Evan's photography phun

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Now if you look closely, the first shot looks a little better in overall quality, doesn't it? So what's the difference? The first shot was taken with a 5 megapixel point and shoot camera (on today's market, about $50-60). The second photo was taken with $2,100 worth of camera gear.

I heard a story over the weekend that really made sense over the weekend and it hit home with me. A famous wildlife photographer gave a talk in Beverly Hills. After his lecture, a woman came up to him and said "You take wonderful pictures, you must have an amazing camera". The photographer looked at her and the following exchange happened;
Photog: "You are from Beverly Hills, you have eaten at Spago's?"
Woman: "Yes"
Photog: "And you know Wolf?" (Meaning Wolfgang Puck)
Woman: "Of course"
Photog: "Now after you have had a great meal at Spago's, and the chef comes out to greet you, do you say 'The meal was wonderful, you must have amazing pots and pans'?"

When it comes down to it, taking great photos comes from the photographer, not the camera. While a more expensive camera enables you to have more megapixels and features, composition and creativity are not built in features of even the most expensive cameras.

I have seen awesome photos from cheap point and shoots as well as top of the line Nikon and Canon cameras. So to the folks who can't afford a more expensive camera, don't get discouraged. Work on your technique and know the limits of your gear and you can take great photos.
 
That top SNJ shot is a 16x20, framed on my son's wall in his bedroom. He loves that photo. I am still amazed that I shot that with a 5 megapixel point and shoot. Although he is picking some new photos of mine to go on his wall in his room, which is an aviation theme (go figure!).
 
From a technical point of view, the prop blur is different as is the depth of field, both of which is something you control with shutter speed anyway. I think the weather was a bit hazier in the second shot too. So while expensive camera bodies and lenses will give you more flexibility, they won't make up for poor compositional skills.
 
I enjoy reading your pointers Eric.
Looking at the pics you post ain't too shabby either.

I haven't been much of a shutter bug for years but I picked up the bug again recently.
Still using the auto mode with the digital I bought recently, going to have to get out the manual and learn how to use its features.

I have a 35mm Nikon I hadn't used in years.
I bought it right before I took a trip I took to the Grand Canyon in 1990.
When I took pictures in December with it most of them came out rather grainy.
I couldn't understand initially because I still have pictures I took with it and they were very sharp and clear.
When I examined the camera after I got the pictures back I understood.
If the camera operator doesn't clean his lenses...
Took some pics with it after that incident and they came out like I remember.
I bought the digital mainly because it was too expensive to develop the film.

Looking forward to seeing more pics and and reading more tips.


Wheels
 
It's always good practice to clean the lenses the night before. I make it a habit every time. The night before a shoot, I get all the flash cards formatted and ready to go, get the batteries on the chargers and clean all the lenses and check the mirror and sensor for dust. It will save you a LOT of aggravation when you return after a day of shooting. Nothing is more vexing that getting home and every single photo has a dust bunny on it in the same spot! It's even worse after getting shots that are rare or exotic.

Which digital did you buy?
 
Kodak Easyshare Z730

I bought it from a friend because he was upgrading and it could take video too.
I wasn't sure how much photography I would be doing so I didn't want to spend a ton on a new camera.
The pics I took with it are in my March museum thread and Sys's Chino 2009 thread.
http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/personal-gallery/march-field-museum-pics-riverside-ca-18479.html

These are the rest of them. Some inside the museum and some more outside.
I want to get back to take some more to flesh out the album.
May 02 2009 pictures by wheelsup_cavu - Photobucket

More from Chino's airshow this year.
May 16 2009 pictures by wheelsup_cavu - Photobucket

Most of the shots are Spray Pray.
I haven't gone through and weeded out the ones I don't like.


Wheels
 
I keep all my photos on the hard drive in my computer (its a BIG drive). I also have a 1 Terabyte external drive that backs up all of my photos and important documents every night at midnight. There is a second 1 terabyte external backup drive that gets rotated in and out every three months in a safe in Arizona. I know that may sound like overkill, but my photo business depends on my photos being available at any time. If you have a backup drive next to your computer and (god forbid) a fire hits the house and you have to get out with your life, the backup has done you no good.

