Choose the Right Tool

As I go through my journey to better photographs I find my thirst for knowledge increases as I get further along. I have a fear of turning into a “gear chaser”. I believe it makes the most sense to wring every bit of ability from my current gear before moving on to upgraded equipment.

I love to research. Starting that research so early gives me enough time to make an informed decision when it is finally time to upgrade.

One of the first questions I answered is “how do I shoot?” What kind of photography do I like. Action? Portraiture? Macro? While I might like to do any number of those genres at any time what is my main interest including if it was an even interest across all types.

The second question I needed to answer was what features will best support what I am trying to capture. Not all tools (a camera is a tool) are created equal so finding the best tool for the job is my goal. In this case I narrowed down my final two choices by budget, shutter speed, ISO and noise, quality of photo and finally budget again.

For me, without budget the D4 would have been my choice hands down just because I hate noise and love speed. For my photography though I just don’t need this quality of camera and the ensuing price tag. I shoot for personal enjoyment only. This has led to one of two cameras that have the features most important to me. They do not have all features such as the D600 having a top SS of 4000 and the D7100 having a top SS of 8000. This high SS is important when you are trying to freeze frame hummingbird wings in flight.

My first step in research is to rent both camera bodies and take similar pictures under similar conditions. Having seen so many discussions with a very large majority of people stating “go full frame” due to the higher quality of picture straight out of the camera.

I’ve always said “perception is not always the truth. Show me facts” so in my search for facts I am sharing the results of my tests. These particular shots are focused on the amount of noise only in the picture since this is most important to me.

Shaking Winter Off

I love spring time. Everything is fresh and a new chance to grow. A promise of what might come. It is a busy time preparing for the year but a time that seems to find moments to just stop and relax.

Busy Last Week

I’ve had a super hectic schedule so have not had a chance to write up any blog posts. I might need a “daisy intervention” if the pictures shared today are any indication. Just sharing some of my latest pictures.

Making Pictures

As I was finishing setting up an area to try to capture birds in a natural setting a comment my first photography teacher said so many years ago came to mind. He was there to teach us to “make pictures”.  I had not thought about it in years. He helped it to become second nature to his students.

So with that in mind here is one of my “making a picture” attempts.

From this:

 To This: 

I’m pleased.

One of Those Days

Ever had one of “those days”? I had one this week. I normally associate one of “those days” with a negative mindset. My day had started out with several unexpected calls and needs from my work which quickly turned manic as everyone needed their issue right then. It had turned into a “squishy” day basically squishing everything into a short time frame of needs.

By late afternoon it had finally calmed down enough to take a quick break. I work from home so my breaks are normally outback this time of year cleaning up signs of winter. Just wanting to relax I’m not even sure what prompted me to grab the camera on the way out the door. The rough day made these captures all the sweeter. Enjoy.

Only Allowed One Adobe Product?

What would you choose.

Following on the heels of yesterday’s blog I thought I would continue with processing thoughts. As I was able to start devoting more time to photography and learning the digital side of things I struggled to find a manageable way to crop and adjust white balance or any other needs with a photograph. I started with Adobe Photoshop Elements as I was under the same general mindset of the public that Photoshop was a manipulation of photographs and I didn’t need to be a designer. I just wanted to make good photographs. Getting to do some specialty photos was a plus but my main use was cropping, adjust tones and adding a watermark. That was it.

One day I was reading a work flow and Lightroom was brought up as critical to this specific photographer’s work. I downloaded a trial copy and my photography world changed. I still remember the excitement as I tried each tool out. I remember the feeling as if I had just walked into a darkroom again. It was a digital darkroom. The only thing missing were the chemicals and a darkbag. Add the ability to help organize and manage your images, export to a number of file types and ability to print packages you have a product that is versatile.

Curious Discussion

A discussion popped up one day with one of my coworkers over photography. He commented he believed in “pure” photography for his shots and explained he did not believe in any type of manipulation other than cropping. I have found a number of others who either state the same thing or their work shows them to believe the same thoughts.

I’ve wondered why this mindset and no one has been able to provide me with an answer as to why, just the statement that anything else is manipulation and not true photography.

When I first took classes it was in high school. It was Black & White photography. We learned not only how to hold the camera, what depth of field was and how it was affected by camera settings and how to develop our film but we learned to print our own pictures using an enlarger. When we printed contact sheets to determine what images we might try printing full size. Printing test prints we cropped by determining what amounts of the picture was allowed to hit the paper. We adjusted exposure by using a piece of paper to limit light hitting your photographic paper. This is all simple manipulation. We used chemicals to watch those photographs come to life in front of our eyes.

The camera is simply not able to capture every detail in a photograph that the human eye can see. You get the best quality you can from your camera settings and you finish enhancing what your memory saw. This is what I learned from 3 years of formal classes. I would love to have the freedom to take formal classes today but do not have the time. I will continue to take the online, seminars and read all that I can. So far I have not found any arguments that would change what I learned early on in my photography.

I will stay on my current learning course, I will appreciate an image that is straight out of the camera and meets what I remembered trying to capture and if it’s not I will adjust settings and crop to achieve the picture.