Perhaps more than just so that I can improve on the quality of my pictures and not be limited by adverse lighting conditions all the time, the drive to get a f/2.8 mid-range zoom lens - which costs almost as much as my D200 body - was spurred in part by a need to protect my reputation, or however much of it that does exist.
I was simply unhappy with the results I was delivering with the 18-200mm lens, the lens which is almost permanently on my camera body. Its zoom range makes for a handy walkabout and travel lens when the added weight of additional lenses isn’t welcome and swapping lenses may prove to be an inconvenience. But its sharpness, colour and clarity, although acceptable, leaves much to be desired when shooting at a quasi-professional level. I’d be shooting on the scene, reviewing my pictures, and knowing that they’re crappy shots. In fact I’d know them to be crappy even before I started shooting. I’d be dragging my feet when the time came for me to hand in my shots. It is not a pleasant feeling.
People wouldn’t know (they don’t really care) if the other photographers on site or the one they engaged on previous or future occasions have better equipment, or is a dedicated PR or events photographer. If you use a big-ass dSLR, you take good photos. If your photos don’t look good, you’re a poor photographer. So many things can go wrong on a shoot, and so much of it lies in whatever equipment (or lack thereof) is at your disposal. Add on to that the possibilities of camera or lens malfunction, memory card corruption, battery exhaustion (always carry spares!), speedlights not synching, people getting in your way, horrible lighting on site, the need to be omnipresent on scene to capture everything and thus sometimes missing an important second or two, people blinking, people smiling lopsidedly, people with mouths wide open when it would have been better if they weren’t. Some things you can control, but some things you can’t. The less suited your kit, the more things you can’t.
The saying goes that ‘a photographer is only as good as his last shoot’. It is true. I want every last shoot to be a good shoot. I need to deliver. And hence the greed and the need.
Perhaps it is correct to assume that nature and street photography suit me best. Thankless genres, but such photography is motivated by a passion for the subject. All I need to please is myself and nobody else. I shoot to enjoy, not to impress.