Light - it's what draws our attention

Over the past 25 years or more, I have learned that the one quality that sticks out in everyone's mind - whether they realize it or not - is the quality of lighting in the image. It can make or break the photograph. It's a principle of photography that is not necessarily teachable, you just know it or you don't.

One camera, one lens, the simple approach to recording images

When I got my first DSLR back in the fall of 2008, I made the decision I would be happy with having just the D80, 16-85mm VR zoom and the SB-800. I still had my compacts at the time, that was more than enough equipment. I had came from a world of owning two film SLR's, five lenses, two flashes, and one camera bag just wasn't enough it seemed to hold it all. I was a self-proclaimed gear whore, I needed to change my ways.

It didn't take long before I lost the desire to use the PS cams, I could just do sooooooooo much more with the Nikon. Naturally, I added more pieces to the puzzle and it didn't take long before I had a fresh pile of equipment - two DSLR's, three flashes, five zooms. Bah. All three of my Domke bags have gear in them.

So, what goes around comes around. There are times when I simply want to go light and take a walk. I usually take the little D40 and a lens of my choosing. Today, I opted for the D80 - it seems so heavy - plus the 16-85mm VR, the perfect walk-around lens. I am realizing that Nikon's mid-level bodies (like the D80 and the newer D90) are tanks and weigh as much, I find myself preferring the lighter bodies.

Anyway, I was happy to record these files, the reader won't care about the gear used. They never do.......

The camera does not make the photograph

This is a quote from Sean Reid:

"Owning a fine piano will not make one into Mitsuko Uchida. Owning the best paints, brushes and canvasses will not make one into Jan Vermeer. Buying the latest and fastest sport motorcycle will not make one into Miguel Duhamel. Owning a fine pen, typewriter or keyboard will not make one into Marcel Proust. Buying a rare and coveted guitar will not make one into Eric Clapton. And, of course, buying a Leica M will not make one into Robert Frank any more than buying a good view camera will turn one into Paul Strand."

There is no substitute for hard work and talent to reach your goals. Over the years, I have seen many people grapple with learning how to take photographs and only be semi-successful. In the process, they have spent countless hundreds and maybe thousands of dollars on their new craft. Ultimately, they eventually come to the realization they will only ever be a snap-shooter. Some people just give up.

I suppose that the digital medium allows more opportunities to hone such skills since the cost is minimal (AFTER the equipment purchases!). With the burgeoning number if digital files out there for viewing, there are bound to be some great images and new emerging talent.

My biggest challenge is to maintain a discipline and not overshoot a subject only to find myself deleting most of them, anyway. It's not easy to hold back but I am greatly benefited by such thinking.

A part of photographic history

I stumbled on this thread over at the Nikon Cafe, it just seems so right we recognize such great instruments from the past and that they still are useful 50 years later.

http://www.nikoncafe.com/vforums/showthread.php?t=276970

The F was the beginning of the Japanese revolution that changed the way we take pictures.

My little soapbox on the Web

I have been taking photographs for more than 25 years; I have seen the "glory" days of 35mm film single-lens-reflex cameras, the rise and fall of the autofocus 35mm SLR, the stupidity of the APS format that was soon eclipsed by primitive digital imaging, now the all-out digital revolution where everyone owns a camera........

Through it all, I hope I have been able to improve my photography skills.

My ranting and raving boils down to the fact that everyone now feels they are a photographer simply because they have a camera of some sort, whether it be in a cell phone (yuck!) or the now-turned-pro-photographer who just bought a bling-blng digital SLR system and is advertising weddings.

Can any of these star-struck individuals actually take pictures? Do they care? Do they even know what a good photo is? Don't they realize the wedding photos they snap (and invariably end up on FaceBook) are total cap?

Yes, my beef is that this day and age is the "do-it-all-yourself" generation where society no longer recognizes the specialist in a field, and they certainly don't want to pay him or her for their talents. We don't need you to shoot our wedding, we have a friend with a new DSLR who will do it for FREE. We can sell our own house, thank you very much Mr. Realtor.

Yes, we all can now buy baby grand pianos and are suddenly concert pianists. Best of all, we can distribute our music for FREE since nobody wants to pay for CD's any more, just crappy 128 kbps downloads into our equally-crappy iPods. That's all we need. Life is good!

This blog will, hopefully, demonstrate that photography is something that actually requires SKILL. I hope to also include the odd link to useful Websites that will help people better appreciate the craft and improve your talent as a shooter. I am also open to having good images sent to me for display on a real photographer's blog.

Cheers.