The Photo Journey
I began shooting digitally with a flip phone. Something like 1.3 megapixels which I would post process in photoshop elements. What I learned using these low res files was the post effects worked better with a low res image. That’s probably not true a hundred percent but it was my experience at the time. What I have learned since then is that except for texture all of the post processing apps use some manipulation of light.
As time progressed and I had better cameras I was disappointed that all of these devices had a common problem. They were slow. What I looked for and did not find was a combination I’m sure would be a hit. Simplicity of the Hasselblad but the size of a rangefinder and a nice compliment of glass, with a useable viewfinder. All for under a thousand bucks. The offerings I’ve seen are either unnecessarily complex or overly expensive. I would be happy to be proven wrong. Caveat: I am obviously talking about digital cameras here. If you have the time and know how to nail exposure your film results will be stunning. I grew up shooting film, there was no digital anything back then. I will need to do a separate post about film to give it the proper treatment.
Of course these things matter and they don’t matter depending on what stage of the journey you are on.
What makes photography interesting is what is in the frame. Knowing how to bring all the right ingredients into a picture is what it is all about. Different genres of photography require different ingredients.
What makes Photography interesting is what is in the frame.
How this all changed for me was when I realized that it wasn’t the number of pixels or how they were captured but does the image arouse any emotion in the viewer.
A famous photographer was being criticized for his use of point and shoot cameras in lieu of lugging around the big and somewhat heavy DSLR kit. Referring to the diminutive devices he was using he simply stated “the file is fine”. It wasn’t the amount of information in the file but was there any story in the frame. At this point I began to think story, emotion and longevity. I still make meaningless pictures but I make fewer of them.
Random Dirt 