Pretty Interesting Stuff Peering at the world through James colored glasses…

The ear is a popular place for fastening different objects… this is a look at my own ear bling!

Eggs are one of my absolute favorite subjects. They are so plain and common; perhaps that is the challenge of photographing them.

They just intrigue me in so many ways. The shape, the hard shell, the contents, and the consistent sameness are fascinating. And the life that can spring from them is totally miraculous!

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while; a simple comparison of the four different cameras I have. The old adage goes, “It’s not the camera, it’s the photographer”. While I am a gadget junkie and love the latest and greatest equipment, I agree with the old adage. A sense of composition, a good eye, and patience make the photo. Sure a good camera is of great benefit, but an amazing photo can be created with most any camera… even a throwaway camera.

What prompted me to write this article is my father-in-law’s announcement that he purchased a Canon DSLR camera from QVC last night. He already owns a couple point-and-shoot cameras and has no idea how to transfer photos from the camera to his laptop, much less print them. He can’t seem to remember how to look at his photos on the camera itself either. He loves technology, but doesn’t have or understand the skill needed to use it. I feel bad for him.

When I asked him why he bought the new DSLR, he told me that he wants to be able to shoot photos like mine. After some discussion, I told him it’s probably way too much camera for him to handle and suggested he cancel the order. I don’t think he will though… he told me that he thinks that I can teach him to use it. I don’t mind trying, but experience tells me that it’ll be a lifelong vocation.

So, I decided to shoot a few photos and show him the differences between four different cameras.

I have a Canon Rebel Xsi, an entry level DSLR camera with which I’ve shot nearly 20,000 photos. I also have a Canon PowerShot SX200IS, a point-and-shoot camera that has a history of about 1800 photos. The third camera is a Nikon CoolPix L120… my least favorite point-and-shoot camera with less than 150 photos. Finally, I have my iPhone 4s, which I use quite often. The iPhone camera has at least 1500 photos to it’s credit.

Here are the four photos. All are straight out of the cameras, SOOC, no post processing at all.

The verdict? In my opinion, the first three photos are very acceptable for an amateur photographer. If I had to choose, I’d use the second shot from the Canon PowerShot SX200IS for printing. If I were to do some post processing, the DSLR photo has purer whites and would be a good candidate. Th iPhone camera is pretty amazing… I use it a lot because it’s just so handy and it is a decent camera. The colors are typically a bit washed out, so I’ll use an app to tweak the hue and saturation if needed.

Even the Nikon point-and-shoot camera could produce some great photos. Although there are several settings for different conditions, there are no controls for setting aperture, shutter speed, or ISO, the three settings that make or break a photograph.

All in all, I believe that you can take an outstanding photo with any camera.

I recently drove from Seattle to Phoenix with my two dogs, Sammy and Roxy. They are very good travelers, and I usually find an off-the-highway spot to give them water and let them stretch a bit every couple hours. Believe me, I like the stretch too! I drive a mile or two into the desert so they can run free and so I can look around for photo ops.

I didn’t shoot very many photos this trip. I was anxious to get to Phoenix! But I did get a few.

The photo below is pretty over-exposed, my own fault for being in a hurry! I like the photo as it captures a moment for me. I doubt if anyone else will see what I see in my minds eye, but that’s ok.

So I decided to do a little post processing on it and was pleased that I was able to save it.

Before:

It’s a pretty sad photo… it’s way overexposed, the sky is blown out, its tilted… the horizon dips to the right, and it has that icky blue haze. I used a strighten tool to square it up, adjusted the brightness and contrast, tweaked the hue and saturation, added a bit of warmth, and cropped some of the sky out.

After:

I like the result, it reflects what I actually saw much better.

So, my answer to the question… a resounding YES! Photoshopping is just fine. While I prefer getting good shots right out of the camera, sometimes it just doesn’t work that way. Embrace technology!

I enjoy photography. A lot. It’s caused me to look at the world differently. It’s caused me to truly see what I’m seeing. It gives me an outlet for the artist within; something that I didn’t have while raising and supporting a family.

For almost fifty years, I’ve waited for a time when I could just let my creativity freely fly. Raising a family and working at a career takes time and focus. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret a second of my life before retirement.

But now it’s my turn. My time. I cherish it.

So today, when I was told that taking pictures is all I think about, it hurt.

The implication was that I don’t do much of anything else productive. And he’s embarrassed when I see a photo-op in public and I pull out my camera to capture it.

Maybe I am obsessed with photography. So be it. I’ve learned that to really do something right, I need to be immersed in it.

My turn!