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Does anyone still use the basic principles of design and compose photographs in the frame anymore?
I studied photography before digital cameras existed. It was challenging work to find interesting subject matter in the world, expend all the effort, and come away with an excellent photo-- I had to do this with a Quaker oats box, photo paper and aluminum. Digital photography seems to be more like collage.
I bought my first 35mm SLR in July of 1971. There were no classes available at the time so I learned by referring to the Owner's Manual and reading photography magazines. Admittedly not the best way to learn but it was my only choice.
Naturally, I learned to work slowly and to actually think about what I was doing and how to do it. In 1976 the local community college finally offered 2 semesters of non-credit, continuing education classes in photography.
It often seems to me that there is little or no learning between using a simple point & shoot digital camera and using a DSLR. How many times have we read questions asking this: "Help! I just got my new DSLR and I need to know what settings to use outside on a sunny day." or "What is the best camera to buy to make my pictures look professional?" I often wonder what people do with the Owner's Manual that came with their camera.
I've often stated that digital photography encourages what I call "the machine gunner mentality" - fire 300 shots and hope you get 10 or 20 pictures worth keeping. A person once said in here that if they took 1,000 pictures and got one good one they were happy. Talk about exceedingly low expectations! I honestly believe that you'd get better results if you gave a camera to a chimpanzee.
I encourage people to develop what I term "the sniper mentality" - one exposure, one good picture. Sometimes I deliberately limit myself to one 36 exposure roll of film. Can you image how someone used to snapping 100 pictures in 10 minutes would react if they were that limited? I think it would be an excellent learning experience.
Its also appalling that so many people seem to think that an editing program is a cure-all for lousy photography. Sure, when I printed my black and white negatives sometimes they required some manipulation - burning in or dodging. I knew, of course, that if the picture was out of focus it was garbage. Now we see people asking "What program can I use to un-blur a blurry picture?" I usually answer with "Trying to un-blur a blurry picture is like tryng to un-pickle a pickle - not happening."
So yes, I agree completely with your assessment of the current state of photography. Too many people apparently believe that if they spend $2000 for a camera and a couple of lenses that means they are now photographers. I've long lost count of the number of people who write "I just bought my DSLR last week and I'm doing a wedding tomorrow. What settings should I use? Do I need a flash? Is a 200mm lens all I'll need?" One can only hope that the wedding was in front of a Justice of the Peace with only two other people present.
Enough sermonizing.
Beginners Guide to Digital SLR Cameras
There comes a time in everyone's life when he or she wonders if there is more to photography than a palm-sized block of aluminum that is the point and shoot camera stowed away in their pocket.
The compact point and shoot camera has come so far in the last ten years that it’s tempting to write off Digital SLR's as somewhat irrelevant to a lot of people’s lives, not offering enough utility to offset their quite bulky size and hefty price tag.
Folks get by now with just a Mobile phone camera, they don't even have a point and shoot!
As soon as I bought my first compact camera, a few years ago, the Canon Ixus, I was in this boat. I asked myself "what more could one possibly need?"
I told myself I would never need a Digital SLR.
For many months I even used a Phone camera with the Sony image stabiliser and at 3.2 Mega pixels this was a great little camera that almost fulfilled my needs.
How could I posibly need a Digital SLR?
Well, some time ago, I owned a Canon 35mm SLR, I used it for some years in fact, I believe the model number was A1.
The shots I took with this were very good, the drawback was obviously the film developement, or lack of the facility to perform this myself, after all, at this time you had to set up your own Dark Room, (if you had the space) which I didn't.
I was very interested in improving the pictures I took in a sort of artistic way, (not in a technical way). The point and shoot cameras at 10 Mega pixels are adequate even the most tech' people and produce excellent graphic results if you know how to operate the relevant software.
No, what I wanted was to improve the atmospheric quality of the Pic's....
After a great deal of umming and arring I dove in and bought my first Digital SLR, a Canon 1000D, not the most expensive by any means, but hey, I was just dipping my toe in the water.
How things have changed.
Digital Slr's need no such requirements as a dark room and all the gubbins that you need to print the pictures you want.
The requirements are.
- A computer.
- A quality printer.
- A reasonable knowledge of the software provided with the camera.
If you have your own software that you are pretty familiar with you can even use this.
My pictures have improved a lot, due mainly to the manual settings I can achieve with the camera and the functions available in the software, if you can't achieve the shots you want with the camera, you can certainly get what you need with the software.
When you take a good picture and learn how to use the software the limits are endless.
The conclusion then:
If you are interested in improving the pic's you take and preserving them for posterity, get yourself a Digital SLR now. Don't pay the earth, we all have fads and if this turns out to be one you won't have spent the earth.
If you aren't interested in improving your photo's, stick with your point and shoot.
For more info' and reviews on Digital SLR's visit.
The Best Digital Camera Store
Keep smiling.
Ken Trueman.
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