DougFord
on the good foot
It would be interesting to view the photographs of individuals that 'grew up' using a zoom P&S camera prior to their dedicated use of a cell phone camera.
BLKRCAT
75% Film
you know, we have a doug ford in toronto too?
DougFord
on the good foot
Tejasican
Well-known
I found it beneficial to spend time with simple cameras and a 50mm. It made me much more deliberate about the what, the when, and the why of using something else on those occasions that I took off the 50mm.
arseniii
Well-known
Like not everybody can be Margu, but Margu can be anybody!:bang::bang:
Frida
Established
As with most folks who've commented (surprisingly chill thread, by the way), I agree. I shoot weddings. My primary body and lens combo is a D700 and a 35/2. 35mm is by far and away my favorite focal length; pretty much everything I do at a wedding or e-session is with the combo above.
You can see as much at our blog. My wife, for her part, uses a 50mm nearly exclusively on her D700 when we shoot together.
I don't visualize the shot before looking through the viewfinder, but I love the width I get with it as well as the ability to get up close and personal. I love the perspective distortion. It all just makes sense to me. It's also why I'm interested in an x100/s someday when I can justify owning one.
I know there are lots of folks who prefer switching lenses, using zooms, etc. I don't begrudge them. I just know it's simpler when I can use just one fixed lens and on one camera.
By the way, we went on vacation a few weeks ago. I didn't take any pro-bodies; I took a compact with a zoom lens (my wife's SD1100). I pretty much used it at its widest setting (~38mm) 99% of the time.
As an aside, I still have one of my earliest digital cameras. It's an FZ7, or a bridge camera from 2006. I took about 20,000 pictures with it before I got my first DSLR, and most of those pictures were bad. It wasn't until I got my first DSLR (a D3100 with a 50/1.8 manual lens) that I took the time to learn about aperture, shutter speed, etc.
However, years later, returning to that camera, I feel I have a much better handle on it. Why? Because I use it in manual and at the widest setting (~36mm). I think about composition when taking a picture. I use the rule of thirds. I zoom with my feet. It's basically a much more archaic version of the D700/35 combo when I pick it up now.
It's funny to think that I had to move to a newer camera to learn how to use an older one, but that's what happened with me. Of course, I could have learned all of these things on just the FZ7, but it wasn't until I bought a "serious" camera that I actually took the time to learn how to take pictures. Strange how things work.
So I guess my advice for anyone wanting to learn to take good pictures would be to...
1. buy a camera that can be used in manual settings and learn to shoot that way.
2. use only one lens or one focal length (wider is better) on the camera.
3. find "good" photography and figure out what you like about it.
4. go shoot what interests you.
If I'd had this advice and had followed it, I'd possibly be much farther along in my photography now than I am. But there's a good chance I wouldn't have listened anyway. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear and all that.
You can see as much at our blog. My wife, for her part, uses a 50mm nearly exclusively on her D700 when we shoot together.
I don't visualize the shot before looking through the viewfinder, but I love the width I get with it as well as the ability to get up close and personal. I love the perspective distortion. It all just makes sense to me. It's also why I'm interested in an x100/s someday when I can justify owning one.
I know there are lots of folks who prefer switching lenses, using zooms, etc. I don't begrudge them. I just know it's simpler when I can use just one fixed lens and on one camera.
By the way, we went on vacation a few weeks ago. I didn't take any pro-bodies; I took a compact with a zoom lens (my wife's SD1100). I pretty much used it at its widest setting (~38mm) 99% of the time.
As an aside, I still have one of my earliest digital cameras. It's an FZ7, or a bridge camera from 2006. I took about 20,000 pictures with it before I got my first DSLR, and most of those pictures were bad. It wasn't until I got my first DSLR (a D3100 with a 50/1.8 manual lens) that I took the time to learn about aperture, shutter speed, etc.
However, years later, returning to that camera, I feel I have a much better handle on it. Why? Because I use it in manual and at the widest setting (~36mm). I think about composition when taking a picture. I use the rule of thirds. I zoom with my feet. It's basically a much more archaic version of the D700/35 combo when I pick it up now.
It's funny to think that I had to move to a newer camera to learn how to use an older one, but that's what happened with me. Of course, I could have learned all of these things on just the FZ7, but it wasn't until I bought a "serious" camera that I actually took the time to learn how to take pictures. Strange how things work.
So I guess my advice for anyone wanting to learn to take good pictures would be to...
1. buy a camera that can be used in manual settings and learn to shoot that way.
2. use only one lens or one focal length (wider is better) on the camera.
3. find "good" photography and figure out what you like about it.
4. go shoot what interests you.
If I'd had this advice and had followed it, I'd possibly be much farther along in my photography now than I am. But there's a good chance I wouldn't have listened anyway. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear and all that.
Obviously... but with such disdain for the forum and internet, why do you bother logging in?
I'm not sure what your point is here... is it that since one person didn't do these things, nobody else should?
It seems to me we have a lot of people here who think everybody on RFF is looking to become great and/or famous. Also, that if someone isn't great at what they do, they should not be doing it. It's complete BS. Many people do whatever it is they do because they enjoy it. What is wrong with that?
semilog
curmudgeonly optimist
That is a nearly perfect troll.
Stdon
Established
If I used one camera/lens combination I'd be out of work. I've hi-graded lenses over many years and though there is overlap each lens has it's own flavor and uses. Each one is a tool and each tool has a job depending on what the subject is or the look I'm after. So no I definitely don't believe in the one lens/camera combination.
For instance for a young actor/model portfolio typically it'd be the D700 or D800 with the 70/200 f1:2.8. Would I use that combination for a formal portrait of a mature woman? Not if I didn't want to be beat to death with it. For that I'd use probably the D700 or D1X with the 28/105D which would soften things up a bit and not be so contrasty or sharp. Different horses for different courses.
For instance for a young actor/model portfolio typically it'd be the D700 or D800 with the 70/200 f1:2.8. Would I use that combination for a formal portrait of a mature woman? Not if I didn't want to be beat to death with it. For that I'd use probably the D700 or D1X with the 28/105D which would soften things up a bit and not be so contrasty or sharp. Different horses for different courses.
lynnb
Veteran
noisycheese
Normal(ish) Human
A photographic colleague of mine recently returned from a workshop in Venice that was taught by the redoubtable Peter Turnley.
This was exactly what Messr. Turnley advocated to his students.
I think he may well have a valid point.
Pioneer
Veteran
I like one camera/one lens because it keeps things quite simple. I don't necessarily use that combo for a whole year but I do use it long enough to become comfortable with it. Right now I am working with a Leica III and an Elmar 50. I am not looking to copy the masters, there really is very little chance that my pictures will ever be in that league. But it helps me understand the process. I look at the pictures they made and I am able to determine what it takes to make that shot.
I look at the pictures taken at the 1936 Olympics and then I take my Leica III to a High School track meet or basketball game and try to take sports pictures with that camera. I know it can be done, I have seen the evidence. But I can also appreciate the difficulties involved. I have no idea if this makes me a better photographer, but I do enjoy the effort involved and the thinking required to do this right. Visualizing your shot and putting yourself and your equipment in the right spot take on a completely new meaning.
I look at the pictures taken at the 1936 Olympics and then I take my Leica III to a High School track meet or basketball game and try to take sports pictures with that camera. I know it can be done, I have seen the evidence. But I can also appreciate the difficulties involved. I have no idea if this makes me a better photographer, but I do enjoy the effort involved and the thinking required to do this right. Visualizing your shot and putting yourself and your equipment in the right spot take on a completely new meaning.