Are You Suffering From Technitis?

By Robert Provencher

Are you suffering from technitis? There’s a lot of photographers who have this affliction and it’s a sad, sad unfortunate thing.
How can you tell if somebody has technitis? How do you know if you have technitis?

There’s an obvious and easy way to find out. Look at your bank account.

Most who are suffering from technitis are so distracted from what’s important in business and what’s important in their photography studio and the growth of their photography business; they get so distracted that they really don’t end up with a whole lot of sales, a whole lot of money.

They get caught up in – stuck in the left brain, trying to take the perfect picture and they get obsessed with all things equipment and all things technical. Sounds too simple? Well be honest with yourself and ask yourself, are you suffering from technitits?

You see, if you’re not suffering from technitis then you probably have a well balanced and well structured business plan in place, and you have a good blend of business savvy with the artistic side of photography, and you don’t get hung up on perfection, which, by the way is nothing more than a cover-up for some neurotic form of fear or anxiety or panic which really in and of itself never ends up reconciling itself and ends up in a vicious circle, kind of like a dog chasing it's own tail

It’s a self fulfilling prophecy. And if you’re suffering from technitis, you want to get away from it as soon as possible.

Those who are not suffering from technitis typically are more successful because they are focusing on what is more important in their photography business.

They do have good technical knowledge. But here’s the key. Here’s the whole secret. Here’s the cure to getting over technitis and this is a tough one for a lot of you.

You’ll see the best photographers and the best most successful studios at this level, they will – once they achieve a certain level of technical mastery, start the process of forgetting about all things technical.

Oh, that sounds pretty scary doesn’t it – especially for those of you who have a serious serious case of technitis, forgetting about all things technical. Man, could it get any scarier than that?

But think about it, when you’re photographing – you really don’t want to get hung up on technical. You want to get hung up on all things that are shooting straight from the heart, straight from the gut, straight from the soul – as they say. It’s more poetry in motion than it is math and science in practicality.

You want to be able to know all the technical things that are needed. Maybe there’s a minimal level. Maybe some of us have a higher level but in essence, once that level is achieved you completely forget about it and you start shooting off the cuff, from the heart, very spontaneously, freestyle like, very spur of the moment. I believe that this is what is lacking for a lot of those photographers who are suffering from technitis.

One of the common symptons of technitis is this belief: If I own it, than I become it. Here's an offbeat example: I have a super nice sports car, therefor I am hot! Ok, another. I own a great lens, very great, very fast, very whatever, therefor I am photographer. Therefor I am a good photographer. In other words, it's all about what you own, not what you are.

I bring this up and I write about it because it’s an affliction that I see quite a bit. I wouldn’t say it’s the majority of all photographers but there is enough of them to constitute a fair segment of the photographic population.

So the cure – well, I wish I had an exact cure. It’s probably one of those things that we can put in the same category as serious medical illnesses such as schizophrenia or cancer; or maybe not, I’m not too sure. All I know is I’ve made the observation. It’s there and if you forced an answer out of me and you asked me what would have to be done to get over technitis – well I don’t have an actual practical answer but I can suggest one thing. And that is to find out anything and everything that scares you in life or where ever. Anything that you are fearful of and go do those things.

Really, technitis is a cover-up. It’s really a cover-up for fear and/or some sore of neurotic impulse that’s holding you back. And the best way to get over that is to do something very bold, very sweeping, very dangerous. It would call upon you at your very deepest psychic level to answer the call when the curtain rises and on the stage is something for you to confront.

I like to call it an adventure. The more I live an adventure in life, the more expansive and creative a photographer I become and that for me has taken on many shapes and forms. What it would mean for you, I’m not too sure. I’m assuming though that there’s one thing we all have in common and that is a deep passion and a deep love of photography and that is a common bond that puts us all in the same photographic gene pool. The same family and that’s a good thing.

The technicians, however, get caught up and never follow the best path. They get held back. This path is a lifelong pursuit. For me, anyways, it is. I could never see myself retiring. I could never see myself hanging up my camera and going out to pasture.

I can see myself taking photographs whether they be babies, families, weddings or in travels. It doesn’t matter. The idea that I get to photograph and capture from a deeper more emotional level is the very root of what creates the sheer pleasure and joy of photography.

I believe technicians get tired of it and if you’re suffering from technitis, you probably will have a short lived photographic life. Whether it be as a career or whether it be as a passion and a hobby but you definitely want to be able to get over that if you want it to be a lifelong pursuit.

If you’re in business for yourself and photography is your business, it’s essential that you get over being a technitis, and that you combine a little bit of heart and soul. And again the only thing I can recommend is that you find what it is that scares you because within those fears there’s a gift – that’s a cover-up really for something that’s screaming to come out. There is creative energy in there. It’s actually a positive thing but we’ve disguised it in a cloak of fears and neurosis and it holds us back because it’s at the ego level.

Get out of that level and move onwards into scarier darker adventures where in reality the best things will come forth and the light will shine upon you, I promise.

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