Old School Ideas for Digital Photography
Part 2
Use fixed focal length lenses. Zoom lenses are great but they can be heavy and bulky if you travel or do hiking. Pentax has a leg up on the competition with their limited series fixed focal length pancake lenses. These are hidden gems. You can carry them in your pocket or jacket. I hike and use a 21mm lens on my K10D. It’s a great combination because I can put my camera in a fanny pack and carry, snacks, water and my tripod without weighing me down. Your friends who own Canon, Nikon and Sony will be envious because they are a Pentax exclusive. Prime lenses also help you improve your composition by forcing you to look at your surroundings more creatively.
Practice, practice practice. What camera mode do you shoot in? Is it in the right mode for your type of photography. Get out of your comfort zone and try different modes. I can operate my camera in every mode setting and will use a particular setting for the results I want to achieve. Using the same mode setting all the time does not take advantage of all your camera capabilities. This is the same for your lenses. Do you know what F stop will give you the sharpest image, the greatest depth of field or a shallow depth of field? After I bought my K10D, I practiced with it for months . I still do. Photographing a sunset at the Grand Canyon is a one time event and I don’t want to be fumbling with my camera wondering what setting to use.
Finally, relax and enjoy taking photos. On my first photo seminar to Rocky Mountain National Park the group leader taught us to get in the Zen moment before taking our photos. At a certain point he asked us to stop talking and observe what was around us. Look around he said and take it all in. Relax, count slowly to 10 backwards. Then quietly we set up our equipment with no one talking. The sun came up over Bear Lake as it had done for centuries. Although shivering from the cold I was able to observe and catch the first rays of light forever I love watching sunrises. Getting up early and braving subfreezing temperatures to watch the sun come up over a mountain is not for everybody. But this is my type of photography.
This article was written by Brian Duchin, a Texas photographer who has been a photo enthusiast for over 40 years. Although his wife has asked him to throw away "that old junk" he has held on to a lot of junk and finds new uses for old photo stuff lying around in his camera bag.
