Stephanie Brim
Mental Experimental.
The title is a joke, by the way.
I've decided to write a bit on what I've learned about photography by using a point and shoot camera. This is by no means conprehensive and may be considered bull!@#$ by most of the memberdom...but I don't care.
Using a plastic fantastic camera has shown me more about photography than any other camera could. It has shown me that great glass isn't needed to produce good pictures. It has shown me that *no* glass is needed to produce good pictures. It has shown me that one shutter speed and one aperture can be more than enough if you know what you're doing. It has shown me that sometimes a photographer can be at their best when they don't have to think about anything other than pointing and shooting.
I have also come to the conclusion that I really love fixed focus. I really love the creative challenge that it presents. I love the way it boxes you in. A fixed focal length is the same way. It makes you think about your composition more...it makes you get into the photo more. It makes you bolder.
So I shall say thanks to Rick (Byuphoto) for challenging us to shoot a point and shoot for a week. I thank everyone for pushing me into it (kinda) and I curse you as well for making me prove myself wrong about good glass being the most important thing in photography.
I'm glad to be a part of this little challenge and I think it is something we should do more often.
I've decided to write a bit on what I've learned about photography by using a point and shoot camera. This is by no means conprehensive and may be considered bull!@#$ by most of the memberdom...but I don't care.
Using a plastic fantastic camera has shown me more about photography than any other camera could. It has shown me that great glass isn't needed to produce good pictures. It has shown me that *no* glass is needed to produce good pictures. It has shown me that one shutter speed and one aperture can be more than enough if you know what you're doing. It has shown me that sometimes a photographer can be at their best when they don't have to think about anything other than pointing and shooting.
I have also come to the conclusion that I really love fixed focus. I really love the creative challenge that it presents. I love the way it boxes you in. A fixed focal length is the same way. It makes you think about your composition more...it makes you get into the photo more. It makes you bolder.
So I shall say thanks to Rick (Byuphoto) for challenging us to shoot a point and shoot for a week. I thank everyone for pushing me into it (kinda) and I curse you as well for making me prove myself wrong about good glass being the most important thing in photography.
I'm glad to be a part of this little challenge and I think it is something we should do more often. 
So, how much for your P?
Stephanie Brim
Mental Experimental.
Ha ha, very funny. No way. I'm still using and loving and caressing the P.
Now I just want a Holga and a Holgaroid to go with it.
Now I just want a Holga and a Holgaroid to go with it.
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
Those one-time-use cameras take surprisingly good pictures, especially if you're not enlarging the negatives too much. Sometimes you have to stop and think whether you're making things too complicated by getting a more sophisticated camera.
Stephanie Brim
Mental Experimental.
Yeah, I think that's the main thing here. You don't need an expensive camera to take good photos. Mine was a $2 purchase at Goodwill and is, in the main, a non-disposable disposable. It's all in the vision that you have...what you see.
vincentbenoit
télémétrique argentique
So where are these great point-and-shoot pictures?
Vincent
Vincent
Fingers in Ear, "LA LA LA LA LA I CAN't HEAR YOU LA LA LA LA"
I used to shoot slide film in my Instamatic 150. I was 8. By the time I was 11, I realized good cameras were a lot better, Minolta Hi-Matic 9 with 45mm F1.7 lens. I still have the Instamatic. But I have not used it since I was 11.
I used to shoot slide film in my Instamatic 150. I was 8. By the time I was 11, I realized good cameras were a lot better, Minolta Hi-Matic 9 with 45mm F1.7 lens. I still have the Instamatic. But I have not used it since I was 11.
reagan
hey, they're only Zorkis
You're definately right on there Stephanie. Great thought. "IATG" (It Ain't The Gear) is something we need to remind ourselves of from time to time. Another poster in the P&S project posted...
That pretty much sums up what keeps us from "seeing" more clearly, shooting more freely and enjoying it all less.
Carry on weedhopper. Your journey has led you to the good path.
Stephanie Brim
Mental Experimental.
