The thought of acquiring more gear is always a positive one, after all, you can up your photographic hierarchy merely by making the purchase – no photographs need be taken. The gear-heads will praise you for what you have, no matter what, so if you appeal to those guys they’ll always compliment you in an effort of one-upmanship (remember to reciprocate when they buy the hot new thing). I’m crazy guilty of it, I just need one more thing and then I can do this, or that, or maybe I could have done it before but this will let me do it better or different, even when I haven’t really done it at all, ever.

The real trick is doing more with less. Being the photographer (or any kind of artist) that can do what the guys with the $10K camera are doing with the entry-level rebel, or a point and shoot, or their mom’s old film body; taking the “inferior” tool and creating a superior product.

The amazing thing is you can be one hell of a photographer, better than anyone I know, just by having the vision, and a tool, not necessarily the right tools, in your hand. This level of adversity (#firstworldproblems) has the added benefit of forcing us to be creative – if you don’t have the tech as a crutch, can you still produce awesome work?

So it’s time to learn what I’ve got, no more buys this summer, no new gear, I have plenty – more than most really – but with one caveat: if my camera breaks, I get to buy a new one.

Are you eying that next new cool thing? “If only I had that I could…” you could what? Have less cash? Do something awesome with what you’ve already got and really impress the world.

edit: A little gear info on this image – it’s about $2,000 worth of Elinchrom lighting (Ranger Quadra through a Deep Throat, not making that up, Octa), shot with a $500 point and shoot G11. I really don’t need more stuff.