
“Nice scissors, I bet those make great haircuts”
“A computer like yours must code nice apps.”
or, even closer to photography,
“That’s really a professional film camera. Does it make blockbusters ?”

So I have made a kind of late new-years-resolution today.  To start battling that annoying cliché I will ask people exactly those silly questions above when being confronted with the “good camera”-statement. Alternatively, when somebody gives the statement to me while I am holding the camera, I will quickly mess with the camera settings (e.g. set it to manual mode and choose exposure values which are anything but suitable for the current lighting situation), smile at the person and say: “Sure it does, it is totally easy. Here, take it and give it a shot.”

If I’ll have any success with that strategy I will let you know