AlexC
Established
Stephanie, nice shots. My dad recently found his father's Kodak Anniversary box camera in the basement. This is good motivation to load a roll of 120 and see if anything comes out...
jlw
Rangefinder camera pedant
Stephanie Brim said:
Stephanie, judging from your camera-fixing exploits you're obviously pretty handy with tools -- how about sawing the lens out of your plastic camera and splicing a 39mm mount onto it so you can use it on your Canon P?
You could still restrict yourself to a single shutter speed, but you'd have a CHOICE of what shutter speed.
This idea was inspired by my recent visit to the site of that Japanese outfit that's making the new 50mm f/1.3 lens -- another thing they do is adapt lenses from point-and-shoots to be used on RF cameras.
Stephanie Brim
Mental Experimental.
I could possibly do that...however, I'd want to find another of these cameras. Could possibly get one off of Eboy, but I haven't seen one for sale around here.
Stephanie Brim
Mental Experimental.
AlexC said:
I have one of those, too...but I'm making it into a pinhole this weekend.
Byuphoto
Would like to upgrade
The whole purpose to this cjallenge was to shoot and quit worrying about which lens which camera, is anyone going to see me. It is not the gear but the person between the ears. I once judged a teen age photo contest where each entrant could post 3 photos in three catagories. There was one kid whose shots consisitently blew everyone away. Now these were some children of well off parents and most had gear that would put me to shame. This one kid won one category and placed in the other two. I knew he did not have the gear the others did so I asked how he got such sharp photos. He replied " After many rolls of film and keeping extensive notes I found out my camera was sharpest at 15' and in certain light" so he just shot all his shots under those conditions. A better camera will make taking photos easier but it will not make better photos by itself.
I like gear but I like to take photos with the gear better.
One day I am going to post a photo with a P&S and the same photo with a much more expensive and supposedly better camera and see who can tell the difference
Stepanie, I am glad you got out and shot some photos. Quit worrying about more lenses or cameras and just put film in what you have. Then go out and shoot it. If we shoot and buy enough it will get habit forming
I like gear but I like to take photos with the gear better.
One day I am going to post a photo with a P&S and the same photo with a much more expensive and supposedly better camera and see who can tell the difference
Stepanie, I am glad you got out and shot some photos. Quit worrying about more lenses or cameras and just put film in what you have. Then go out and shoot it. If we shoot and buy enough it will get habit forming
AlexC
Established
Stephanie Brim said:I have one of those, too...but I'm making it into a pinhole this weekend.
Great idea... depending on how things go I might do the same.
I TAed a class in remote sensing a few years ago. The prof was old school and had the students make pinhole cameras with coffee cans in one of the first labs. It was almost like being back in grade school; lots of fun though!
CVBLZ4 said:You're definately right on there Stephanie. Great thought. "IATG" (It Ain't The Gear) is something we need to remind ourselves of from time to time. Another poster in the P&S project posted...
That pretty much sums up what keeps us from "seeing" more clearly, shooting more freely and enjoying it all less.
Carry on weedhopper. Your journey has led you to the good path.
i think that was me that posted that. i still stand by it. i have a lot of p&s cameras...and there's a big difference between using my agat 18k and using my leica cm...and the results are very different as well. so what am i going for?
film is huge too. what speed? that depends on the camera i'm using and what conditions i'm likely to shoot in. plus...so i want slides or prints? super satureated film or more muted? color or b&w? decisions decisions...
also...what will my approach be for that role? what subjects? landscapes, portraints, candids, what? night shots? shoot carefully or shoot from the hip? crystal clear shots or do i take some artistic liberties with blur?
you need to always think, even with p&s cameras...you can't just grab any random camera, any random film, shoot in any random condition, and shoot without giving it any thought...cuz if you do, very few of your 36 shots will be as good as they could have been...
Stephanie Brim
Mental Experimental.
Just so you know, those shots were pretty much all I had on the roll. I developed the roll only after a few shots had been taken on it because I wanted to see how I'd done.
That said, I don't agree with the above. Sometimes overthinking things too much can keep you from getting an image in the first place.
That said, I don't agree with the above. Sometimes overthinking things too much can keep you from getting an image in the first place.
