Category : blog

 

 

I first met Neil Powell when he bought stock in the Great American Photography Weekends, I  soon learned he was a very good shooter and he has only gotten even better!  Neil shoots sports for Indiana University, though he is a professor in the Business School.  He’s also an accomplished wildlife photographer and generalist as well! Neil is one of our best friends, but that is not why I picked him, he’s just that good with a camera in his hands!  I’m blessed to call such great people friends and it’s a bonus that they are such wonderful artists!  Please enjoy his work!

 

 

I usually limit it to 5 images but his stuff is so good,  I wanted to share all of them!

 

Blessings,

 

 

the pilgrim

 

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