One of the most frequent questions I get by email goes something like this, "Your photos look so good. I love them. What kind of camera do you use?" I chuckle. While I certainly appreciate the compliment, and get satisfaction knowing people have seen my photos and felt a sense of "Wow", most photographers, either professional or serious amateurs, know this is sort of like saying to Lance Armstrong, "You've won so many races, what kind of bike do you ride?"

While I'm nowhere close to being the Lance Armstrong of photographers - who that would be is open to debate - the point is, the equipment you use is only a small part of the equation. The bike that Lance Armstong uses is available to anyone who can afford it, just like the cameras a photographer uses are available to just about everyone. What makes the difference is the skill, training, and talents of the one using it.

I've been shooting photos for twenty years now, since I was 14. And truthfully, I think I still have a lot to learn. I look at photos by guys like Steve McCurry, Bob Krist, or the late Galen Rowell and get depressed, thinking that as much as I practice and learn, I'll never have the natural talent they have. But then I have to remind myself that these guys have been shooting photos longer than I've been alive. Then I think about how much I've learned just in the last five years, or ten years and wonder how much more I'll learn in the next ten or twenty. It turns around my glumness and encourages me.

As far as equipment goes, I think it plays a very small part in capturing a good photo. I've seen compelling gallery quality photos made with a $20 Holga, a plastic toy camera. It comes back to the talent and skill of the photographer using it.

Conversely, on one of my recent trips I met a 20-something guy, who in my estimation was probably a trust fund kid. He was globetrotting with no end date in mind and no real idea of where he wanted to go next. He also had some of the best camera gear money could buy, a Canon 1Ds and L-series professional lenses. He was probably carrying about twelve grand in equipment on him. But little good it did him. The photos he showed me were dull and lifeless. They were exposed correctly, but beyond that there was little of interest about them.

Was I jealous of his gear? Sure, just a bit, I'll admit it. The L-series 17-40mm lens is one of the finest made and produces beautiful results. If I ever feel like spending $900 on a lens I could have one too. But having a great lens isn't enough. You can't buy the ability to take a good photo.

One of my fears about the digital age of photography is that in another generation, the basics and fundamentals of photography are going to be lost. When you have the ability to set the camera on "P", take a photo, and look at the LCD screen immediately afterwards to see if it looks right, who needs to know how it all works?

I learned photography on an all manual Pentax Spotmatic. Except to power the light meter, it doesn't even need a battery.

I'll forever be grateful that I learned on that camera because it taught me about aperture, shutter speed, film speed, and reading light. Later on I learned about composition, film emulsions, developer chemistry, and darkroom techniques. Except for composition, none of those things are really necessary with digital photography today.

And that's a shame. Fledgling photographers who are only familiar with digital cameras should do themselves a favor and forget about the electronic gadgetry and go back to the basics. Learn about exposure and set your camera on manual for a while. Don't let the camera do all the work.

I'm still too young to call myself old fashioned, but truthfully, I don't care much about all the program modes my digital camera offers. I don't even use them and couldn't tell you what most of them are supposed to do. Of all the shooting modes on my main camera, twelve in total, I only use three; manual, aperture priority, and shutter priority. The rest is pretty much fluff, designed for those who want the camera to take the picture for them.

Not many of us can afford to spend $7000 on a camera and hundreds on lenses. Fortunately, you don't have to. Some of my personal favorites from my own portfolio have been taken with a Canon S200, a tiny point and shoot pocket digital.

Learn how to take great pictures and almost any camera will do.