Drudgery or Beauty?

Why photography? Well, when I was a little kid, my grandfather gave me my first camera and from that instant I knew...crap! That is not my story. I loved collecting stones: amethyst, tiger's eye, rose quartz, and changed gears. Then I collected coins, then stamps, then fantasized about being a missionary doctor or famous pianist or perhaps a famous preacher and sort of managed that for a while. The truth is, I had a 1000 different interests as a kid, but being a photographer wasn't one of them. I became a photographer because I had an interest and the opportunity presented itself. Simple as that.

My first camera was an old Brownie camera that I inherited from my Mom, which took some pretty darn good black and white photos and which I used up until 1980 when I bought a used camera from a theology professor, my first that I bought, that had a blade that could slice through the negative in a darkroom. I forget the name, but somehow the name Ricoh jumps out at me. I could be way off.

After that I was given a Canon AE-1 as a Christmas gift by my then parents-in-law and that was a baby I used for as long as I can remember. It went everywhere with me. It was the first SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera that was available to the masses of which I was one. The only problem was that film was expensive and I wasn't a "pet" of the photographer on campus who had access to the darkroom, which later closed down at any rate. By the time you bought film, shot it, and then had it developed, you'd spent a lot of money. So, I shot slides, many of which I still have and need to transfer into digital files. It was THIS camera however that I blame for setting me on the Canon road, a brand I continue to use today, even though Nikon seems to have surpassed Canon at the present.

Skip a number of years, a few point-and-shoots such as the Canon G2, which was a great camera for what it could do back then, and some wanna-be SLR bodies, and I bought myself a Canon 10D which I thought kicked ass! 6.3 Megapixels! Whoop! I almost fell over myself trying to get to the store! :) It cost $1500. Now, if you look at Digital Photography Review, a site I totally trust and one I consult when I purchase new equipment, (and who I am linking to to get this photograph from) this camera now costs $250! Still, it was a workhorse, the camera that I learned much of my art on even if the noise level becomes unbearable at 1600 ISO.

My current workhorse of choice is a Canon 5D (and trying not to slip on the puddle of drool on the floor after working with the 5D II a few weekends ago!). Once again thanks to dpreview.com for this image. I don't shoot namby-pamby floral and perfumed weddings or high powered corporate execs meticulously groomed and enjoyed air-conditioning. The camera has to function in high humidity up to temperatures of 110 deg. F in the summer and in winter (okay, I live in Texas!) it drops to 30 deg. F some nights (not counting wind-chill factor), but the shutter has to do it's work. Dust is everywhere, and I cannot clean the chip every 5 minutes. The camera gets bumped, bruised and manhandled and still I get great shots!

I only shoot in RAW and generally only use the manual setting. Occasionally I will with the Tv or Av setting, depending on my subject (and that has also caused me to make stupid mistakes too because I forgot to change my setting!) and have a variety of lenses I'll shoot with and lights, again, depending on the circumstances.

No Profoto 8 or 7As or B lights for me I'm afraid unless I rent them. Talk about mega $$$ but absolutely incredible light. That the equipment that Annie Leibowitz uses. Check this video of her in action. It's amazing!

My point is that the best camera to have is the one you own. It doesn't matter if it's an old Brownie or a Hasselblad with a Capture One digital back, or the camera you have in your cellphone. Use what you have to take the best pictures you can. Art isn't always captivatingly beautiful, but it tells others how you see the world and how you think. It tells others that you are unique and that is a thing of beauty in and of itself.