Byuphoto
Would like to upgrade
you need to always think, even with p&s cameras...you can't just grab any random camera, any random film, shoot in any random condition, and shoot without giving it any thought...cuz if you do, very few of your 36 shots will be as good as they could have been...
Why not? you never ran down a hill just for the fun of it or do anything impulsive. This is just a fun project to see what comes out. Like I did with the Zeiss on the table thing just poiny and shoot. This is not a competition, I only said that about the canon snappy in jest. although I will give it to someone in the project. Lighten up and have fun, who cares what the photos look like they are a side benefit to having fun and laughing at each other.
Maybe, it is because most of my behincd camera work is professional wedding/studio that when I come out I want to have fun. If I am taking serious street or documentary out comes the Leica or if it is macro or long tele work I have 5 Canon SLR's and if it is landscape it is the Kowa Super 66 or the Calumet 4x5 but when it is fun I reach on the shelf for whichever P&S i pick up first. Last week I got a Canon AF35ML and that was what I wanted to try so I packed it around although it is not as pocketable as the Canon Sure Shot 76 or the Oly XA2 it does have an f1.9 lens.
What I am saying is grab one, put some film in it, and shoot whatever comes along. I liken it to my military sniper days. When I had a specific target under specific conditions I took a specific tool for the job, but if it was just a target of opportunity I took a jack of all trades tool. It might not do every job perfectly but it would do all jobs adequately.
Why not? you never ran down a hill just for the fun of it or do anything impulsive. This is just a fun project to see what comes out. Like I did with the Zeiss on the table thing just poiny and shoot. This is not a competition, I only said that about the canon snappy in jest. although I will give it to someone in the project. Lighten up and have fun, who cares what the photos look like they are a side benefit to having fun and laughing at each other.
Maybe, it is because most of my behincd camera work is professional wedding/studio that when I come out I want to have fun. If I am taking serious street or documentary out comes the Leica or if it is macro or long tele work I have 5 Canon SLR's and if it is landscape it is the Kowa Super 66 or the Calumet 4x5 but when it is fun I reach on the shelf for whichever P&S i pick up first. Last week I got a Canon AF35ML and that was what I wanted to try so I packed it around although it is not as pocketable as the Canon Sure Shot 76 or the Oly XA2 it does have an f1.9 lens.
What I am saying is grab one, put some film in it, and shoot whatever comes along. I liken it to my military sniper days. When I had a specific target under specific conditions I took a specific tool for the job, but if it was just a target of opportunity I took a jack of all trades tool. It might not do every job perfectly but it would do all jobs adequately.
reagan
hey, they're only Zorkis
celery, nothing derogitory intended by the quote, (or butchery of it) and I didn't even take note of who said it... because many of us have said it in one form or another. If those were your words, I was using them more to aim at self and probably shouldn't have used "what keeps us..." but rather "me. "My point was just that many [and especially including me, but maybe not you] from time to time get tangled up in putzing with gear and at least for the moment, lose our eye for subject. As others in the thread have noted, taking away the "gear factor" by shooting simple cameras releases our attention to the more important subject.celerystalksme said:
My aplogies if you felt targeted. It was not my intention at all and I purposely didn't tag a name with the [mis]quote because my original thought was, "Oh man, that's me."
cheers
Byuphoto said:
why not? because for this project i grabbed my olympus stylus epic and loaded it with 100 speed film. that dictates what i can do...i can't just shoot willy-nilly and expect good photos. i mean...if i took this pair to the bowling alley for mid-night rock 'n' bowl, with the lights all out, and started trying to take pics that puny flash won't do any good...the shutter speed will be 1-4 seconds. the shots will be blurry...and perhaps underexposed. i will NOT get those shots unless i choose the right film/camera. 36 unusable, indistinguishable photos...just dark blobs in the back ground, washed out blobs in the foreground.
the other poster above said that thinking will keep you from getting an image? i disagree...thinking makes sure you get the image you want. the thinking photog wouldn't grab just any camera...instead, the thinking photog would grab a cam with a super bright lens like the fuji natura or a olympus 35RD...and grab some fast film like 800 or something.
there's a million examples of bad choices leading to undesired pics.
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