A smart equipment list

Learning goal

Before buying a new accessory, you will be able to tell whether the problem is really in the equipment or in your knowledge, and do your shopping in that order. You will see that many problems are solved with a setting you already know; you will write down the moments that really stop you in a blocker log; you will match these moments with the accessories you got to know in this module; before buying an accessory, you will test it through carrying, renting and borrowing; you will weed out the unused things in your bag; and you will know that sometimes the cheapest tool, for example a folding reflector, can rescue the detail in the shadow of a face, on every skin, more than the most expensive accessory.

The question

One weekend you empty your bag onto the table. Two tripods, four filters, a flash, two remotes, a cleaning kit, three straps, and an accessory box that has never been opened. You look at the photos you took last year: most of them were taken without ever touching the two things at the bottom of the bag, with only the camera and a single lens. Half of the things on the table haven't been used even once in the past year.

What do you really need? This question becomes more important as photography gets more expensive; because every new accessory looks as if it will solve a problem, but most of the time ends up in a drawer. In this lesson we will pass every item on the table through three doors: does it answer a gap in knowledge, a need, or just an urge to shop?

Context

In Lesson 1.4 we talked about what an expensive camera makes easier and what it doesn't change at all; and in Lesson 12.10 we saw choosing a second lens by looking at your own shooting data. The same logic holds for accessories too, but with one difference: accessories are small and relatively cheap, so they are easily bought one by one and pile up without your noticing.

The tripod on the bridge, the turnable glass on the river, the dark filter on the shore, the remote in the highlands and the white paper photographed for the dust test; each of them solved its own problem; but whether that job really exists in your photography is another question. The last lesson of the module suggests thinking of these accessories not as a shopping list, but as a map of needs.

Simple explanation

Is the problem in knowledge or in equipment?

A significant share of the problems a photographer faces is solved not with a new tool, but with a setting they already know. Blurry frames usually call not for a new lens but for the right diagnosis: is it hand shake, missed focus, or subject movement? Dark indoor frames usually call not for a new flash but for a wider aperture, a higher ISO, or moving closer to a window. Wrong colors usually call not for a new filter but for the right white balance.

When you think about buying an accessory, ask yourself this question: can I solve this problem with a setting or a habit I have learned so far? If the answer is yes, try that first. In many cases the problem disappears and there is no need to shop. That kind of problem is a knowledge problem. If the answer is no, or the setting runs up against a limit, then you have really reached an equipment need.

How is a need recognized?

A reliable way to recognize a need is to keep a blocker log. After every shoot, write down in one line each the moments that really stopped you and that you couldn't get past with any setting you know: "I couldn't soften the water at sunset," "I couldn't be in the frame myself in the group photo," "the sky always comes out pure white." When a problem repeats several times, it isn't a one-off mishap but a real need.

Then you link these lines to accessories through needs mapping. Repeated moments that call for a long exposure point to a sturdy tripod; reflections on water and glass, or a pale sky, to a polarizing filter; water and clouds flowing in daylight to an ND filter; group photos and vibration-free long exposures to a remote; and spots repeating in narrow-aperture frames to an air blower. An accessory that never shows up on the list is, however much it is recommended, not your need for now.

How do you shop?

Even when you recognize a need, you don't have to buy right away. Renting an accessory for a few days or borrowing it from a friend shows whether it really does the job and whether you will carry it with you. The carry test is simple: carry an accessory in your bag for a whole day and count how many times you take it out. If a heavy tripod or a big filter set stays at home, a lighter option that does less can actually get you more photos.

Some small things, on the other hand, are useful for most photographers regardless of what they shoot: a spare battery and a spare memory card can save a shoot that won't end in the middle of a day. When shopping, buying a single accessory at a time and really using it for a while prevents things that repeat each other from piling up. The secondhand market and swap days are ways of making money go further too.

How is the bag simplified, and what does the cheapest tool change?

Emptying the bag once a year and asking of each item how many times you used it in the past year makes your bag lighter. This kit decluttering frees the things that are never used to be sold, given to a friend, or left at home. A lighter bag means a camera carried with you more often, and so more photos.

