As I learn more about photography, I'm thinking that's it's not always the camera that makes the shot. Case in point: I took my camera out last Monday for a walk around the nature preserve by my house (along the old Erie Canal) to work on my photographer's eye and try to get a few good shots. I ended up deleting most of them. This was probably my best attempt:
Not so good. It was the middle of the day, so the light wasn't really stellar, and to tell you the truth, the scenery was a little boring (would have been a good place for some xc skiing, though). Contrast that with this picture (another find from my old closet) I took when I was in New Zealand for a semester in college:
That picture was taken with an old, cheap, 35mm camera, developed as a 3x5 and then scanned in to my computer at one of the lowest settings. And it has a date burned into upper right corner! And it still looks a million times more artistic, creative, and lively than that drab picture from the Nature Preserve. I guess there's only one solution: go back to New Zealand.
All hope is not lost, though. If it takes me a while to get the hang of photography, I can always fall back on video. I thought the video feature of my new camera was kind of a nice bonus, but not really of much use for serious film. I was seriously mistaken. Here's a video shot entirely with my camera (the Pentax k-x):
Scion Snow Tour 2011 Roundtop Rail Jam from Manhouse Media on Vimeo.
Sick.
Weather might be a little sketchy this weekend (thaw/freeze/thaw/freeze/wind), but I'll be skiing both days. Maybe I'll see you at the mountain.
Nice couple of blogs, always enjoy reading whatever you write about!
ReplyDeleteThe New Zealand picture has been on my mind, it brings a human element and connection to the recent earthquake...
Matt - that New Zealand pic is amazing. It's got all the elements that make a great photo: converging lines, curves, dramatic lighting. Now, just go out and apply that to some skiing photography this weekend. There... it's that easy! (LOL). BTW, I think Harv may have already asked this but are you going to ski with your dslr?
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