Desert Yucca by Cathy Ulrich
Fascinated
by what my eyes
see.
How the camera
captures some of it
but not all of it.
Sometimes it’s better
that way. Sometimes
frustrating.
In my early years,
I played in
darkrooms.
Learning tricks with
enlargers
and chemicals.
Later I got my first
Nikon digital. Didn’t have a
clue.
And post-processing
took on new
meaning.
Now, I shoot what I love
and learn
to like it.
If you have ever tried photography, what are your challenges? What do you like to photograph? What is your favorite picture?
We have the big Nikon camera, but I don’t think we know what we are doing with it lol. I guess we need to make use of it.
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Yes, it definitely takes a while to learn! And can be intimidating.
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I have a post on photography coming up on Saturday, but what I really like is imagining an image, and creating it, getting the people in position to make it. I like being in control, and being in front of the camera, which can be a conflict. And- I like the idea of found shots, people in bizarre juxtapositions (that word again! I love juxtapositions) in the street. But that would mean always having half an eye out for possible shots.
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Clare,
I love your “people” shots. I think it is interesting to create photos given a group of subjects and placing them where you want them. I rarely do that, but would like to do more. Do you find that people are cooperative and want to go along with you for those kinds of shots?
Cathy
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Mmm. People will normally humour me, and I try to entertain.
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That makes sense, make it fun and entertaining. I really liked your photo of you with your moon halo the other day. Very creative. I’m on my iPad during my lunch break, or I would do it, but feel free to post the link to that here if you’d like.
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I’ve gotten really interested in photography since I started blogging. I love taking pictures in my backyard or just puttering around my neighborhood. I just took one I am most proud of and am waiting for the right post to write to match it! Love-Julie
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I can’t wait to see it. I, too, have found that I do a lot more photography now that I have a platform for publishing it on the blog. And I love your photos, Julie!
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Do you have a favorite camera, Julie?
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Just as I finally mastered remembering to remove the lens cap before shooting, wouldn’t you know it, the world goes digital.
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Ah yes, those tricky lens caps. V, you do some fun shots of your adventures in NYC. What kind of camera do you use?
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Nuthin’ fancy, a Canon PowerShot SD 1300 IS — the digital equivalent of the Ford Pinto
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A Ford Pinto – love it! But it suits you well. You get some fun shots that work out well in LameAdventures. Do you carry in your satchel every day? Because you always capture moments in your day that you post on your blog.
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Cathy, the pic is really nice. I do okay but it’s hit or miss. If I slow down and observe, wait then I can usually capture something special. I think my husband’s better at it though and he still has one of those old cameras — you know, with film. ;).
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Thanks, Brigitte. That shot was taken with a Nikon DSLR. I think you have a great artist’s eye and I loved the shots you took of Woodstock. Even in the rain, they were great. How does your husband deal with the processing issues of film photography, these days?
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Alas, he doesn’t. But when our card on our digital became full or had some kind of funky error message, he was wishing for his Nikon. ;).
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We had a Nikon film camera that Peter bought years ago. We finally gave it away to an art school here in Fort Collins because we never used it. One thing we have done is to keep a small external server that is set up to our WIFI that allows us to save our photos there. I’m not always great about it, but I do try to move those over fairly regularly so my SD card doesn’t fill up on my camera.
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I love it! I need quick list of what to look for in a good camera. The mega pixels are less important than the??
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Good question, Crystal. The megapixels are less important than the size of the sensor. The reason DSLRs get better quality shots is that they have much larger sensors than most compact cameras. The sensor in a digital camera is the equivalent to the film. You can have a lot of megapixels, but if the sensor is very small, you will get a lot more digital noise – it really boils down to the fact that all of those megapixels on a small sensor just get crammed together so the quality of the shot just can’t be as good. My new Olympus XZ-1 is a compact camera but it has a large sensor. It’s the one I use for my underwater photography. The other thing to spend your money on is the optics – a good lens or lenses. Again, my Olympus is only 10 megapixels, but it has a great zoom lens along with the large sensor and it was less than $500. Hope this helps, Crystal. What kind of camera are you using now?
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this picture is a eye open for me!
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Thank you, Sydney! I love your photography! What kind of camera do you use?
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Are those little curlicues part of the plant? I have a yucca plant too but a different type, and he doesn’t have those little things. I took photography classes many many years ago, and I really enjoyed them. I loved developing my own stuff in the darkroom, all the different steps required, the developer, fixer, etc. (My cats loved the smell of that stuff.) Digital is a whole different animal. I know you can do effects with digital photo software, etc, but I’m not proficient enough to do anything really good. So I just point and shoot and hope for the best!
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Hey Weebs! Yes, those white curlicues are a part of the plant. I shot that picture with my Nikon D-70 and a macro lens on a hike near Moab, Utah, so I guess it’s a native to that area. I took a photography class when I was an undergrad at Georgia Tech and majored in Industrial Design. I worked as the lab assistant in the darkroom in the Architecture College for a while. I loved it, although, honestly, I think I’m better at it now than I was then. I really like my digital cameras. They’re not that much different than the film cameras and the newer ones are almost as good as the really good film cameras. The same principles of focal length, aperture and exposure apply to digital and they’re awesome for underwater photography. Imagine going for an hour dive and only having 36 shots that you didn’t know how they came out or how your exposure looked. Because when you’re diving, you can’t stop and change a film canister. With the ability to take lots of photos with a digital, you can check your lighting, exposure, depth of field underwater and be more likely to get some nice shots. i could go on and on but I won’t. Thanks, Weebs, always good to see you here.
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I LOVE the photo!
Russ
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Thanks, Russ. It was taken on a hike in Utah – I love it too! All those white curlicues are so fun!
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