Thursday, July 31, 2014

  From time to time probably all photographers who shoot with a DSLR will hear comments like, "cool camera. It have to make good images". Cameras don't make any images, people do. No mater which brand or what type of a camera you own, you can make great pictures. Does it mean that it don't matter what camera you use? Yes and no.

  I started photography with a point and shoot camera. It was a 5 mp Canon Powershot A95. This canon was not big or fast, just a regular P/S camera. When I got it, the idea was to try out if this hobby would last (usually I'll start and quit as fast.) so the camera had to have at least the possibility for full manual controls, just to make it possible to improve and then eventually to get a "better" camera. Even if just a P/S, did it make any decent images? Nope, but I managed to do with it. Here's a couple I like...







Eventually there came a time when I "grew out" from my Canon. I had a hunger for a DSLR, so my wife mercifully got me a Nikon D50 with two lenses, a 18-55 and 55-200. This camera was good. I just loved how it felt in my hand. Even if not perfect in low light, I still had the possibility to pump up the ISOs and still get some usable images even at ISO 400, something impossible with my Canon. And if the D50 made some nice images? Still not. I had to do the work. Here's a few samples...





My third camera was a Nikon D80, a step up from the D50. I would say; from a beginner to an enthusiast. Instead of having just one command wheel, this miracle had two, one front and one rear. Better ISOs, a bit faster when shooting series, better AF, even bigger in size (really felt good in hand) etc. What kind of images did it make? You guessed it right, I had to press the shutter. Here's a few results...






  Some were on the road I had started to understand that it is not enough just to have a subject, point a camera towards it and shoot and rely on luck. It is good to understand something about composition, shutter speeds and f-stops. Gradually I got a hang of these things too, so more and more my images started to be a result of thinking, not merely pure luck. At this point of my photography life, my wife got me a Nikon D300S. Big, heavy and fast "pro" camera (I know there is bigger and "proer" cameras). Did my images improve? Yes they did, but not necessarily because of the new camera. Here's a few images...






Then, just to have a new backup camera I got my self a Nikon D5100. Not as pro but when you press the shutter it'll make an image. Here's a couple...






Moving from a tiny little sensor camera to aps-c sensor cameras and of course the next step would be a full frame DSLR. A used D700 was my next move. What a great camera. The low light capabilities are just so good compared tho the crop sensor cameras. But, you know... Here's a few...






Even if I used to lug around at least one system camera no matter were I went, lately I've started to get a bit lazy. DSLRs are heavy and bulky. The good thing is that there are good phones around these days. Even if they are called "smart" phones, they still don't make images, you have to do them. More and more I find my self using a smartphone to make images. It's just so convenient. Here's a few images...





Does this mean that it don't matter what camera you are using? Yes and no. For the most part, great images are not dependent on the gear used. It all starts in the head of the photographer. If you know the possibilities and the limitations of your gear you can make great imagery with all kinds of cameras. Know your subject, think about the composition, use your imagination, have a story in your mind... These are things your camera can't never do, no matter how much they are advertised as "pro" gear. It is YOU who make good images not the camera.


Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Dragonflies

  Today it was sunny and warm. That means that the dragonflies were in full action. Just find a river bank with a bit of reeds and such, and you are guaranteed to find a few. The place were I went was full of these fascinating invertebrates. With the first ones I didn't have any luck. I even waited for a while next to a perch where I had seen one watching, but no one came. I guess I scared them away. Then I saw one the ground just next to me.

  The next ting I decided to do was to wade a little. Just such a nice thing to do on a hot summer day... cold mountain water and lots of stuff to photograph. Here's one more yellow dragonfly.

  On the water surface in places were there was growing some water plants, the damselflies were mating.
 
  Definitely I nice couple of hours by the river. 

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Nice flower, nice light

  The best light is usually in the morning or in the evening. Nice, soft quality light. And very good for flower images. It's always good to try different approaches so that you have images from which to choose. Here's one theme and three different kind of shots.



 

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

The same image and still different.

  Just to show how much difference it can make if you just kneel. The same butterfly, flower and backdrop. The lighting is pretty much the same too, nicely naturally back lit. The first image is shot from the same level with the flower and the butterfly. For the second one I just dropped my self a bit lower and instead of having the bushes as a backdrop you can see the blown out sky and a bit of the mountaintops. so little and still so much.




Friday, July 18, 2014

  When photographing this flower in the yard, I started wondering if it would be possible to make a similar image with a phone camera. My Samsung phone have a pretty excellent camera with a close focusing capability, so I brought it from inside and a few test shots and corrections to the exposure values and focus and yes, it is possible to make, if not macro images, quite decent closeup images with a phone.
  A bit of postprocessing made afterwards in the phone just give the image its final punch.

Friday, July 11, 2014

  Just to show, what you can do with a tree, hole and a cel-phone camera.                                            
A good way to use your spare time (a luxury) to look around and to try to shoot what you find. with your phone camera. With this hole I tried some different approaches and this one I liked most. Then a final touch with a black and white filter. VOILA.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Insects at home

  Sometimes you can make some incredible finds just inside your home. Most people don't find it very attracting if there's lots of bugs crawling around in the rooms. We've had our share of insects at home. Some haven't been so nice, like flees for example. Mosquitos are bad too and then there's some funny small flying butterfly and fly (a mix of the two) looking insects which love to bite us in the night. No bedbugs so far and hope there will never ever be any. Of course you can always spray some pesticides if the bugs get too wild. I'm usually relying on the natural way, so we have a bunch of spiders taking care of the bad ones. Then there's some more interesting bugs which occasionally somehow find their way inside. Here's one beetle found at home. There wasn't too many nice backdrops for this guy, so I took him out and placed him on a flower.