Tuesday, May 23, 2006

My Current Favorite (And Why I Like It So Much)

This is my current favorite photo. Here's why.

I like the light on the tops of the piles because it accentuates the bleached quality of the wood. I like the sky because it looks realistic and not overly processed or excessively filtered. I like the color temperature of the overall photo. It's a bit like Goldilocks - not too warm or too cold, just right. And I like the composition of the picture too. And one more thing - it looks good in print and in a frame.

But a part from those reasons why do I like this picture so much. Well here's a clue. The picture was taken with a brand new camera and the operator (me) was still learning how to use all the controls, knobs and switches.

Another clue is that until now I have never owned or been comfortable using SLR type cameras.
They can be intimidating, heavy and hard to handle for some people. Up until now I have avoided using them. Yes it is true I too sometimes get overwhelmed with technology.

Now for the punchline - your camera doesn't really matter. Your equipment isn't important except to help achieve your objective. So if, like me, you can still manage to take a nice photo with an unfamiliar camera then that's good news for us all because it demonstrates the eye of the photographer is hard at work. It is the eye that is the most important ingredient. Why is that? It is the eye that takes the photo. The camera like a car or computer merely follows our instructions.

That's why I really like this photo.

The photo was taken at about 1:30 pm in late April. Camera: Konica Minolta 7D Settings: 1/500s, f6.3, ISO200, focal length 28mm
Posted by Picasa

No comments: