Howdy Campateers,
Before I go camping this raining weekend in the desert there is one item that I need to get off my chest...it's not about big fancy dslrs but about filters. Interested, read on. If not move along and let someone else learn, by cracky!
The selection of the proper filter is actually far more important than any choice of lens or camera.
I'm big on filters. The filter has a large and real effect on your image. Lens brand or sharpness does not.
Yes, you need filters even with your digital camera and Photoshop. Polarizers and grad filters need to be used before the lens and are not well, if at all, simulatable electronically. Digital cameras are excused from most of the color conversion filters, since you dial these in as white balance settings. I still use a mild warming filter (81A) on all my digital cameras since I prefer the look I get, even with the WB adjusted warm.
The more you learn about photography the more you'll also learn that artificial filters and manipulation are required to make a natural looking image. Ansel Adams realized that human perception and the photographic processes are quite different. Therefore one needs to use a lot of filtration, manipulation and burning and dodging to compensate for the human eye and brain's image processing to create an image on paper that looks natural. (You can read this in his books.) This is why most snapshots don't look like the original scene. Artificial processes and image manipulation are needed to make a photograph look natural.
Armchair photographers like to play a stupid game that prohibits anything creative and requires they just play forensic photographers blindly Xeroxing nature without filters. I only judge photos by the final image, not the process. Sadly these folks get images that are both dull and unnatural.
I'm not trying to reproduce nature. I encourage people to be creative. I personally use any sort of artificial anything I can to create the look I want. I'm expressing my imagination, not trying to duplicate reality.
That said, the best images come when nature is at her best, and at those times she needs no enhancement. The good images I show on this website are mostly made without filters. I usually use filters when the light is not perfect to pump it up. Photos made during epic light are much better than those made under lesser light with filters attempting to compensate.
When the light is bad I try to salvage things with filters. These are the photos that usually make it to the trash. Yes, they are much better than the unfiltered photos made under those conditions, but no, they are not the more spectacular images I actually show people.
Ansel Adams has nothing to worry about. Filters and Photoshop still can't replace being in the right place at the right time.
Many ask if I use filters to get the great colors you see in my photo albums. Usually I don't. I use filters to try to make good light out of bad light, and the results are better than without filters, but not as good as having good light to begin with.
I also make a point of seeking out wild colors, using Fuji Velvia slide film to capture the wildness, and then make sure that I'm in the right place at the right time. It sounds simple, but few people do it. Yes, I still shoot film too!
If you shoot print film you just can't get these vivid colors on paper. Heck, try hitting the PRINT button on your browser and note how vivid colors on your screen fade on paper.
Okay I'm being blunt but if you read this over a couple of times good photography can come from a simple P&S as well as a fancy Nikon or Cannon or any other brand out there! Get Camping! So you can take more photos! If you care to comment please do if you care to challenge please do...if you care to learn, please do and if you care to say anything the first step is to click on the reply button. I'm going camping!
Before I go camping this raining weekend in the desert there is one item that I need to get off my chest...it's not about big fancy dslrs but about filters. Interested, read on. If not move along and let someone else learn, by cracky!
The selection of the proper filter is actually far more important than any choice of lens or camera.
I'm big on filters. The filter has a large and real effect on your image. Lens brand or sharpness does not.
Yes, you need filters even with your digital camera and Photoshop. Polarizers and grad filters need to be used before the lens and are not well, if at all, simulatable electronically. Digital cameras are excused from most of the color conversion filters, since you dial these in as white balance settings. I still use a mild warming filter (81A) on all my digital cameras since I prefer the look I get, even with the WB adjusted warm.
The more you learn about photography the more you'll also learn that artificial filters and manipulation are required to make a natural looking image. Ansel Adams realized that human perception and the photographic processes are quite different. Therefore one needs to use a lot of filtration, manipulation and burning and dodging to compensate for the human eye and brain's image processing to create an image on paper that looks natural. (You can read this in his books.) This is why most snapshots don't look like the original scene. Artificial processes and image manipulation are needed to make a photograph look natural.
Armchair photographers like to play a stupid game that prohibits anything creative and requires they just play forensic photographers blindly Xeroxing nature without filters. I only judge photos by the final image, not the process. Sadly these folks get images that are both dull and unnatural.
I'm not trying to reproduce nature. I encourage people to be creative. I personally use any sort of artificial anything I can to create the look I want. I'm expressing my imagination, not trying to duplicate reality.
That said, the best images come when nature is at her best, and at those times she needs no enhancement. The good images I show on this website are mostly made without filters. I usually use filters when the light is not perfect to pump it up. Photos made during epic light are much better than those made under lesser light with filters attempting to compensate.
When the light is bad I try to salvage things with filters. These are the photos that usually make it to the trash. Yes, they are much better than the unfiltered photos made under those conditions, but no, they are not the more spectacular images I actually show people.
Ansel Adams has nothing to worry about. Filters and Photoshop still can't replace being in the right place at the right time.
Many ask if I use filters to get the great colors you see in my photo albums. Usually I don't. I use filters to try to make good light out of bad light, and the results are better than without filters, but not as good as having good light to begin with.
I also make a point of seeking out wild colors, using Fuji Velvia slide film to capture the wildness, and then make sure that I'm in the right place at the right time. It sounds simple, but few people do it. Yes, I still shoot film too!
If you shoot print film you just can't get these vivid colors on paper. Heck, try hitting the PRINT button on your browser and note how vivid colors on your screen fade on paper.
Okay I'm being blunt but if you read this over a couple of times good photography can come from a simple P&S as well as a fancy Nikon or Cannon or any other brand out there! Get Camping! So you can take more photos! If you care to comment please do if you care to challenge please do...if you care to learn, please do and if you care to say anything the first step is to click on the reply button. I'm going camping!
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