It is important to safeguard your photos as best you can. You never know when you open that shutter what you may catch, nor how long the subject will be around. I have photos of airplanes that are sadly not flying anymore, for a variety of reasons. Some fall into disrepair, some lose their AW certificate, other have succumbed to accidents. You never know when you snap the photo that you may be capturing an important piece of history. Just ask Joe Rosenthal.
 
Interested in your observations Eric. I have a question having spoken to several digital professionals and read the mags there seems to be conjecture on CCD cleaning. Some say you should never touch it yourself as it requires specialist cleaning should it require it, others have said they use off the shelf cleaners. Whats your take ? I have a cleaner but am very reluctant to touch the surface with anything
 
I have done cleaning myself, but it is a delicate operation and not for the timid. Since I have a background in electronics and optics, it isn't something I am afraid to do. But you have to be careful doing it. Most of the time, a rocket blower will remove the dust. Set the mirror lock in the camera menu, tilt the camera so that the lens opening is facing the ground, and use a blower to blow out the dust.

Now when you have been in very dusty conditions, or doing air-to-air work, the dust really gets in there, and can be stubborn. This is where it gets a bit riskier. I take a wet lens cleaning cloth, the kind that are sealed in packets and are dust free, wrap in it a Q-tip (cotton swab) and gently clean the sensor. You have to make sure that the swab stays wrapped because they are usually full of particles that can actually make it worse. I only wrap the lens cleaner in the q-tip so that I have a soft surface under the cleaner.

Once you are done, make sure that it is completely clean and dry. If you leave some of the wet solution on the sensor, it can produce spots too. Then take some test shots of the sky, or a white piece of paper and make sure that you don't have any spots still there or that you didn't leave a dust bunny in there (it has happened to me).

You can also use canned air to clean, but be careful not to tilt the can too much, which can cause the propellent to come out wet, which can spot the sensor glass.

On the Nikons, the actual sensor is behind a piece of glass which also acts as a filter. So unless you are particularly ham-fisted with the operation, it is a fairly safe procedure. There is a way you can actually disassemble the camera for cleaning, but I would recommend against that as it requires a soldering gun, lots of screwdriver turns and some steady hands. I leave that kind of cleaning to the pros.

Additionally, there is a company out there that can replace that filter glass over the sensor for infra-red photography, or full spectrum. Both are kind of cool, but very specialized. I am thinking about converting the D50 to an IR or full spectrum camera after I get a D300, but am syill not sure if I will.
 
Cheers Eric im ham fisted so I'll leave it to the experts
Be nice too see a comparison shot when you get your D300 I still think its a great camera at an exceptable price plus of course you're not going to have to buy a new set of lenses. I susspect the biggest difference you'll notice is the much improved metering at least that what ken rockwell said in and artical I found in DSLR user. I am not unhappy with my old 200 but we always like the next step up its just that our pockets dont, aye my freind?
thanks for your advice mate
Lee
 
Thanks for the info on the storage, Eric...I try and keep my photo archives as updated as possible on my Free Agent drive, but you just never know. I've been told that there is an archive CD that's gold (not solid, just the recording matrix), and used for data archiving and once it's been recorded on, it's there for good and nearly indestructible. I would imagine expensive as heck, too...

Good tips on the CCD cleaning, by the way. My pentax has a glass plate over the CCD, but the K100D soesn't have the static dampening feature like the later models, so dust sticks to the CCD like crazy.
 
Seeing your comments to WRC1 regarding his image posting of coryrighted work Eric had me thinking on personal image taking.

Am I right that the law is simlar in the states as here in that images taken by yourself, if they are going to be used commercially require at least permission of the subjects owner, better still a release form
There has been all sorts miss-interpretation of the law over here in that many of the public believe you cant take pictures of people in public places without their permission. the law is if it is in a public place or in the public domain ie:buildings etc and for personal/none profit making purposes it is not illegal. For individuals it is polite to ask before shooting but this is obviously not practical when crowds are involved.
There is an obsession with some people here that anyone carrying a camera is either an ID robber, pervert, terrorist or pedophile.
There is a UK Judge who is a keen amature photographer and he takes a copy of the law in his pocket everytime hes out shooting as he is fed up being stopped by (would you believe) the police when taking pictures.
I would be interested in how it is perceived what the actual law is stateside , just so im ready when I come over next time.
 
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