Less is more, and yeah, there’s a lot of truth to this, right? Working within the limitations of your gear.

And I think this is one of the instances where gear can really elevate, picking the right gear can really elevate your photography.

But yeah, the limitation of this. We’ll talk specifically about the Ricoh.

So, I just got back from the farmers market here in Santa Monica. Shout out to all those cool vendors I was talking to.

I was feeling very social today and talked to like three different vendors. And the reason I even talked to them was because I put a limitation on myself using this, using the .3 meter snap focus distance, right?

What other camera can I easily go from infinity to 5 meters to 2.5 meters to 2 to 1.5 to 1 meter to .3 meters instantly, just like that, with one hand? No fiddling around.

Now, I’ve been to this farmers market many, many times, and I don’t know that I’ve ever made a shot there that I like. Ever.

I don’t know what it is. I always take photos there, but I never really like any of the photos, so I just delete them.

This time around, I was like, you know what? I’m gonna just put this bad boy at .3 meters and just get super close and snap away.

And yeah, I ended up taking a nice photo at the very end of the farmers market that I like.

See it right here. Show it to you real quick.

Got a couple photos. This one specifically, that’s Sherman. Little Sherman is a bloodhound, I think. Cool-looking dog.

But you know, I’ve never taken a photo like that. And the reason I took that photo is because I had it at such a close distance.

Look at that dog. Oh, cute dog.

So, I like that photo.

And then I took another one. I was talking to the owner. I was actually trying to show her my photo, and then I don’t know what’s up with this camera.

If you take too many photos in a row, the thing just spins and buffers. Like, if you take five photos all in a row, this Ricoh just buffers, buffers, buffers.

For me, I want to be efficient. That might just be the reason I need to buy another camera. Maybe the Ricoh GR4 doesn’t buffer like that.

But it was buffering for like 15 seconds, and I even showed the lady because it’s just that spinny thing on the screen.

I was showing the lady, and then the light was hitting her just right. Right? It was hitting her just right.

So as I was showing her the spin like this, I just casually turned around the camera. And I was close to her. I was like this close.

And I took this photo, which I really, really like because the light is hitting her just perfect. And I really like the background, you know, a nice textured background.

But I think my favorite thing is the message on her shirt, the “RESIST.”

But you can see my camera and my silhouette here. You can see my camera is perfectly blocking out the R in “RESIST.”

So yeah, I really, really like this photo. Something about it I like.

So, the limitations of your gear, I think it really helps with your creativity.

Just work with what you got, you know, and make the best of it.

And I used to have all the, man… I mean, really, it was what, November, December of last year, 2025. I was walking around with my little Sony A9. That’s a great camera, by the way, but just a little too big.

And I had the cheapest zoom, and I’d be out there with the zoom taking photos.

And yeah, I really liked it because I could get a variety of different shots. It felt nice, right?

But after a while, it just became too much to carry around.

I had too many decisions and too many choices.

And now I look back at the photos. Yeah, I got some that I like, but I don’t have anything like those two photos I just took with this at .3 meters.

So yeah, I really think the process of eliminating all the unnecessary crap out of your life and just focusing on one thing, like I did: .3 meters, super-close photos.

Everybody was even walking by in that farmers market. I was just, I was like this close trying to get a photo of them.

So shout out to Ricoh.

And yeah, limitations.

Let’s go.