Dave’s Blog

Just Drop the Fracking Camera!

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:13:55 -0400

Really.... now we have auto-cropping ...come on!!??

Last month was all about the Lytro variable focus camera and now Sony has announced the A57 with auto portrait cropping. So whats next, just think about an image and BAM it appears. Don’t get me wrong, the A57 looks like a great camera but.......

I try not to be an old fart about technology, in fact I stay very current with technology in the real world. I have a smart phone, I write my own computer programs, hell I’m even buying a Apple TV this friday. But and I do mean but, can’t “they” stop with the dumbing down of photography.

Yes most people would like to take better pictures and yes that would be good for all of us that must look at bad pictures on Facebook from family and friends but how about learning to take better pictures!

Ya I know, why learn when the camera will do it for you. Well I say “how about not being stupid and learn something”

I once had a person tell me that they always cut the peoples heads off when taking a picture. Really! How about looking at what your taking a picture of and making sure you can see their fracking heads. I mean with out a head how will the face recognition feature work, followed by the smile recognition feature and the “I’m an idiot so take the picture for me” feature work!

Taking a picture isn’t rocket surgery. In fact it’s about the cheapest and easiest thing people can to for fun these days. But and again with the but, it should be fun and not a simplistic, computerized event. I mean I can either make a great hamburger on the BBQ or I can go to McD for a limp piece of meat made by a 17 year old that is more interested in dating the cash girl.

Sure McD option is necessary but I still have my BBQ for making and ENJOYING a great burger. BBQ is an event. It’s a reason for getting people together, for taking time to enjoy being outside, for the stories that come from it. It’s not a computer controlled event that tells us when to talk, where to stand and when to smile.

Taking pictures should an enjoyable event. They need to have a story behind them that get’s retold for ever. They need to have a human element that is acknowledge, not some computer controlled, cookie cutter image that is repeated by everyone, for ever.

I need to take bad pictures so I know when I take a good one, I need to be in the moment, I need to be human. Please stop making us fracking Cylons.

Cost of being a professional

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:56:28 -0500

Without doubt digital cameras has changed the business of photography.

Read the article.

Back in the day, meaning pre 2000 or so the cost of entry into the photography business was very high. I had six product photographers using 8x10 large format cameras. Each station required an investment of 50,000 to 75,000 in equipment. The stations also required a on-site lab to develop the film which cost another $100,000 in equipment and a $120,000/year in labour.

Finally to support the transition years from 1995 to 2000, I need to produce digital files. This required a drum scanner, computer hardware and people. None of that was cheap so lets say the total investment was $800,000.00

All that changed in 2000 when we sold the studio and the new owners converted from film to digital photography. The switch to digital medium format required an investment of $80,000.00 to $100,000.00 per station. Yes that almost a $600,000.00 and to add insult to injury, all the traditional film and lab equipment became worthless.

Jump forward to 2011 and now everyone is a photographer. Digital camera are cheap, computers are cheaper and taking a digital picture is free.

So back to the wedding article. A professional photographer is paid based on their skill to capture images that are pleasing to look at, that capture a moment, a look, an emotion and now he/she is faced with every other “photographer” in the room trying to capture the same intangible emotion with the one enormous difference that they are doing for free.

So is the criticism justified? That is an opened question. Because the final product is an intangible emotion and not a physical product that can be measured we will never be able to definitely answer the question and the debate will continue.

A Day of Stories

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:09:25 -0500

It’s amazing what happens in a day. I was visiting a photo store when an older gentleman approached me saying that he enjoyed my seminars. We exchanged small talk and then he told the most amazing story.

He explained that he was from India and was visiting his sick mother who was dying of cancer. The home was close the the Missionaries of Charity and a friend said he would ask Mother Teresa to visit. The gentleman continued saying that much to his surprise Mother Teresa did arrive at the house at 10:30 that night. He, being a photographer saw a once in a lifetime opportunity to photograph his aging mother with Sister Teresa. It’s at this point the story becomes special. Both he and his uncle or brother, I can’t remember which, took out their cameras to photograph this magical moment but neither camera would work.

The gentleman said that camera‘s were in perfect working order but refused to work. His actual words were “ the shutter wouldn’t work” He asked if his brother camera was working and his brother said the same thing was wrong with his camera.

Normally that would make for an unusual story but he continued.

He went on to say that he was the photographer for a wedding and was traveling between the wedding ceremony and reception when he saw Mother Teresa walking along the road. The sun was just setting and he saw a chance to get the “missing” photograph. He stopped and took 10 or so frames and then continued to the reception and finished the job.

He didn’t say when he had the film processed but when he did get the film back he said the 10 frames he used to photograph Mother Teresa were blank!

Now that’s a story.

Northern Ontario

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:49:21 -0500

Was on a road trip to Sudbury, Ontario last August and the weather was exceptional. The sky was Alberta blue and the wind had taken a holiday. I left the highway and found this setting on the French river. It’s times like this that makes me very happy. Gallary

The Switch?

