My father was a serious amateur photographer. I knew how to print pictures in a darkroom before I started school. We always had subscription to photomags in the house. When he died, we children had over 25,000 pictures to sort through.
I hated it. My father so wanted me to share his passion but I just detested it. Every event. Every trip. Every holiday was disrupted by a damn camera.
But I listened. I learned to work his cameras and dark room equipment. And I read his camera magazines--if only because every issue had a nude study. And when Photoshop came out, I started taking pictures for really the first time in my life.
So from this perspective, this is my kit. I have a Nikon Coolpix 4300 that cost $500 four years ago. It is SLOW. It's wide angle isn't wide enough and I would like a MUCH longer telephoto. But it takes wonderful pictures and $500 is enough for photographs in my mind.
Any camera these days that cost $200 is probably 4 times better. Do I envy the equipment on this page? Not at all. So for the rest of us who don't have the budget for the beyond-magic cameras, let me explain secrets of low-cost photography.
No indeed--there is nothing wrong with cheap cameras. "Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"
I like this picture a LOT--it is probably the best one I took in 2007. I just love the dying summer, early evening light. My father would wait for such light--I will not. I have to get lucky. That night, I did.
But I did include it here to demonstrate a point--that even a cheap point and shoot can capture thousands of leaves and blades of grass. "Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"
No indeed--there is nothing wrong with cheap cameras.
I don't like excessive post processing. I don't enjoy it.
The best the photographer can do is work within the limitations of her tools. If she wants to take frame-filling pictures of horses at play, a slow, short P&S isn't going to get the photos she wants no matter how good she is.
But here's the real point. MOST pictures are missed because the equipment was left behind. My father had suitcases modified to hold his equipment. He had four of them--one for his 35mm camera bodies and lenses, two for his 6 cm x 6 cm stuff, and one for his flash kits and other lighting. He had a duffle bag for his tripods and flash stands. Cameras, and especially film, are fragile enough so you can't leave this stuff in the trunk of a car. I cannot count the times great pictures were missed because the equipment was back home. Because my little Nikon is so small and light, it get carried around a lot. My biggest problem is remembering to keep the battery charged.
As for not liking Photoshop--that I do NOT understand. My favorite part of photography, by far, was printing pictures in a darkroom. With Photoshop you can have all the fun--times 10--and there are no acetic acid fumes to inhale. "Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"
And I never liked darkrooms much either.
So I've nothing "against" small and discrete cameras ! But you must allow us to indulge in some sort of technical mania, as for those who like watch or clocks movements (I do :-) ). Even when drawing, I have the pens that "think for themselves" and those that are just pens...
When In Whales (did she recover from rugby ?) started the topic it wasn't meant as a "bigger is better " sort of thing... Just that she likes taking picture and decided to get herself some tools she liked :-)
Same for all of us here... Whether amateurs or professionally inclined we have the tools we want, or need, or dream of...Or more simply that we can buy ! Whatever the gear, it's the picture the result :-)
And for those who don't want to get too far in Photoshop, there is Lightroom that I find quite useful for everyday use and archiving :-) "What can I do, What can I write, Against the fall of Night". A.E. Housman
I DO object when folks with high-end equipment show me some sorry pictures they have taken with their expensive toys. And IF you buy a $4000 camera--at least read the manual!
With this post, I was just trying to assure the rest of us that you don't NEED big-bucks equipment to take high-quality pictures. "Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"
