Some years ago, I ran across an old truism about gunfighting: "The first rule of gunfighting is... have a gun."
It was intended to illustrate the point that even if you buy the latest new whiz-bang firearm for self-protection, it isn't going to do you a lot of good if you don't have it available when you need it. Lately it occurred to me that the same idea can apply to photography: "The first rule of photography is have a camera."
The underlying point here is the same. The latest, greatest whiz-bang DSLR with a zillion megapixels, and lenses you had to mortgage your kids to buy won't do you any good if they're sitting at home when you see that once-in-a-lifetime shot. Between listening to photo-related podcasts and trolling online photography forums, I've lost count of the number of times I've been told that if I want to improve my photographic eye, I should always have a camera with me.
"But Tim," I can hear you saying, "who wants to carry fifty (or fifteen, or even five) pounds of camera gear around with you everywhere you go?" Nobody, that's who. But how else are you going to be able to do justice that shot-of-a-lifetime you happen to run across, if you don't at least have a DSLR with a decent zoom?
High-end, raw-shooting compact cameras to the rescue! Several manufacturers have introduced point-and-shoot style cameras that include good lenses, a wide range of manual controls, and the ability to shoot in the raw format (which is really what you need if you want to get the most from your pictures). In a series of upcoming posts, I'l talk briefly about three that have gotten a lot of press lately: the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3, the Canon PowerShot G10 and the Nikon Coolpix P6000, and tell you which one I settled on for my "always with me" camera.
Stay tuned!
See more of my photography at http://lokahiphoto.com.
Looking for more great photography info? Check out the "This Week in Photography" blog (http://www.twipphoto.com) and podcast (iTunes; elsewhere). Need help managing your digital life? Everything you need to know at http://mydl.me!
0 comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are moderated; feel free to disagree with what I say, but keep it clean... I will delete comments that I decide contain offensive language.