An age old question for anyone starting out any new hobby with a view to taking it more seriously is ‘does gear matter?’ A question that is pertinent to photography and the modern craze of vlogging.

Typically the response is ‘no’ but always comes from people who have accumulated thousands of pounds worth of equipment after years of varying success and thus can sound a little ingenuous. The truth is gear is only half the story, but it helps.

I was recently asked the question on gear with regards to vlogging, something I have taken up again after several years out. My current setup is a Nikon D5300, with a gorilla pod and Rode Video Mic Pro. I call this, ‘The Neistat’, edited on a MacBook Pro with Final Cut Pro X. Not a cheap start-up by any means but then I have been doing this on and off for a number of years and my equipment as evolved as I have developed.

Before the ‘Neistat’, I worked primarily with my smartphones. I am currently using the iPhone 6S plus but before that, I used a Samsung S4. I shied away from the DSLR when taking photos or higher end camcorders when filming, purely because I was trying to promote the idea to people that they have all the tools they need at their finger tips to be creative. Most people have a mobile phone, some sort of contract with data and most operating systems, more so today than 3 or 4 years ago, have editing software apps that they can utilise to upload straight to YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, Flickr or wherever they post their stills or video. The key component with this set up is composition and story. Composition (with photography) and story (with videography) are golden. Focus on getting those elements right and you can create great imagery and story with just a mobile device.

The main benefit of the mobile set up is that it is mobile, you probably have one already, it requires little in investment costs and you don’t need a laptop to edit your material. The one thing you might (and probably should invest in if you are considering vlogging/filming) is an external mic for your phone. Low-quality visuals are one thing that people will forgive you for but low-quality audio will quickly see people switching off.

As soon as you start investing in better camera gear, the sooner you need to start investing in a laptop/desktop to edit the material on. You will also need to start investing in storage for your digital files. The cost starts racking up quite significantly, very quickly and all for a tiny increase in visual quality.

My advice to anyone starting out in photography/videography/filmmaking, whatever it is you want to do is to keep it simple. The less money you invest initially in gear, the more money you will have to travel to interesting and different places to capture imagery of. Learn your trade with the tools you have, learn the rules of composition, lighting and story, when to break them and you will make content people will want to see and your profile will grow.

Evolution of the squad

An age old question for anyone starting out any new hobby with a view to taking it more seriously is ‘does gear matter?’ A question that is pertinent to photography and the modern craze of vlogging.

Typically the response is ‘no’ but always comes from people who have accumulated thousands of pounds worth of equipment after years of varying success and thus can sound a little ingenuous. The truth is gear is only half the story, but it helps.

I was recently asked the question on gear with regards to vlogging, something I have taken up again after several years out. My current setup is a Nikon D5300, with a gorilla pod and Rode Video Mic Pro. I call this, ‘The Neistat’, edited on a MacBook Pro with Final Cut Pro X. Not a cheap start-up by any means but then I have been doing this on and off for a number of years and my equipment as evolved as I have developed.

Before the ‘Neistat’, I worked primarily with my smartphones. I am currently using the iPhone 6S plus but before that, I used a Samsung S4. I shied away from the DSLR when taking photos or higher end camcorders when filming, purely because I was trying to promote the idea to people that they have all the tools they need at their finger tips to be creative. Most people have a mobile phone, some sort of contract with data and most operating systems, more so today than 3 or 4 years ago, have editing software apps that they can utilise to upload straight to YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, Flickr or wherever they post their stills or video. The key component with this set up is composition and story. Composition (with photography) and story (with videography) are golden. Focus on getting those elements right and you can create great imagery and story with just a mobile device.

The main benefit of the mobile set up is that it is mobile, you probably have one already, it requires little in investment costs and you don’t need a laptop to edit your material. The one thing you might (and probably should invest in if you are considering vlogging/filming) is an external mic for your phone. Low-quality visuals are one thing that people will forgive you for but low-quality audio will quickly see people switching off.

As soon as you start investing in better camera gear, the sooner you need to start investing in a laptop/desktop to edit the material on. You will also need to start investing in storage for your digital files. The cost starts racking up quite significantly, very quickly and all for a tiny increase in visual quality.

My advice to anyone starting out in photography/videography/filmmaking, whatever it is you want to do is to keep it simple. The less money you invest initially in gear, the more money you will have to travel to interesting and different places to capture imagery of. Learn your trade with the tools you have, learn the rules of composition, lighting and story, when to break them and you will make content people will want to see and your profile will grow.

Evolution of the squad

JAMIE NEWELL

Blog: Life In Perspective

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