Craig Thompson (@CraigThompson)

I've begun teaching my Photography class recently. One of the first lessons is terms. I define photography as "the art of capturing what you see." The key is to learn well the technical aspects of your equipment and the trade in order to be able to accurately capture what you uniquely see as an artist. The best equipment in the world won't make you look down at your feet and notice a 1.5" flash of purple among the grass at your feet. And lacking the equipment or the ability to capture what you see will frustrate you until you master the skill and your equipment within its inherent limitations. While I would prefer to have a $2K+ macro lens, I don't. So I utilize the tools on my phone to attempt to blur the background and focus attention on the subject. But what I see and what you see along the same walk will differ. That's what makes art interesting.