Sometimes the cheapest tool makes the biggest difference. We saw how a folding reflector opens up the shadow on a face in window light. This simple tool sends light back into the eyes and cheek of a face left in shadow. On dark skin the detail in shadow comes back without needing a high ISO or forcing the shadows in editing; on light skin too, the shadows soften and a small glint appears in the eyes. A reflector can often be replaced by a white foam board or even a sheet of paper; what an expensive accessory can't do, a piece of white surface sometimes does.

Visual evidence

You go back to the things on the table. You have written the problems of the last three months in your blocker log. The line that repeats most is this: "In portraits I shoot in the shade outdoors, faces stay dark." The second most frequent line: "I can't soften the water by the sea at sunset." None of the four filters on the table answers either of these two lines; and one of the two tripods has never been used.

On your sibling's graduation day, you take their portrait in the shade of a tree. Your sibling is dark-skinned, and their gown is black; their face is in shade; behind them there is a path curving toward them through sunny grass, and the grass is very bright. The one thing you buy after selling the second tripod you never used and two filters is a folding reflector. Your friend holds the reflector toward your sibling's face, angled to gather the light coming from the sunny grass. In the frame there is a small glint in each of your sibling's eyes, and detail on their cheekbones and forehead; you don't need to raise the ISO or force the shadows in editing. For the water by the sea, on the other hand, you decide to first borrow an ND from a friend and try it a few times.

Common mistakes

Summary

A smart equipment list is built in three steps: knowledge first, then need, shopping last. Many problems are solved with a setting you know; writing the moments that don't get solved and keep repeating in a blocker log, and matching them with the accessories you got to know in this module, shows the real need. Renting, borrowing and doing a carry test before buying, simplifying the bag every year, and remembering that sometimes the cheapest tool, a reflector, can rescue the detail in the shadow of a face on every skin, protect both your budget and your bag.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will review your own equipment list in three steps.

1. Empty your bag and write next to each item how many times you used it in the past year.
2. Write down in a blocker log the moments that stopped you in your last few shoots, and mark whether each one can be solved with a setting you know.
3. Match the problems that can't be solved and keep repeating with the accessories in this module.
4. Using a white foam board or a sheet of paper as a reflector, photograph a face in shade, first without the reflector, then with it.

Check yourself

• How many of the items in your bag haven't been used at all in the past year?
• How many of the problems in your blocker log could be solved with a setting you know?
• In the frame you took with the reflector, regardless of skin tone, did the detail come back in the eyes and cheek of the face in shade?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. What is the first question to ask when you think about buying a new accessory?

• A) Which one is the most expensive?
• B) Can I solve this problem with a setting or a habit I know?
• C) What do others use?
• D) Which one is the newest?

2. What best shows that a problem is a real equipment need?

• A) That it happened once
• B) That it was seen in an advertisement
• C) That it repeats several times in the blocker log and can't be overcome with the settings you know
• D) That a friend recommended it

3. What can be done before buying a heavy tripod?

• A) Renting or borrowing it and doing a carry test for a whole day
• B) Buying two right away
• C) Buying it without trying it at all
• D) Looking only at its price

4. What can be used to bring back the detail of a dark-skinned face left in shade cheaply and effectively?

• A) A more expensive camera
• B) A new ND filter
• C) A taller tripod
• D) A folding reflector or a white foam board

Answers

1. B — Many problems are solved with a known setting; this question prevents unnecessary shopping.
2. C — Problems that repeat and aren't solved with a setting show the real need.
3. A — Trying it shows whether the tool does the job and whether it will be carried.
4. D — A reflector sends light back to the face in shade; it brings back detail without raising the ISO or forcing it in editing.

Summary card

• Order: knowledge first, then need, shopping last.
• Blocker log: moments that repeat and aren't solved with a setting.
• Match the need with an accessory; what isn't on the list isn't a need, even if recommended.
• Rent, borrow, do a carry test; simplify your bag once a year.
• A cheap reflector can rescue the detail of a face in shade on every skin.

Bridge to the next lesson

Your equipment bag is now simplified according to your need. Now we turn our attention back to looking, to what is placed where inside the frame. In your sibling's graduation frame, there was a path in the background curving through the grass and stretching toward them, and the gaze, without noticing, reached your sibling along that path. How does the eye walk through a photograph? The next lesson opens the second composition module with leading lines that carry the gaze to the subject.