Photography and cameras and the hand that shoots  

You have to challenge yourself. I shoot many (several hundred a week) sports photos. It is easy to capture some action with every shot. What I try to do is catch that moment that will get the viewer to feel the action. I will try to capture the expression on the face or when the high jumper has cleared the bar at the height of the jump.

When I shoot for pleasure I will sometimes challenge my self to shoot photos with a certain object or color in it. For example when walking around I will shoot every photo with the color red in it. This forces me to study the area I am walking. Once I took a photo of a single red berry on the vine with the dead vines and a blanket of snow in the background. If you go out and shoot 500 photos you will get several good ones. Your goal should be to decide what you want in the picture and then go out and find it.

I'd say it is definitely the photographer! A good camera can help, but it all comes down to the talent of the photographer. A good photographer can take an amazing photo with a low quality camera. But a photographer with no talent or skill won't automatically take great pictures if they're using the best camera out there.

i agree with trickiwoo.. it's an art so it needs a person that knows art when he/she sees one. i know somebody that has a great camera that i need to save for like three years before i can own them, but the thing is he doesn't even have a slightest idea how to use them. he bought it like last year but has no idea the limitations of his camera. he always end up blaming his lens that is 18-55mm for the bad shots that he make. well frankly speaking it's not the lens it's just that he doesn't know that basics of photography (and i told him that). but still he wants to buy a new lens (which is good) but i think that he should focus more one learning the basic before making huge efforts on searching for the perfect lens.
right now i am using a 5mp kodak dx7590 p&s. good thing i still have it (always lose my cameras). but the good thing about it is that though i only started using it last February but i know it's limitations. the zoom is not that powerful (for me) it has noise if you zoom to the last end, it does have some issues with lights specially during night. but then again it's up to you to judge... feel free to brows my photos at roommyt.deviantart.com and see for yourself if i pass the line...

The photographer is more important than the camera. One thing many photographers do is never change their position. Don't just stand upright, look through the viewfinder and snap a picture. Think about what is drawing your attention, and then focus on it. Move closer, squat down closer to the ground and then look through your viewfinder. Move around and take pictures from the sides and back. Don't forget to study the scene - there's often a telephone pole, a trashcan, garbage on the ground, or other distracting items. Watch people and make sure they don't walk into your scene.

For 20 years I've used an SLR with interchangeable lenses and was happy when they came out with zoom lenses; But the lens I use the most is a 105mm macro lens. I just love it - not only for close-ups, but also for portraits and close scenes. I now have a digital SLR that will use all my old lenses. All my equipment is Pentax.

I have a personal blog that I illustrate with my own digital photographs. Someday I'll scan all my slides. http://from-texas-to-tennessee.blogspot.com/