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by philip964
Sun Dec 05, 2010 12:29 am
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: DSLR Cameras?
Replies: 64
Views: 7199

Re: DSLR Cameras?

dalto wrote:
philip964 wrote:O
1. Shoot film. Your digital pictures unless printed in black and white probably won't be here for your grandkids.
2. Focus and properly expose. That's much easier now with digital, but see above.
I just want to point out that you can print your digital pictures if you are so inclined. You don't to shoot film to get prints.
Printing digital pictures is a good idea, I feel most people will not do very well at preserving their digital computer files. So prints may be all that is ever handed down the generations. Color dyes are not very permanent but black dyes are. Thus having black and white prints will last longer.

Film is a much better way of preserving images. I have Kodachrome color slides from as early as 1939 and there is no change in the color at all. I would suggest still shooting film while shooting digital, that will almost guarantee there will pictures of you and your family 100 years from now.
by philip964
Sat Dec 04, 2010 9:43 pm
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: DSLR Cameras?
Replies: 64
Views: 7199

Re: DSLR Cameras?

One of my weirder hobbies is I collect dead peoples photographs. Started fairly simple enough a while back, someone without children would die and I would ask "what are you doing with the photographs" usually the executor would say "I don't know, do you want them". So it started.

Many times the photos are from people I have never met, as they were bought usually at an estate sale. As I go though them it is almost like reading a novel about their lives. Sometimes it is heart breaking, seeing a little boy grow up, his parents taking pictures of him at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs in 1966, then seeing a photo from Arlington National Cemetery and realizing why I now have the photographs.

Since I am always looking for those fantastic photos that they took by luck, most of the time, I am disappointed. Most people take bad to boring photos.

So I have become quite the critic of other peoples photographs. Here are my tips from what I have learned about not taking bad photos, or at least taking photos that other people 50 years from now will enjoy.

1. Shoot film. Your digital pictures unless printed in black and white probably won't be here for your grandkids.
2. Focus and properly expose. That's much easier now with digital, but see above.
3. Move in closer. Once you have decided the photo your going to take, move in closer and take it again, this one will be better.
4. Trust me, your not an artist with a camera, unless your really good, your artistic pictures will not be. I know you will still do it anyway.
5. Take pictures of things that will change with time. That is the magic of photography. For this reason take photographs with cars in them. Sure take a picture with mom and the kids without your family car in the photograph, but trust me your son when he is old will appreciate the one with the car in it more.
6. Yes flowers are pretty and colorful, but see 4 and 5 above.
7. Take lots of pictures if you are doing or seeing something unique or unusual. I treasure the photos I have that were take by GI's during World War 2. They open a window on something none of us could have ever seen.
8. I know sometimes your are rushed, but try and take at least a few photos stopped outside of the moving car you are riding in.
9. The most boring photo of all, and which I now have thousands of, by hundreds of different photographers is as follows: A landscape vista, half ground, half sky. A horizon in the distance. Now insert the following, wheat field, grass, mountains in the distance, clouds, desert, blue sky, white sky, taken at grade, taken at an overlook, trees in the distance, buildings in the distance. Trust me it is not worth the film or the memory. And yes even if you use the proportion of thirds, its still boring.
10. Landscape photos are nice, but they do not change much at all with time. Imagine you are stationed in England during the war, you fly a P51 Mustang over Europe. You are a smart guy and you got a camera and you even knew about Kodachrome in 1944 and took color slides while you had time off. After 65 years the color images are preserved perfectly, you carefully focused and recorded each of the exposures by hand on the side of slide. So you took one photo of your plane, none of your base, or your buddies, but lots of pictures of the cathedral in town and big vistas of the town from an overlook. Which photo do I treasure? Remember this story when you take a picture.
11. Label your images, say who it is, the date, don't abbreviate, write your name, if your in it. With digital files you could label the subdirectory at least. If you expect your photos to last, you may not be around to say my name is John Smith, I took this photo. You don't need to label the Grand Canyon or Mount Rushmore. But if its Alice Springs, Australia you might write that.
12. Watch your composition. That pole or that persons head in front of you is really going to be in the picture. Take a second and move to a better spot.
13. Try and take photos with the sun over your shoulder. The magic hour for color photography is very early morning and very late evening, but that's for artistic and landscape photography and remember your going to do less of that now.
14. Have fun, experiment, break all the rules, shoot into the sun, but remember to still take the one photo of the P51 Mustang.
by philip964
Sat Dec 04, 2010 2:20 pm
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: DSLR Cameras?
Replies: 64
Views: 7199

Re: DSLR Cameras?

Since Olympus was brought up earlier in the tread. The Canon 5D mark II with an adapter will use all the old manual focus Olympus Zuiko lenses and since it has a 24 x 35 mm chip the wide angle lenses stay wide angle.

Since we are on photography, in case anyone did not see this

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... ntana.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Digital cameras have made the process of taking pictures so much easier than with film. With digital everyone can take a decent picture now. Decent pictures with photoshop can be made even better. With a good inkjet printer, everyone has a great darkroom at very little cost and effort.

But to take a great photo you must "make" it, not simply snap the shutter and rely on luck. That is the difference between the professional and everyone else.

Oh and if you want to see who has the greatest job on earth, check out photographer Russel James on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/RussellJames" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
by philip964
Fri Dec 03, 2010 10:30 am
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: DSLR Cameras?
Replies: 64
Views: 7199

Re: DSLR Cameras?

Most pros shoot the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Its about $2500 with no lens. Its too big to carry concealed.

Other pros shoot the comparible Nikon cause they want to use their old lenses and are partial to Nikon.

Then there are lots of prosumer cameras made by everybody. They use a 2/3 sized smaller chip that is less than 24 x36 mm in size, so old 35mm lenses change their magnification. Think of it as .45 vs 9mm. They do fine, but what do you really want in a shoot.

Then you have the 12 megapixel point and shoot cameras, they are $200-300, and are really quite good for the cost. However under magnification the images are fuzzy. They are easy to pocket carry and are fine for pictures of mom and the kids. Sort of your .380's of the camera world. Always better to have one than none at all.

One thing about the cameras now. Full auto mode is not outlawed, (not sure about Washington DC) so most everything now will shoot HD video (many in 1080p) too.

One of my facebook pro photographer friends David Hume Kennerly (he will be your friend too) shoots the Canon Mark II, but now pocket carries all the time (even in California, New Jersey, Chicago and New York) an iPhone4, as it has automatic HDR (high dynamic range) which allows for pretty cool pictures in less than ideal lighting.

BTW, I still shoot with a Speed Graphic, kinda like those guys who still shoot black powder.

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