更多投入攝影和工作而不是畫素

我最近買了一個新的智慧型手機，揮別我那已用了將近三年的舊手機，我認為對於這個世代的手機而言，三年算是蠻長的壽命了。

我那新手機的賣點之一是內建1,400萬畫素的照相機。現在已有人在作4,100萬畫素照相機的廣告。那聽起來非常吸引人，但身為一個專業攝影師，我了解把照相機的畫素數目與品質混為一談是錯誤的。

這個錯誤觀念讓我想到1960年代的馬力競賽，汽車製造商試著讓買主相信，把愈來愈大的引擎塞進粗製爛造的汽車會使車子變好。更大的引擎可能會製造出更多噪音並讓人覺得更有力，但整體的車況還是讓人難以接受。

當百萬畫素的照相機一上市，數位攝影就對膠卷攝影造成嚴重的威脅。從那時開始，畫素的數目－－那會影響影像的鮮明度和細節－－就急遽地增加。而今天甚至八百萬畫素的照相機照出來的相片放大到極大的尺寸，也能產生奇妙的結果。

然而，其他的因素也會影響一張照片的品質：所用的鏡頭和相機的相關零件都比畫素的數目對影像的品質有更大的影響。而更重要的是攝影者的技巧和經驗。即使有最好的設備，若對照片的構圖布局或藝術見解沒有概念，也產生不了吸引別人眼光的照片。

類似的原則也適用在職場。即使我們獲得最先進的科技，若我們無法生產卓越的產品，常常錯過自己答應的最後期限，沒有好好地對待顧客，我們的生意一定不會好。這就是為何我發現聖經的原則如此有意義。例如，箴言22章29節說，高品質的工作表現一定會被注意到：「你看見辦事殷勤的人嗎？他必站在君王面前，必不站在下賤人面前。」

在另一處，路加福音6章31節，耶穌提醒我們，對待跟我們做生意之人的最好方式是我們希望他們如何對待我們：「你們願意人怎樣待你們，你們也要怎樣待人。」你可能有最新的電腦和科技工具，但若你沒有做好客戶服務，那些工具就沒有甚麼意義。

我告訴人們要照出好的照片，他們應該專注在學習好照片的構成因素，並發展他們的技巧，而不是擔心他們的相機有多少畫素。同樣的，我們所生產的貨物和提供的服務品質比我們誇口的最先進科技更能帶來事業的成功。

吉姆．馬提斯在堪薩斯州陸路公園市經營一家照相館。他的專長是商業和影劇界人像。他也經營一所攝影學校。他還寫了一本書「一般民眾的高度攝影表現」，那是一本有關數位攝影的書。他曾是一家咖啡店的經理，也曾是CBMC在堪薩斯州堪薩斯市和密蘇里州堪薩斯市的執行主任。

I recently bought a new smart-phone, parting ways with my old one that lasted nearly three years, which is considered a fairly long life for a cell phone these days.

One of the selling points of my new phone is its 14-megapixel camera. Now someone is advertising a 41-megapixel camera. That sounds very impressive, but as a professional photographer I understand the error in confusing the number of pixels on the camera sensor with quality.

This misconception reminds me of the horsepower race of the 1960’s, when automakers tried to convince car buyers that cramming bigger and bigger engines into poorly manufactured cars made them better. The larger engines might have made more noise and felt more powerful, but overall the transportation provided was still unacceptable.

Digital photography became a serious threat to film photography the moment one-megapixel cameras became available. Since then the number of megapixels – which affect the sharpness and detail of a photographic image – has increased dramatically, and today even eight-megapixel professional cameras can produce amazing results when enlarged to very large sizes.

However, other factors also affect the quality of a photograph: the lens used and the electronics involved both have a far greater affect on image quality than the number of megapixels. Even more significant are the skill and experience of the photographer. Even with the best equipment, someone with a poor sense of photo composition or bad artistic judgment will not produce photos that capture our attention.

A similar principle applies to the workplace. Even if we obtain the most advanced technology available, if we fail to produce work with excellence, consistently miss promised deadlines, and treat customers and clients poorly, our business will struggle. That is why I have found principles from the Bible so meaningful. For instance, Proverbs 22:29 states that high quality work will not go unnoticed: “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings; he will not serve before obscure men.“

In another passage, Luke 6:31, Jesus reminds us the best way to treat those we do business with is to how we would want them to treat us: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” You can have the newest computers and technological tools, but if you struggle with customer service, it means little.

I tell people that to make great photographs, they should concentrate on learning what makes a good picture and developing their skills, rather than worrying about how many megapixels their cameras have. In the same way, the quality of the goods we produce and the services we provide means far more for business success than whether we can boast of having the most advanced technology.

Jim Mathis is the owner of a photography studio in Overland Park, Kansas, specializing in executive, commercial and theatrical portraits, and operates a school of photography. Jim is the author of High Performance Cameras for Ordinary People, a book on digital photography. He formerly was a coffee shop manager and executive director of CBMC in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri.