{"id":63631,"date":"2026-01-14T14:32:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/?p=63631"},"modified":"2026-01-11T15:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:02:56","slug":"why-photographers-are-odd-4-we-buy-gear-you-never-asked-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/why-photographers-are-odd-4-we-buy-gear-you-never-asked-for","title":{"rendered":"Why Photographers Are Odd: 4 We Buy Gear You Never Asked For"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Buy Gear You Never Asked For<\/h2>\n

Most clients never ask what gear I\u2019m using.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s exactly how it should be.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s less obvious is how much kit photographers buy that no client has ever requested<\/strong>, suggested, or even knows exists.<\/p>\n

Gear purchases aren\u2019t driven by jobs<\/h3>\n

They\u2019re driven by curiosity.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/picture><\/p>\n

When I buy a new lens or bit of kit, it\u2019s rarely because a client has said, \u201cCan you do X?\u201d<\/em> It\u2019s because I\u2019ve thought, \u201cI wonder what that would let me do.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a very different mindset to buying something to tick a box.<\/p>\n

A fisheye lens.
A tiny pancake lens.
An anamorphic lens.<\/p>\n

None of those came from a brief. They came from wanting to explore a different way of seeing.<\/p>\n

New gear doesn\u2019t go straight into client work<\/h3>\n

Buying something is the easy bit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/picture><\/p>\n

The real investment is the time spent learning:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • \n

    when it works<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n

    when it absolutely doesn\u2019t<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n

    what it\u2019s actually good for (often not what it\u2019s marketed for)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Most new kit goes out with me on personal shoots long before it ever sees a paid job. It gets tested, pushed, and occasionally written off as interesting but not useful<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    Clients never see that phase. They only see the polished end result.<\/p>\n

    Gear expands options, not invoices<\/h3>\n

    This is the bit people often misunderstand.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/picture><\/p>\n

    Buying more kit isn\u2019t about upselling clients or inventing reasons to charge extra. It\u2019s about having more options in the bag when a situation calls for it.<\/p>\n

    A tight space.
    An awkward angle.
    A building that needs perspective control.
    A creative shot that would normally be impossible.<\/p>\n

    If I already own the tool and know how to use it, it becomes part of the job by default.<\/p>\n

    No conversation. No add-on. No fuss.<\/p>\n

    Most of it never earns its keep directly<\/h3>\n

    If you tried to justify some gear purchases on a spreadsheet, they\u2019d look ridiculous.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/picture><\/p>\n

    They only make sense if you accept that photography is part profession, part obsession.<\/p>\n

    Some tools get used all the time.
    Some get used once in a blue moon.
    Some exist purely because they taught me something.<\/p>\n

    But even the rarely-used ones change how you think. And that changes how you shoot everything else.<\/p>\n

    Why this is good for clients<\/h3>\n

    When a photographer turns up with confidence and flexibility, it shows.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/picture><\/p>\n

    They\u2019re not limited to one way of working. They\u2019re not stuck because the space isn\u2019t \u201cideal\u201d. They\u2019re not saying no because they lack the right tool or experience.<\/p>\n

    That freedom comes from years of buying things you never asked for, and learning how to use them when it didn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

    That\u2019s why photographers are odd.<\/p>\n

    And why the kit you never requested often makes the biggest difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    We Buy Gear You Never Asked For Most clients never ask what gear I\u2019m using. And that\u2019s exactly how it should be. But what\u2019s less obvious is how much kit photographers buy that no client has ever requested, suggested, or even knows exists. Gear purchases aren\u2019t driven by jobs They\u2019re driven by curiosity. When I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"no","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1035-Morley-Fisheye-Lens-2025_05_18-by-McFade.jpg",750,500,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1035-Morley-Fisheye-Lens-2025_05_18-by-McFade-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1035-Morley-Fisheye-Lens-2025_05_18-by-McFade-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1035-Morley-Fisheye-Lens-2025_05_18-by-McFade.jpg",750,500,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1035-Morley-Fisheye-Lens-2025_05_18-by-McFade.jpg",750,500,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1035-Morley-Fisheye-Lens-2025_05_18-by-McFade.jpg",750,500,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1035-Morley-Fisheye-Lens-2025_05_18-by-McFade.jpg",750,500,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"McFade","author_link":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/author\/admin"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"We Buy Gear You Never Asked For Most clients never ask what gear I\u2019m using. And that\u2019s exactly how it should be. But what\u2019s less obvious is how much kit photographers buy that no client has ever requested, suggested, or even knows exists. Gear purchases aren\u2019t driven by jobs They\u2019re driven by curiosity. When I…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63631"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167529,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63631\/revisions\/167529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}