Originally posted by eddie1960 ha exactly always value in your talents its not the gear specifically its the user
That is simply not true. That is such a dangerous, haphazard myth perpetrated by digital fake Avedons like that boy Kim-what's-his-name, and other boys. There is no substitute for quality, unless the client is the 3rd rate pizza shop that does not care how the images will look in flyers, or on their 3rd rate website because their audience is blind and drunk anyway.
Smartphones can be used by a client, or an art director, to tell, roughly, what they want to do. Smartphones are also useful to develop digital sketches and ideas, in a manner "snap, snap, ok this, then we do that.. snap snap … then this detail .. snap .. then we need a portrait here .. then series of scenes with senior executives, then we need to photograph the production process and major products, from this angle ..." etc.
Once details are established, you show off you gear, that is capable of things, or you are history —
because the art board is approved, contract is signed off, and there is no change to the concepts! If a photographer has no suitable lenses, or equipment, or a camera, or light setup, then
hasta la vista baby, because the concept does not change! Talent can extend the value of the equipment
within the determined parameters, but if lenses used are 3rd rate Japanese beer glass,
as most lenses today are, then a fine art director can see that. Such 'photographer' can use that stuff to take snaps of his kids, but no way I would allow that for a corporate or PR portrait.
A good art director can even make very specific demands; a phtog comes with 70-200 to do shooting, he can be dismissed asap, because the desired look cannot be made by such a setup — sorry, too much compression, and lack of details, look is all too similar to 1 million other shots seen online; I demand 75mm Cron or 90mm macro. 70-200 may be good for soccer mums and their kids, or for boys stepping up from their kit lenses into another cheap kit, but not for certain clients and purposes. Sorry.
I can see all that and more; I worked as an art director for a major national agency, and I know exactly when I see the file, I can understand everything about the photographer and his or her limits, cliches, stereotypes and capabilities. It takes some 25+ years of hard professional work, and staring at work of world's best professionals in advertising and photography, but it is possible.