I want to start this year by introducing you to my photography family, because “learn your camera” has always mattered more to me than buying new gear. Ol’ Clickety… Ida… Doc… and Zed. Four very different tools, four very different lessons…all reminding me that it’s not what you look at that matters… it’s what you see.
This post becomes powerful because it shows you the journey from imagination to real-world craft… from how I previsualize a photograph before it exists, to the actual tools I use to bring that vision home from the trail (or a studio) and into the digital darkroom.
Before the Photograph Exists
Some of the images in this post were created before I ever picked up a camera.
Not because I can’t make photographs… but because every photograph begins the same way… in your mind.
This is how I previsualize.
I sit by the fire, coffee in hand, and imagine the tools the way I feel them… not as equipment, but as companions. It’s the same thing Ansel Adams talked about in the darkroom years ago… only now the sketch happens before the shutter instead of after it.
This isn’t about replacing craft.
It’s about learning to see before you ever look.
Four very different tools. Four very different lessons. And together, they keep bringin’ me back to one truth:
Learning your camera — and knowing what you’ll do with your files in the digital darkroom — will take you farther than buying the newest thing ever will.
Because it’s not what you look at that matters… it’s what you see.
And learning to see comes from time on the trail, time with your tool, and time in the digital darkroom…where your vision gets shaped into a photograph you’d be proud to hang on your wall.
A lot of folks want the shortcut. They want the new camera to do the heavy lifting. But out here on the actual PhotoSafari, it doesn’t work that way…
What you’re about to see next are the real tools.
The ones that actually go on the PhotoSafaris with me.
The ones that turn imagination into something you can hold in your hands.
Ol’ Clickety: Learn Your Camera Before You Buy New Gear
Ol’ Clickety is an older camera I picked up for $279 to prove a point.
Not a social media point… a real-world point.
Most folks don’t need “better gear.” They need better understanding. They need to learn the tool they already own, and learn how to shape a file into the photograph they saw in their mind.
Guess what? I’m asked almost every class I teach “Garrett what camera should I buy?” It does not matter that ol’ clickety is a Nikon. With any brand out there, you can find an “oldie but a goodie.” I went searching the used market for a price point…under $500.00.
The Nikon D-7100 I bought for $279.00 (ol’ clickety) and a good used Nikon Nifty 50mm f/1.8 lens at $149.00 or the excellent 35mm f/1.8 also for $149.00 keep you well under that price point. That’s a LOT of kit!
Because he’s older…thirteen year old technology…he forces you to slow down and pay attention. No guessing. No fancy distractions. Just you, the scene, and the choices you make.
For a beginner, that’s not a limitation…that’s a gift. An “older” camera like this one was a “decent” camera back in the day. It’s the perfect tool for you to learn with… and a GREAT reminder for a experienced Photographer, like I am, to remember It’s not about the damn gear! Return to the basics once in a while…
Ida: Seeing Beyond What the Eye Can
Ida is my Nikon D-850 converted to 590nm infrared.
Ida sees what the eye can’t. That’s the best way I can put it.
Infrared isn’t a gimmick to me. It’s a reminder that the world is always deeper than what we notice at first glance. Sometimes you’ve gotta stand still long enough for the scene to reveal itself.
I don’t pull Ida out for every photograph.
But when a place feels like it’s holdin’ secrets… Ida’s the one I trust to go lookin’.
Doc: Why Solid Craft Still Wins
Doc is my standard-light Nikon D-850.
Doc is the steady one.
When I want truth…when I want files that hold together and a photograph that’s built on solid craft… I reach for Doc.
No trends. No tricks.
Just clean exposure, strong composition, and an image made with intention… the kind you’d be proud to hang on a wall five or ten years from now.
Doc keeps me honest.
Zed: When Speed Matters — And When It Doesn’t
Zed is my Nikon Z-8.
And I’ll be honest… Zed is still a work in progress for me. Every time I reach for Zed, I’m reminded that the real craft is to learn your camera first…not chase features.
He’s got so many variables, buttons, and systems to program that it can feel a bit daunting. And that electronic viewfinder? It takes some getting used to. It’s a different way of seeing than the optical viewfinders I’ve used most of my life.
But here’s where Zed really shines:
Fast action — birds in flight, moments that don’t wait, auto racing, shooting Rodeo.
And video — Zed can do beautiful work there.
And here’s the funny thing… My iPhone shoots great 4K video too. So what does that tell us?
It tells us they’re all tools.
And the real skill isn’t owning every tool… it’s knowing when to change tools
The Campfire Lesson: Learn Your Tools, Not Your Wallet
If there’s one thing I want you to carry into this year, it’s this:
it’s not what you look at that matters… it’s what you see.
And that’s why learning your tools matters. Because the camera doesn’t create the photograph…
you do. And before you go there… YES! an image in this post was created with Ai. Why? Because that’s another tool. You can use Ai to create your mental notes for images before you ever hit the field.
This is the lesson I’m building around the Campfire this year:
Don’t chase gear. Chase understanding.
Because once you learn your camera… truly learn it… you stop asking, “What should I buy next?”
And you start asking a better question:
“What does this moment need from me?”
Sometimes the moment needs Ol’ Clickety… because he slows you down.
Sometimes it needs Ida… because there’s a hidden story in the light.
Sometimes it needs Doc… because craft still matters.
And sometimes it needs Zed… because speed is the difference between catchin’ it and missin’ it.
And sometimes the phone in your pocket does the job just fine.
The icing on the cake? Sometimes you can visualize an image you’d like to make with Ai. Trust me… at some point in time this year I’d love to create the actual image of me beside the fire with my family before me…
It’s not what you look at that matters… it’s what you see.
It’s always been about learnin’ to see… and learnin’ what to do with what you capture once you get back to the digital darkroom. Or even better yet? Learning to visualize the image in the field with exactly how you will create it in the Digital Darkroom! In other words, shoot for your edit.
This is EXACTLY what Ansel Adams and the other masters did back in the day!
Want to Walk This Trail With Me?
If this kind of learnin’ speaks to you,…the kind that’s about vision, craft, and real-world workflow? You’ll fit right in at ByWinslow Campfire.
The camera doesn’t create the photograph.
Neither does AI.
Neither does software.
The photograph is born when you learn to see…and learning your camera is how you bring that vision home from the trail and into the digital darkroom.
That’s the journey we’re walkin’ together around my Campfire. Oh yeah! My Assistant?
H M Shelton… her camera is a Nikon D-850 named Willa-Jeanne… more family.
I’ll keep the fire lit.
