If you’re a keen photographer, and a reasonable one, you have probably had this said to you many times – I know I have. People see me walking around with my camera and huge lens and go ‘whoa, that’s a big camera!’.
Mind you, it’s the lens that’s big, not the camera, lol. And it helps me get close ups of things I can’t get close to, or won’t get close to, i.e. a bird in a nest, or feeding its young. I don’t want to encroach on its territory. And for things like bees, butterflies, dragonflies, etc – I don’t want to disturb them in trying to get a good close up.
However, it’s taken me a lot of practice and tens of thousands of photos to get where I am today. I’ve tossed more photos than I’ve kept. My current camera (Nikon D7100) has taken over 81,000 photos and counting – I expect, at my current photography rate of activity, it will last me another 18 months. My previous camera, a Nikon D90, died when it had taken around 99,000 images. At that stage I didn’t know that had an actuation lifespan and knew it wasn’t working properly but the camera shop (in Fitzroy) informed I’d worn it out. Most photographers I know who have had to replace cameras have done so because they’ve dropped theirs (and I’ve done that too, believe me) but I wore mine out.
So, yes, I take nice pictures – even great ones! But it’s because of thousands of hours of practice and lots of failures. The type of camera and lens I use helps a lot, but I’ve even taken decent photos with my phone too, so it’s partly about the equipment you use but a lot about you and how you use it. Have fun!