I have noticed many fine photographs posted in various blogs. There have probably been many more that I have missed. So, I thought this might be an appropriate subject to waffle about.
I used to take a lot of photographs some years ago with my trusty Pentax MEF. I even went so far as to do my own developing for a while. For one reason or another, I packed it in about 15 years ago and did not give it another thought.
Then,
The Small Bear and I went on holiday to Yorkshire. I had a small (and cheap) digital compact that I had not really used and took several photos of our stay. When we got back and downloaded the images, I found myself saying things like, “That would have been good if it had been exposed more” and, “That would have been nice if I could have zoomed in more.”
Time to get back into it, then. Last November, I treated myself to a Sony A200 digital SLR. Not top of the line, but it does everything that I want it to and is far more similar to my old 35mm SLR than a compact would be. I also added a 70-300 zoom lens to supplement the standard 28-70 that came with the camera. These equate to 35mm focal lengths of 105-450 and 35-105 respectively.
That was the first thing that I had to get my round. Apparently, a 35mm focal length is about one and a half times that of a digital one. Something to do with sensor size, I believe?
I do like being able to review the image immediately after taking it, rather than waiting for it to be developed. At least I can usually take it again if I have naffed it up.
Some of my efforts are in "Ye Etchings" on my side bar.
So, to all you photographers out there:
What camera do you use?
What image software do you use?
RAW or JPEG?
What is your favourite subject?
Do you feel that a lot of post - capture image manipulation means that the picture was not taken correctly in the first place?
Is this too many questions?
Where’s my potty?
Facebook Marketplace and the 32-Inch Waist
11 hours ago
Hi Sir B,
ReplyDeleteI was much like you starting with a Zenith E hundreds of years ago then a series of SLR's culminating in the fabulous Olympus OM1 and doing some darkroom stuff.
After that I lost interest for many years and went back to "snaps" but my best snap camera was a Canon Ixus. When I jumped to digital I started with an Olympus C700 which has a phenominal zoom but never seemed quite like taking a "proper" pic.
My renaissance came when I splashed out on a Canon 300D about 3 years ago and now a Canon 400D - it is fabulous to be able to take as many pictures as you ever want for nothing with a proper feeling SLR!
I use Photoshop which is all the fun of the darkroom without the dark (and the queue outside the bathroom)although have lately taken to just simple correction using Windows Live Picture Editor - mild exposure and cropping. I don't really like highly manipulated images and prefer a simple old fashion pic. I've only ever used Jpegs which seem to have become the "VHS" universal format - I also love the idea that all the detail and dating is capyured in the EXIF file with each image but that's the archivist in me.
I'm also a big fan of Flickr (member name: Peacock Pixels) and Photobox, and always wait for their book offers for Photobooks 2 for 1 - they are an excellent way of storing groups of pics.
I love your Felixtowe sunset pics (or sunrise?) which are stunning! You should do more - that's the great thing about digital, the difficulty is deciding which ones to bin!
Keep the pics coming!
I had never owned a camera until two years ago - it always seemed to me that a good many people saw interesting things only through a camera lens, yet mostly the photos were hardly looked at again. I'm afraid I can't tell you the model of my camera - I think it's a Fuji, if that's a make - I explained to the saleswoman what I wanted it for (good close-ups of antique china and a big screen so I can see what I'm photographing) and how much I wanted to spend (the first one she suggested I rejected as being not expensive enough) and she recommended it. It's fine. It does what I want. Mostly, pictures go straight on to iPhoto so that they won't be lost if I have a computer disaster, but if I put them on the desktop they are saved automatically as JPEGS. I sometimes use Flikr and Photobucket, just because they are there.
ReplyDeleteI'm very bad at taking pictures of people. I'm good with inanimate objects and have done some reasonable scenic shots.
Post-capture image manipulation - fine with me, why not? Not that I bother of course. A bit of cropping is the most I usually do and that's usually because there was a dustbin spoiling the scene or something that I hadn't noticed.
The photos I find most interesting of all are the extremely early ones, mid-19th century, which are fascinating.
Not at all too many questions, but you're asking the wrong person I'm afraid.
Rog:
ReplyDeleteLike you, I only do minimal cropping and brightness adjustment with the supplied camera software. The Small Bear and I have discussed getting something like Photoshop to play with. I do like to try and get the picture I want with as little fiddling as possible. The dock pictures are one sunset and one sunrise, by the way.
Z:
I'm not so good at portraits either, I much prefer taking landscapes. There have been some good tv programmes lately about the pioneer photographers. Oh, and I really don't like having my picture taken. I may get a slap for this, but the Small Bear is a bit of a poser!
Moi?
ReplyDeleteA poser?
I can't think where you get that idea.
PS: When are we doing the bath photo shoot?
I had Olympus OM1 and OM10 SLRs many years ago. The OM1 cost me £169 back in the 1970's which was about a month's net pay for a trainee accountant. Then more recently got a Canon 35mm SLR.
ReplyDeleteThen moved over to digital with an Olympus C-300 Zoom compact which took brilliant photos but I always felt I was just "snapping" with it.
Now I've got an Olympus E410 digital SLR and absolutely love it. I feel like a real photographer again.
Only thing I do on the computer is a little cropping after I've downloaded my photos. I have quite a few photos on my blog sidebar.
I hope you enjoy your new camera - plenty of photo opportunities in Paris. The "bath photo shoot" also sounds fascinating.