Camera or Photographer?

[Dirty Harry]

I expect most people are familiar with the Holga, an odd plastic Russian 120 with a fixed aperture and shutter speed of f8 and 1/100. The Plungercam was a Hasselblad with a toilet plunger glued between the lens and mount -- basically the original Lens Baby. William Corey's camera is a mostly home kluged 8" x 20" large format camera shooting through an old copy lens permanently set at f128 and he usually uses a shutter speed of around 30 min. Corey doesn't have any people in his photos because he simply closes the shutter, waits for the people to leave, and opens it again. He uses scotch tape to connect two sheets of 8x10 film and only takes one exposure of a particular scene -- often after spending weeks studying and sketching the scene.

I think what this does, particularly in Corey's case, is contrast people that are always in a hurry. I have always heard that you should set up your shots with a tripod, if for nothing else, to force you to slow down. Too many photographers (myself included) just snap photos without giving enough thought to composition, lighting, etc. Can't really do that with a half an hour exposure! I envy his patience and feel guilty that I do not spend more time hiking to the perfect spot or waiting for dusk to get the best light to create stunning images.

 

[bajasurf]

Phonescoping

Here is a site with photos taken with a camera phone and a spotting scope:www.phonescoping.com. However these photos were taken in 2004 and of course the phones have improved considerably since. In fact, digiscoping(using a digital camera and spotting scope) has become a favorite among wildlife photographers especially birders.

 

[Michael Slade]

Harry...my advice is that you ought to get a tripod and use it. For the very reason that you have heard about. It is true that when you use a tripod you are forced to make a lot of decisions that you wouldn't make when hand-holding.

The compositional decisions you are forced to make when using a tripod will benefit you later when you are shooting hand-held. Try it, you'll like the results I promise.

Here's a shot I did last summer with my 12x20 view camera. Yes, that's 12 inches tall by 20 inches wide. Not for the backpacking crowd (although there are a couple who do pack them).

I like to carry it in my 4wd camera case (that's what I have always called my vehicles).

It's from the top of the Teton Dam in Rexburg, Idaho. This is the dam that failed on June 5th, 1976.

This shot is looking upriver at dusk.

The lens is from 1880's Germany, and doesn't *quite* cover the 12x20 format, so there is some vignetting in the corners.

 

[Dirty Harry]

Harry...my advice is that you ought to get a tripod and use it. For the very reason that you have heard about. It is true that when you use a tripod you are forced to make a lot of decisions that you wouldn't make when hand-holding.

I have one that I leave in my 4Runner and use for landscape and nature photographs, but the bulk of my shots are taken on the trail when I just don't have the time to set up a tripod.

I did mess around with sequences and stitching together photos using the tripod at Twisted Customs shop a few weeks ago. I definitely see the value of the tripod for stuff like this.

 

[bajasurf]

Obsolete Canon A620

If you visit KenRockwell.com and once at his home page click on "what's new" and then scroll down to 27,July2007 and click on "Wilson Tsoi". This really is a case for the "photographer and not the camera" See what this photographer can do with an $200 point and shoot Canon A620. Amazing!!!

 

[Christian P.]

which camera/lens would you buy for $1500?

so here's a question for all the pros out there..



let's say you have a budget of about $1500 for a digital camera and want something a bit more professional for an upcoming trip to South Africa (I currently have a Canon A95 with almost no zoom), which equipment would you suggest?

thanks

Christian