I read an article today from a photographer , talking about his first foray into taking pictures. Learning to work with film, learning how to actually use a camera.
Although I do have a 35mm camera, I really don't have any images from it, any I did get developed are long gone. I remember it taking great pics outside, with its 50mm f1.8 lens, that Praktica MTL 50 was cool to look at and felt great in the hands, all metal construction.
That camera forced a commitment from you, pressing that button cost money. And I spent it !!
It then sat in its bag as other things got in the way, the lure of taking it out and clicking that button went away. I had not idea what i was doing and it was just costing me money having prints developed at Shoppers Drugmart.
Then the digital revolution , hit in a big way , digital cameras were readily available , though expensive at the local big box stores. You could have course gone to a number of smaller shops, some local some national, but pricing was always better at places like Future Shop (now owned/operated by Best Buy)
I was fortunate enough, to have a great Employee Purchase plan at the time. We could buy any computer or digital type device and spread the payments over 39 pay periods with no interest. How could I resist !!
So i marched down to Future Shop with credit card in hand, and checked them out.
That day I made a conscious decision to buy something that would be cool but also have some real functionality. My choice was the Canon Powershot s-40.
All 4 mpix of happiness, and with a dial that I would find out later would become something that I would recognize and experience later on.
Why did I pick this camera over all the others available at that time ?
That dial was the deciding factor, those markings Tv, Av and M. Being able to set my own settings, a minimal form of manual control of the camera.
That all came at a price, to the tune of $799 plus taxes.
That camera took this pic of London skyline at sunset, from the 23rd floor of the Colborne Apartments at Colborne and York St, London
Need to add pic here !!!!
That camera served me well, and was on a few trips, Cuba , California and Florida. It did great in outdoor, good lighting and suffered if using the flash or low light situations, like most Point and Shoots. I learned how to play the settings, not really understanding but getting some great pics along the way.
I was hooked !!!
A few years go by, Digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) suddenly becomes obtainable for the common man, like me. Though affordable considering its big brothers the Canon XTI , at $1000 (depending where you bought). For your hard earned coin, you got a 10mpix DSLR with an 18-55mm f/4.0-5.6 lens. This is an APC sized sensor about 40% smaller than a 35mm piece of film or its professional counterparts.
I was fortunate enough that Santa dropped this off, Xmas of 2007.
I took what I learned on the S-40 and started with the XTI. First thing I learned, was that i knew nothing. Later the Canon 50mm f1/8 and the Battery Grip were added
What ever pics I got with this camera seemed like pure luck, with no idea what I was doing (still) I managed to grab some images that to me are still my favorites.
like this one from the Don Valley Brick Works in 2008
It was all just luck and really I was unable to get predictable results when I took out that camera for anything. I suffered like I did with that 35mm, except now I could take 100's of high resolution really bad pictures.
Then I answered and ad in www.kijiji.ca , a professional photography PT Potter, Burlington,ON had advertised to offer basically seminar for taking portraits, with a model, only criteria being the requirement to have a DSLR camera or equivalent. Cost $150 for 6 hours of hands on, small class of 6 people, in studio with lighting.
My little camera with some coaching and great lighting, suddenly pumped out images i could not believe were from me pushing the button. Ok the lights were all setup and really i was just pushing the button, though it showed me that those 10mpix when stroked the right way, knew what to do.
Now all I had to do was figure out how to start replicating what i experienced, was time for some flashes.
I later returned for another seminar/class , this one to be natural light, which could teach me some more valuable lessons.
Again the results happened, I was listening this time.
Ok so I was excited now, I was getting some where , time to practice practice practice.
I started to get repeatable results, started to be able to dial in settings and see it happen.
So if 10mpix is good 15 mpix should be better , right ???
A search on Ebay found a Canon t1i, from Henry's store. 15mpx of happiness, should make for even better images right ?
Canon T1i - 15mpix with Sigma 30mm f/1.4
Wrong.
Just meant even higher resolution, bigger file size images of crap - haha
Back to square one
I had fooled myself, so I send the warning to everyone, mega pixel size means nothing if you dont know what your doing. In fact when i looked back, I had been getting good results from its predecessors, just to stupid to realize it.