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:20:51 -0400

As you know I’m very impressed with the Olympus XZ-1 camera. It’s only a point and shoot but it does have a very fast 1.8 to 2.5 lens and the zoom is just ok at 28 to 112mm.
The other factor of interest is the excellent low noise at high ISO.

So I finally headed off for a shoot without any DSLR equipment. It sure felt odd but it was a lot easier to pack.

I found my self in the Calabogie area outside of Ottawa, Canada. It’s a nice area with wide rivers and hilly terrain. I’ve shot here before with some success but with that said the contrast in equipment is staggering. Last time I had the E-3 and a 90-250mm f2.8, I mean it was a bazooka. Now It’s like I brought a knife (pen knife) to a gun fight.

I found a nice spot with a old hunting cabin and started shooting. The first thing I noticed was the lack of a view finder. It’s impossible to compose an image without being able to see what your shooting. This was frustrating but it’s part of the learning curve. The next limitation was the lack of a real wide angle or a long telephoto lens. Again part of the learning curve.

I did like the fact the camera was small and light. It was easy to warm my hands. It was also easy to walk through the bush without worrying about the camera, this thing is so small.

The fast lens really came into play as the sun was still raising. It was easy to have the shutter speed at 1/200sec at f2.2. I did some images at f5.6 and the speed dropped to 1/30sec. Thats a little slow for my liking.

Later I looked at the images in Aperture and I’m very impressed with the quality but I must caution that the Raw file is a problem. Aperture can’t open the Raw and I had to convert to Tiff in the Olympus software. Not the best and now I have 28meg files.

Final conclusions. Yes I like it. I think I would like it more with a view finder. This is an expensive option but worth it. I like the files and the shots in low light are impressive. I also really like the f1.8 lens and the super macro feature. Finally I’m not a video guy but my Son says the video worked well at the indoor bike park.

It will feel funny but I’m think my travel bag just got a lot lighter.

Dakar Rally 2011

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 09:40:45 -0500

The Dakar Rally is the toughest race in the world. Period!

For 16 days competitors on motorcycles, quads, trucks and cars race though the deserts, mountains and mud of Argentina and Chile. Most never make it half way, it’s that hard.

When the race was first run it was from Paris to Dakar Senegal but because of repeated conflicts with armed gangs the race was moved to South America. the move has made the race to loose some of it’s allure but the challenge is still heroic.

Back to the photography. Checkout the motorcycle images. Nice to see the Helicopter pilot and photographer got up early to shoot in the low light. The first image is my favourite but still the best image is from last year rally. Click for the 2011. Click for last years best of show.

Australia flooding continues

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 10:15:32 -0500

Unbelievable! Not sure what more can be said. A city under water! That is just crazy.

Not sure if you are seeing the trend but lets recap the last year (ok 12 months) in the weather scene.

Pakistan has the worst flood in 100 years. The USA is getting hit with everything, from flooding to snow and severe storm after storm. India is freezing. China has had it’s share of floods. South America and Brazil mountains are so water logged that they can’t stand up and now Australia is returning to the sea. And these are the only events to make international news.

Oh, lets not forget the bird deaths in the States and Sweden.

Is Al Gore right when he said the sky was falling?

Can it be so?

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 09:29:46 -0500

I’m a self confessed camera snob and seldom look at any other camera manufactures beside Canon and Nikon but it may just be possible Olympus has finally made a camera I would buy.

Yes Martha the world is is starting to look like my desk, very messy but with a cosmic order to it. I’ve been looking at the G12 and Nikon’s D7000 as a simple everyday camera that can do more, mainly low light photography. Both have issues that I find to be deal breaker but now I looking at the Olympus ZX-1. Still having issues writing that...

So far it has excellent low light, check out Dpreview sample shots and has the option of a view finder which is a must for me. Advanced flash control and good video.

I haven’t decided but it’s looking like the first camera that I have used my money on could be an Olympus.

By the way, this would be a serious moment as the last camera I spent my own money on was in 2000 and it was a Kodak DC4800, which still works and is still one of my preferred picture taking devices.

Click to see a low light image from Dpreview.

X Files

Wed, 5 Jan 2011 20:05:28 -0500

Time to call in Mulder and Scully! I guess it doesn’t matter to much about the apocalyptic weather. Now we have birds dropping from the sky and fish floating belly up in the rivers.

Let the conspiracy theories begin! I’m starting to wonder if I really need to pay my taxes this year.

2011 same as 2010

Wed, 5 Jan 2011 19:55:12 -0500

More crazy weather, this time in Australia. The North coast was in the worst drought in history. Not to long ago 60 minutes did a show about the drought. It showed how an award winning flower garden was reduced to a waste land and that the population needed to recycle bath water to wash dishes, and now almost a 1/4 of the country is under water. To make matters worst it’s just the beginning of the rainy season.