Are you frustrated with photography? Is your camera acting more like a slot machine than a creative storytelling tool? Perhaps the camera isn't the problem.

If I had a dollar for everyone who asked what gear he needed to take better pictures, I'd be rich. And I'd have given the same answer thousands of times: The greatest piece of equipment you could invest in is your brain.

That's the big secret, and it's the least exciting one, until years later when you understand that mastering it will improve your photography light years beyond what gear could alone. If you're asking about gear and don't even know the basic feminine and masculine poses or understand how to light something, what good would gear do?

I went through every struggle a photographer goes through. I started out having images in my mind that I wanted to record. I started with my dad's manual film camera, the Canon AE-1 Program. Man was that thing cool. The sound of the click, the cool lights inside indicating metering, the big numbers on the shutter speed dial going all the way into the thousands. As a child, I was rarely able to record exactly what my mind saw. It took me decades to realize it's actually not possible to record exactly what your mind sees for the simple reason that the camera is not your brain. It takes processing to get it close.

When my dad moved into more automated Nikon stuff, with motor drives, AF and matrix metering, I became even more fascinated with equipment, and I actually assumed that a better camera and lens would get me better pictures. How could it not? It had smart Matrix metering built in! I used to worry about lenses and cameras and getting the best of everything new. Those were expensive assumptions. Again, it took years for me to realize the gear is secondary to skill.

As I learned more, I practiced more and was able to achieve better images, sometimes through luck and sometimes through composition and lighting. But I was never fully happy with my images, and I knew there had to be a way to get the fantastic images in my mind onto a print. But what was it? What were the secrets? What were pros doing that I was not? What did they know and why did I not know it?

When I looked honestly for these answers, that's when my big breakthrough came. I started to respect and understand light. I studied it. I learned how cameras perceived light and how to meter it to get the results I wanted. That included flash, which really opened my mind to the possibilities of light. The more I learned, the more I understood the importance and power of controlling light, and the more that became my pursuit. Gear became less important. As I put each new principle to use, I realized I hadn't even been getting the most out of the gear I had, and with more knowledge I could leverage more power out of my existing equipment. I'd left my pursuit of gear for the pursuit of light. In terms of advancing my photography, that was like stepping off a skateboard and boarding the USS Enterprise. Warp speed, baby.

With equipment eating my plasma trails, the desire for gear is of course still there. Who doesn't want a bigger, better Enterprise? But if you want to travel at warp, you have to realize that gear is only a tool for applying the principles of photography. It's the captain that makes the difference; your brain is the warp core. This is the one principle that truly launched my career as a professional. I'd leaped ahead. It was like being born into a new way of thinking: light -- the photographer's final frontier.

Equipment has been doing the same thing since photography was invented: recording light. And light has been doing the same thing since it came into existence: illuminating things and creating shadows. Despite great advancements in technology, those two things haven't changed much in photography, and the physics of photography remains the same. Equipment does the same thing for a pro as it does for you. So what's the difference? The difference is who's a better captain of the ship. Hardware alone isn't enough to get you anywhere. Only mastery of light can take you boldly where no photographer has gone before. It's the pursuit of every photographer in every image. Composition, gestures and expressions are huge, but without quality light they fall short of greatness.

So, if photography seems difficult, that's because it is, or at least learning it is. Light is a mistress. It's mysterious, fascinating, complex and simple, and it's nuanced, powerful and secretive. It resists mastery. It continues to surprise. But once you learn it and understand that any gear has the ability to control it, it takes you on an amazing journey. Photography becomes easier and the hardest part becomes outdoing yourself and your business.

To become better, master light. Think about the Enterprise, its power and speed, its technology: The ship itself, though cool, is nothing without the adventure and responsibility that it brings, the possibilities that it creates -- with the right captain. The Enterprise crew does not sit around the warp core and worship how awesome it is. Nor do they sleep while the ship makes all the decisions. They'd never get anywhere if that's all they did. The real thrill is understanding what can be done with it and taking control of it to achieve something great. Drop your obsession with gear and obscure technical details and become a student of light.

Light is the secret. It's the instructor. You can learn about it in books, videos, classes, webinars, workshops and anywhere you practice the art of photography, but you can't find it in the camera menu or diffraction charts, or in the bank or inside a D4. If you never let go of the technical stuff, you'll never achieve art, but you may become a good critic or scientist. There are plenty of those lurking in the forums, waiting to spring scientific facts and figures about lenses, megapixels and bits upon unsuspecting beginners. The answers aren't in the technology, for them anymore than for you. Whatever camera kit you have is your Enterprise; your brain is the warp core. You have technology magnitudes greater than some of the greatest photographers had only a few decades ago. Now learn how to use it.

So how do you master light and photography? Everyone learns and experiences photography differently, so the only real secret is study and practice. That's the only way to master it. You have to understand metering, exposure, and all of the artistic aspects, like composition, shape, form, color, mood. You have to know the rules because if you don't, then you can break them only by accident, and that's not a professional method. You need to learn from noted professionals. Try a variety of sources, like classes, books, workshops and webinars. KelbyTraining and CreativeLive are two great resources. Take what works for you and apply it, and practice it. Learn from experience. Learn how software can enhance rather than fix what you take.

The difference between pros and amateurs, one of many, is that pros make it look easy, and the amateurs make it look hard because they don't understand it. If you watch an amateur flail or try to explain something, of course it looks hard. But when you watch someone who has it down, it looks easy. Nobody handed anyone a professional photography career. Most of us busted our butts to get them, and we work hard to create new images that compel sales. It's a great job -- the best -- but nobody said it would be easy, or cheap. You will eventually have to pay for knowledge, gear and experience, but that's because it's valuable. Think of how long it would take you to master everything if nobody helped you. If the information weren't valuable, you'd get it for free, and that's why pros charge for workshops. Time is money, and you earn things of value.

It comes down to study and practice, understanding light and how to control it. If you think you need better equipment to take better pictures, that's an excuse not to do the real work it takes to be a photographer. Anyone can get gear or software. You are the captain. Always focus on being a better captain, not getting a better ship.