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Forum: Photographic Technique
03-20-2014, 03:24 PM
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I think that people who are passionate about what they do can often go through this kind of philosophical questions or moments.
Personally, and this is only my opinion, I think that most of photography (as I do it myself) is futile. When you think about it, in general not too many people care about your photos and even yourself (myself) will get bored with them a few minutes after you've taken the time to develop them, and process them into your best photos ever. Post them on a forum once or twice, have a few people check them out, and it's already old news. So I guess most of the pleasure is in the making, the expectation of a good result, doing something hard, and then when it's done....it's gone in an instant (and really no one gives a damn), and you're looking forward to the next best photo you will make. It's a bit like waiting to receive that new cool thing you ordered. It always seems much more cool before it arrives, right? :)
Sometimes you get bored and a new idea, or a new piece of equipment can relaunch some interest.
It's good to have some other hobbies, some other things to put your energy into, ways to distance yourself from a single thing for a while. My own other hobby is woodworking and it is there where I feel I can actually create things that matter, somewhat. I make things for others as gifts, and I make things for myself that will be useful to me for much longer than new photos. And it doesn't rely on pre-existing scenes. Sometimes I get really into car work as well and forget about everything else.
Then sometimes I start obsessing over photography again, renew the interest a little...ups and downs.
I'd say that the photos I make of my kids have way more value in the end than my best landscapes or panoramas, even to others, even though they are not as sophisticated, hard to make, and don't require nearly the same amount of work and processing. They are important to me, important to other family members, and will be important to them as they grow up. My other types of photos might get a few ooohs and aaahs from a few people for a few minutes and will never be looked at again.
In the end, in this time and age, I think that the photography that we do as amateurs, no matter how good or experienced, is mostly useless and pointless (I really don't put family photos in that basket though), at least to others. What matters is the process and how you enjoy that. Maybe photography is also what can motivate someone to go out there and enjoy nature, or maybe a good reason to join a group, meet people and make friends or whatever. Why do people enjoy playing a sport, and even train hard, even when they know they'll never be a world champ?
Photography is also a hobby that doesn't really isolate you. You won't disappear into a workshop for hours on end. You can enjoy it while being out there with your kids, family, or friends.
I don't know if this sounds a bit bleak, but I don't think so. I just feel I'm aware of the importance (or lack thereof) of what I do and do not feel trapped by it. If it bores me, I won't do it for a while and will do something else. We do tend to obsess over things that don't matter that much, if at all. It's a bit comical to see all of the arguments over hardware and minute details in photo forums. Just don't get frustrated with yourself. If you don't feel it, you don't *have* to take photos.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
05-20-2013, 01:19 PM
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A cottonwood tree in Sabino Canyon, Tucson AZ. Waiting for the monsoon rains :)
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
06-02-2013, 08:22 AM
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A nice Sunday evening at Windy Point, on the way to Mount Lemmon, in Tucson.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-26-2013, 03:17 PM
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I see a lot of people talking about "forcing" themselves to work a certain way, with primes, with zooms... I'd say, it really doesn't matter one bit as long as you use what makes you comfortable. You shouldn't have to force anything.
Personally, I dislike changing lenses, but what I dislike even more is using zooms, except when they are UWA (and there isn't much choice for that). I've always been happy with a 10-20 in that range.
When it comes to normal range zooms, your usual 24-70 etc...I've always simply felt awkward using them. They are often big and honking, except for the kit zooms, but even more than that, I have to think of an extra component when I manipulate my camera to take a photo, not just the composition and focus and my placement, but also turning that zoom ring. It's a personal thing, I feel a lot better when I don't have that in the equation, and I feel that in that range, that whole range of focals isn't often needed. But again it's very personal, psychological even, and I won't force myself to do anything, and just go for what I like to do.
And I'm mostly a wide angle to normal shooter. For a much longer range I'd probably want nothing else than a zoom.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
04-24-2013, 10:17 AM
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Hi folks,
Very recently "moved back" to a Pentax camera, and these are 2 VR panoramas from first outdoor shoot this past weekend. Click to follow the link to the actual pano page for each photo, where you can see the stuff in its spherical glory.
Both were taken with a K5 IIs and Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens. This was on and near Mount Lemmon, in Tucson, Arizona.
www.pichevinphoto.com/gallery/0873
www.pichevinphoto.com/gallery/0874 |
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
05-03-2011, 05:33 AM
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I'm really not sure I get what you're saying here, something lost in translation, sorry... Anyone else?
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Forum: Pentax K-5 & K-5 II
05-08-2011, 09:00 AM
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I haven't had my K5 long but it's one of the rare cameras that have made me happy that I bought it. I started on DSLRs with a Canon D30 10 years ago, and then owned Canons, 350D, D60, 20D, and Nikons, D200, D300, and a number of non-SLR cameras, plus m4/3 cameras from Panasonic. Some I liked much better than others. I am very often disappointed by what I buy, which I think rarely lives up to my expectations. I usually take a long time before "pulling the trigger", because I am very aware of my propensity for disappointment and remorse.
That said, the K5 makes me *very* happy. It's all there for me, the handling, the quality, the size and weight, the lenses. So I'll join Rupert in saying I'm ready to work through, or even around some issues so I can continue to use this camera and be happy with it, although I have no intention of sending any camera back unless it is truly broken and does not work as designed.
This all being said, I too have noticed some focus inconsistencies, but at this point nothing that should come in my way with the type of photography I usually do. I've found the following, which appears during testing. I was firing a few tests shots with my new 21mm DA lens, which I thought was back focusing.
I've noticed that in low light and at close focus distances (but not so close that they go below the minimum focus distance of the lens), the AF can become a bit unreliable at times, and start focusing behind of in front of the intended focus point, but more often to the back.
Now this is not based on expertise of optics or rigorous testing (because I hate setup, testing and all that jazz), but just my experience and guessing, but I have a feeling that in certain cases where the camera might have a bit of an issue finding a strong enough spot to focus on, instead of just coming back and say it can't find focus, it might go beyond and focus on something else. I've seen this behavior before, especially in the Canon 20D (which I really disliked) and its too large focus areas/points. That camera was at the same time much quicker to AF than my old D60 but much less reliable.
When the kind of issues I'm describing happened during testing, I've also noticed that by moving the camera to focus on another point in front or behind the previous spot, the camera would confirm AF without actually modifying the focus (no lens movement), in situations where it should absolutely have done so, like moving the focus point a couple inches at close range. At that point, there was no doubt in my mind that it hadn't achieved focus on the proper spot.
Anyway, just mentioning this. I might be way off but this is what I think I've found, and probably the kind of stuff that could be fixed in firmware.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-01-2011, 03:49 AM
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I find the 35mm F2.4 is a fantastic lens optically, so don't pass it up because of the plastic mount. I wish there were more like this. Metal build for me means mostly higher weight and price.
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