Daily Archives: December 14, 2012

11 years, 3 months ago 12

Last June I had a great experience when I was honored to get to be a speaker a NECC, the New England Council of Camera Clubs annual event!  I met a lot of really nice folks, got to visit with some of my favorite Nikon people, and finally got to meet Mike Moats a close-up photogpraher whose work I have long admired!  I first met Mike through Jack Graham another great photographer friend. They use to do workshops together.  Mike helped me a lot when I was preparing to teach my two Kelby training videos on Close-up photography.
So anyway, when I met Mike at the show we finally got to sit down and talk and I was very impressed with his philosophy of doping close-ups!  Now I must admit that I’m and equipment freak and couldn’t wait to ask him what gear he was using.  To my shock he told me he used Nikon D7000s as his main cameras.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love the D7000 I just thought with how spectacular his work was he was using an even higher end camera body!
He told me that he used the D7000 for several reasons;
1.  It’s 1.5 lens factor actually gave him larger images within his files with the same focal length lens.   That made a lot of sense and in fact I’ve recommended that myself in the past.

 

2.  That he made 24″X36″ prints with ease from that camera.  I knew that was possible, but after seeing his prints up close, I was even shocked myself, they were breathtaking, and from a DX camera!!!

 

3.  His last reason was the one that shot me between the eyes!!  He said he wanted to show his students that you could do good work without spending a fortune on cameras and lenses!  I was stunned, I knew he was right, and I believe that myself, but I sure wan’t putting it into practice.

 

Here I write this blog and give advice on gear, but have been a little bit, o.k. a lot of a snob, about gear. I decided to turn over a new leaf, and this is what I plan to do;
It’s time for some New Years Resolutions about my photography:
A.  In the new year I’m going to force myself to learn some new things about the gear I own and how to use it to the best of my ability.
B.  I will designate periods of time;  trips, assignments, maybe even a few weeks or a month at a time, and use just one set of gear to discover just what is possible with it.  I plan to do a period with just a point and shoot camera, actually several different ones.  A period of time with just one body and one lens, and probably not a zoom, just a single focal length lens, (like a D600 and a 50mm f1.4 lens).  I plan to do a period of time with just an iPhone, and even a small manual focus system, and just one zoom in my autofocus system.  I’m going to devote time to just DX , and time to just FX.
C.  To keep myself honest, I will let you guys know what time period I’m doing what, and then show the results on the blog!
So the big question is, why am I doing t his?  Of course the first part is Mike has shamed me into trying to think less about the gear and more about the image.  Part two is that I truly want to be less of gear snob!!!  But lastly, and most importantly, I am entering a new stage of my life and I have decided I want to become a serious student again, and learn as much as I can.  I know that I’m surrounded by people that excel at different aspects of photography and I want to absorb as much of that knowledge and wisdom as I can.
No teacher is worth his or her salt if they are not also devoted students, so it’s back to school for this old dog!  Surely there are a few new tricks I can learn!
So it’s starts today, for the next several days I’m  using the D600 and a 50mm f 1.4 AF lens to shoot Christmas themed stuff, expect to see some results soon. One camera – one lens, hey I’m excited, I just my learn something here!!!  Thanks Mike……
Blessings,
the pilgrim
My buddy Kent Ervin sent this shot to me, thought it was appropriate for my new experiment, “suspended over the water!”   Sure hope that old dog can swim!
11 years, 3 months ago 2

I was coming out of Bobcat Bite a few months ago on a trip to Santa Fe and saw this Triumph motorcycle, just had to make an image of it.  This is a classic 1960’s model that was a favorite of my youth.  I used to race dirt bikes in cross country enduros, and I still have great memories of riding my various bikes!  I was looking through a series of iPhone images today and found this one, yes it was shot with an iPhone, and I thought how it matched my mood today!

 

I’ve spent a lot of today answering posts on the blog from day before yesterday about Scott Kelby’s new book.  I hate to do these plays on words, but for me the last two days has been somewhat a “Triumph”!  I expected a higher percentage of negative reactions to my comments about Scott’s book, but to my very pleasantly surprise, the comments have been 99% positive.  The most positive thing to me is how many people have expressed their hope that the book will reach those that are struggling with this decision.  I’m encouraged as Jim and I press on with His Light Workshops, it seems that God is revealing more each day about how He wants us to stay the course, and reach out to others.  Sorry, but it really has been a personal “Triumph” for me!

 

Encouraged,

 

the pilgrim