More struggle, more learning, bought a budget flash unit, played , played.
Finally decided I was getting somewhere and responded to an advertisement, young guy looking to get some pics for his modeling portfolio. My first real photo session, and Trade for CD.
Juan Pablo Montoya - allowed me to be one of the first to take his pic - considering my lack of experience, I got pretty lucky.
Form there I started trying to find others to take pics of. Luckily my good friend from Brazil trusted me enough to take pics of her daugther, Vicky - my first super model !!
Actually have been able to take pics of Vicky a few times of the last years. Watching her grow up from that young teenager.
From there I started scouring the ads in Kijiji, seeing if I could find others that wanted pics so I could keep working on honing my skills.
I found Miss Eden Skye through Kijiji.
And fellow photographer and model , Katie
I felt ready for the big time !! Gear lust was on , time for an upgrade, to the next level - FULL FRAME
But the prices yikes !! And not all my lens will work from the XTI and T1i.
Its like at candy through the window of the Candy Store.
I scoured the listings in Kijiji once again.
Canon 5D Mk I - released in 2004 , 10mpix , Full Frame , pixels the size of rain drops. Lucky find , included battery grip , and Canon 24-105mm 4L series lens and a Lowerpro bag (not another camera bag - I give them away !)I got all of that for the price of the lens new, $1500
Which makes me sidetrack for a moment, about buying gear.
buying used is ok ! especially if just getting started, not sure what you are doing or where you will take it.
Would i purchase on Ebay ? Maybe not , most people to far away, you dont know what you are getting and its kinda like , you bought it you own it. Their are reliable sellers on Ebay and lots of real stores, but this type of purchase , you need to touch hold and try. So i do recommend Kijiji (well at least in Canada) you can find people close by , driving distance, meet at a coffee shop. I have met on side of the road, at peoples houses and even outside Walmart.
Point is I saved alot of money doing this. anyways back to my story.....
Here I was back to square one !!!
A camera 3yrs older than my first DSLR and same 10mpix , an even worse screen on the back , zero ability in low light. Heavy and slow. During the day great camera , but soon as the sun went down , then no use at all. Use some flash and it came to life.
Although I do have a 35mm camera, I really don't have any images from it, any I did get developed are long gone. I remember it taking great pics outside, with its 50mm f1.8 lens, that Praktica MTL 50 was cool to look at and felt great in the hands, all metal construction.
That camera forced a commitment from you, pressing that button cost money. And I spent it !!
It then sat in its bag as other things got in the way, the lure of taking it out and clicking that button went away. I had not idea what i was doing and it was just costing me money having prints developed at Shoppers Drugmart.
Then the digital revolution , hit in a big way , digital cameras were readily available , though expensive at the local big box stores. You could have course gone to a number of smaller shops, some local some national, but pricing was always better at places like Future Shop (now owned/operated by Best Buy)
I was fortunate enough, to have a great Employee Purchase plan at the time. We could buy any computer or digital type device and spread the payments over 39 pay periods with no interest. How could I resist !!
So i marched down to Future Shop with credit card in hand, and checked them out.
That day I made a conscious decision to buy something that would be cool but also have some real functionality. My choice was the Canon Powershot s-40.
All 4 mpix of happiness, and with a dial that I would find out later would become something that I would recognize and experience later on.
That dial was the deciding factor, those markings Tv, Av and M. Being able to set my own settings, a minimal form of manual control of the camera.
That all came at a price, to the tune of $799 plus taxes.
That camera took this pic of London skyline at sunset, from the 23rd floor of the Colborne Apartments at Colborne and York St, London
Need to add pic here !!!!
That camera served me well, and was on a few trips, Cuba , California and Florida. It did great in outdoor, good lighting and suffered if using the flash or low light situations, like most Point and Shoots. I learned how to play the settings, not really understanding but getting some great pics along the way.
I was hooked !!!
A few years go by, Digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) suddenly becomes obtainable for the common man, like me. Though affordable considering its big brothers the Canon XTI , at $1000 (depending where you bought). For your hard earned coin, you got a 10mpix DSLR with an 18-55mm f/4.0-5.6 lens. This is an APC sized sensor about 40% smaller than a 35mm piece of film or its professional counterparts.
