Photography is ever evolving and I’ve gotten to experience over 50 years of that evolution!  In the past half decade I’ve seen some amazing developments that have, at least for me, changed photography forever!  Here are 5 things that I think have made photography better than ever!

 

1.  Image stabilization:  While I still believe that a tripod is the best way to get sharpness in your images and to slow you down to make better decisions, I love being able to handhold a camera, when I feel like it or can’t use a tripod!  In addition to that as we get older we get less steady so this new feature is game changer! The image below was shot handheld at 1/8th of a second!
2. 2.    Better performing lenses:   Modern lens design aided by computers and special low dispersion glasses have made imaging better than ever! The image below was made with the 16-80 zoom lens, a zoom lens!
   

 

 

3.  Noise Reduction Software:  In the film days we shot Tri-X at 1,200 and developed it in Accufine developer and we got grain the size of baseballs, but that as just the way it was back then, now in the digital age, noise which appears much like grain , is less of a problem – until you go up to 3,200 and  higher on most modern cameras, but now we have noise reduction software!   I’ve been using Topaz DeNoise and it is miraculous, I can now shoot at the every highest ISO settings and reduce the noise down to very minor levels and without affecting sharpness very much!

 

 

4.   AI equipped sharpening software:  From time to time we all suffer from camera movement during the exposure or missed focus, and now AI powered software can fix those problems or at least lessen the effects of them! Below is an image that was unsharp from camera movement before I applied Topaz Sharpen AI!

 

 

 

5.   Vastly improved frame rates & auto focus performance:  Almost all high end cameras now can shoot at very high fame rates most well over 10 Frames Per Second and Autofocus its vastly improved!   Photo below by Bill Pekala!

 

 

I hope you are enjoying all these new improvements to our craft!

 

Blessings,

 

 

the pilgrim

 

 

One thing I hate in photography is when someone makes the remark that someone is not a Professional photographer, “Just” an Amateur!  I’m a nice guy so I never correct them, but it bothers me all the same.  A Professional is someone that does something for money, and Amateur does something for the love of it!  It is not a definition of the quality of the work!  Quite honestly I’m now an amateur, I do it just for the love of it!

 

Some of the best photographers I know are serious, committed amateurs.  Rick Coleman is one of those photographers as is Jim Begley and Jim Haverstock, featured last week, all are shooters that have mastered the craft well and their work proves it!

 

Rick is a very talented photographer with a great eye and wonderful technical skills to boot!  Here are some of his images!

 

 

I hope you enjoy his work as much as I do, Rick is also a great guy!

 

Blessings,

 

 

the pilgrim

 

 

Being a generalist, I love photographers that have a range of subject matter that they have mastered.  Jim Haverstock is one of those photographers, whether it’s a portrait, or Americana subjects, still life Set-ups or nature landscapes, he can and has done it all.  Jim is an exceptional shooter, but that is not his most incredible quality!  If you looked up Character & Integrity in the dictionary you would find a picture of Jim Haverstock, but then if you looked up faithful to God, and His friends, you would find his image there too!  Lastly ask anyone that knows or has even met him and they would say he is a really kind & thoughtful man!  Think on that and enjoy some of his images!

 

 

Thanks Jim for blessing my life with your friendship and companionship in the field!

 

Blessings,.

 

 

the pilgrim

 

 

A friend ask me the other day why I keep buying more camera bags/packs/cases when I’m trying to downsize what I already have.  The answer is simple and not so simple, please let me explain. First I’m what is called a photo generalist, I have many areas of photographic interests; Travel, Nature, Landscape, Aviation, Close-up, Abstract, People and Americana.  So when I go out to shoot in any one of these different fields I need different gear.  For example the top photo is what I feel is a complete package of gear for nature, landscape and americana and aviation, but it is too much for people, travel and not the best gear for close-up and abstract work.  *(The other reason is I’m the President of the Bag of the Month Club, so there you have it)  What is in the kit above?

 

Nature, Landscape, Aviation & American Kit:

The Bag:  the Wotancraft Pilot 10L

Body:  Fujifilm X-T5

Lenses:  10-24 f 4, 16-80 f 4, 56mm f 1.2, 70-300 f 4.5-5.6

Accessories:  Small Rig Mini Tripod and head, Shinewee PC90S /Cell phone holder, Victorinox Huntsman Swiss Army Knife, Streamtlight flashlight,  Lensgo Model D850 battery and card case, Electronic Release Vello brand, Small LED Light panel, Canon 500 D Diopter and Breakthrough 5 and 10 Stop N,D, filters with step up ring to fit them to the  the 16-80 & 10-24 *(not shown, but packed, lens cleaning alcohol wipes, micro fiber cloths, bluetooth remote for iPhone)

 

With all of this I feel I can handle anything that I generally shoot on nature, landscape and Americana outings.  The bag weighs 15 pounds, which since I will mostly carry to to and from the car it works great! It’s whatI like to call my: Keep-it-Close-by-Bag!

 

 

What about Travel & People Photography?  This kit is completely different, in this case I want everything to fit in one small sling bag and weigh no more than 5 lbs!  This kit weighs in at 5 lbs. on the nose!  I also prefer a rangefinder style cameras for this kind of work.

 

The Bag:  Peak Design’s 6 L Sling   *One advantage of this bag is it does not scream camera gear!  It’s well designed and is perfect for a light kit lack this one!

Body:  Fujifilm X-Pro2

Lenses: 16mm f 2.8, 23mm f 2 and the 50mm f 2 ( that is the classic equiv. of 24mm – 35mm-75mm) near perfect for these subjects and all small, and light, plus extremely sharp lenses.

Accessories: Cleaning wipes, microfiber cloth, two spare batteries.

*Note: in my car there is always a large tripod and a small mini tripod available should I need them,  and I drive everywhere!

 

Close-up work is a whole new ball of wax and I will show my kit for that in a future blog entry.

 

Final thoughts:  I love the Wotancraft Pilot bags both the 7L and 10L they are identical accept for capacity, I pick the one that fits the equipment needs. I bought the Peak Design 6L Sling bag and was about to send it back whenI decided it was perfect for this small Travel/People kit.  It is little modern/contemporary for an old guy like me, but it is functional, and works well, so I will use it for this, for now.  Think Tank has a new Small bag that may work great for this system and I will talk about it when it arrives and I get a chance to try it. it has a cool magnetic opening and closing lid and looks interesting.  I’ve always loved the quality of Think Tank gear.

 

Blessings,

 

 

the pilgrim