Many photographers tend to be gadget hounds. In their quest to make better pictures, they continually look for better equipment. The fact of the matter is; a good photographer with cheap gear will make better photographs than a bad photographer with the best gear. So what's the secret behind great photographs? I believe the answer is vision.
When I was in Alaska in 1999, I met David Hoffman, a photographer with vision. David taught me to see beyond what is there, and envision what could be there. Yea, I know, this sounds a little "out there." But it works.
One day we were driving in Denali National Park and we lucky enough to see a wolf. David claimed that he knew exactly where the wolf was headed, and sped back to our campground 4 miles away. When we arrived at the campground, we jumped out of the truck and ran towards the Teklanika river. I felt really stupid as people in camp watched us run through the campground, and quite frankly, I thought maybe David was a little "out there." We arrived at the river, stopped, and waited. Then we waited some more. A couple of magpies flew from a nearby tree, and needless to say I was in complete awe when the wolf appeared in the brush and looked right at me.
Another day, we were driving along and David says to me, "wouldn't it be cool to get a picture of a grizzly bear scratching on a SOFT SHOULDER sign." I didn't say anything, but I put the likelihood of seeing a bear scratching on a SOFT SHOULDER right up there with my chance of winning the lottery. Two days later, David screeched to a halt, I jumped out of the ER2K, and made the photograph.