I was fortunate enough that Santa dropped this off, Xmas of 2007.
I took what I learned on the S-40 and started with the XTI. First thing I learned, was that i knew nothing. Later the Canon 50mm f1/8 and the Battery Grip were added
What ever pics I got with this camera seemed like pure luck, with no idea what I was doing (still) I managed to grab some images that to me are still my favorites.
like this one from the Don Valley Brick Works in 2008
It was all just luck and really I was unable to get predictable results when I took out that camera for anything. I suffered like I did with that 35mm, except now I could take 100's of high resolution really bad pictures.
Then I answered and ad in www.kijiji.ca , a professional photography PT Potter, Burlington,ON had advertised to offer basically seminar for taking portraits, with a model, only criteria being the requirement to have a DSLR camera or equivalent. Cost $150 for 6 hours of hands on, small class of 6 people, in studio with lighting.
My little camera with some coaching and great lighting, suddenly pumped out images i could not believe were from me pushing the button. Ok the lights were all setup and really i was just pushing the button, though it showed me that those 10mpix when stroked the right way, knew what to do.
Now all I had to do was figure out how to start replicating what i experienced, was time for some flashes.
I later returned for another seminar/class , this one to be natural light, which could teach me some more valuable lessons.
Again the results happened, I was listening this time.
Ok so I was excited now, I was getting some where , time to practice practice practice.
I started to get repeatable results, started to be able to dial in settings and see it happen.
So if 10mpix is good 15 mpix should be better , right ???
A search on Ebay found a Canon t1i, from Henry's store. 15mpx of happiness, should make for even better images right ?
Canon T1i - 15mpix with Sigma 30mm f/1.4
Wrong.
Just meant even higher resolution, bigger file size images of crap - haha
Back to square one
I had fooled myself, so I send the warning to everyone, mega pixel size means nothing if you dont know what your doing. In fact when i looked back, I had been getting good results from its predecessors, just to stupid to realize it.
More struggle, more learning, bought a budget flash unit, played , played.
Finally decided I was getting somewhere and responded to an advertisement, young guy looking to get some pics for his modeling portfolio. My first real photo session, and Trade for CD.
Juan Pablo Montoya - allowed me to be one of the first to take his pic - considering my lack of experience, I got pretty lucky.
Form there I started trying to find others to take pics of. Luckily my good friend from Brazil trusted me enough to take pics of her daugther, Vicky - my first super model !!
Actually have been able to take pics of Vicky a few times of the last years. Watching her grow up from that young teenager.
From there I started scouring the ads in Kijiji, seeing if I could find others that wanted pics so I could keep working on honing my skills.
I found Miss Eden Skye through Kijiji.
And fellow photographer and model , Katie
I felt ready for the big time !! Gear lust was on , time for an upgrade, to the next level - FULL FRAME
But the prices yikes !! And not all my lens will work from the XTI and T1i.
Its like at candy through the window of the Candy Store.
I scoured the listings in Kijiji once again.
Canon 5D Mk I - released in 2004 , 10mpix , Full Frame , pixels the size of rain drops. Lucky find , included battery grip , and Canon 24-105mm 4L series lens and a Lowerpro bag (not another camera bag - I give them away !)I got all of that for the price of the lens new, $1500
Which makes me sidetrack for a moment, about buying gear.
buying used is ok ! especially if just getting started, not sure what you are doing or where you will take it.
Would i purchase on Ebay ? Maybe not , most people to far away, you dont know what you are getting and its kinda like , you bought it you own it. Their are reliable sellers on Ebay and lots of real stores, but this type of purchase , you need to touch hold and try. So i do recommend Kijiji (well at least in Canada) you can find people close by , driving distance, meet at a coffee shop. I have met on side of the road, at peoples houses and even outside Walmart.
Point is I saved alot of money doing this. anyways back to my story.....
Here I was back to square one !!!
A camera 3yrs older than my first DSLR and same 10mpix , an even worse screen on the back , zero ability in low light. Heavy and slow. During the day great camera , but soon as the sun went down , then no use at all. Use some flash and it came to life.
