You can see where this is going. The iconic shot is somewhere in the catalog and the past. Jules or Dave has the hose on full blast on her sibling. It was funny. Somehow, the shot is not with these slides. I am disappointed in the soft focus. Poor light and s slow shutter speed got me. I have a picture. It was enough. Is a poor picture better than none?
It stands out in my memory. Nellie and my favorite daughter… beach. I’m glad I got this shot. I miss the dog. For that matter I miss the daughter too. They move away. You don’t see them much. You always expect there will be another visit. Time just keeps going forward. It’s better to be positive thinking.
It’s a high contrast shot at the beach. Yet the color seems muted and even. No shadows to speak of. Good shot. How’d I do it? Some days you thank the gods. Ask no questions.
Risk assessment. When I started getting serious about photography in college there were fellow students who were literally obsessed and crazed over dirt and dust. It would degrade the picture and was totally unacceptable. I used a UV filter over my lens to protect the glass. I cleaned my glass assiduously with great care. Fast forward. Nothing ever came of all of that caution. My images have been fine. I still use a UV filter… and in all the years and with all of my camreas… I have fried one camera underwater while on vacation. I have lost one. I have had others go missing… overall it has not been a hardship and the obsession has worked. ?? What obsession? More laissez faire. What? Me worry?
The question is 112k slides… was it quality or quantity? And the follow up question is the same for 500k digital images now going on 1 million.
It’s a philosophic question. Shoot early, shoot often, hope to get a good shot? Or aim for good shots? Make it count.
I know not. It was probably price. The cost of film and developing… vs the cost of memory cards. Since images can be calculated to be mere pennies nowadays… almost free, I guess I shoot without the thought of cost. I shoot freely.
I can readily attest to a lot of bad slides and bad images. Has the percentage changed? Am I better than I once was. Or, do I just feel that way. It’s nice to feel unencumbered by $. I am happy to say that I experiment freely with technique and have the ability to get immediate feedback. Quality is definitely better since I have digital cameras.
Slide film comes color balanced for daylight which is a little bit blue. Incandescent lighting is yellow – tungsten. It wreaks havoc whenever you try to shoot indoors at night. Hence, flash, it compensates for the yellow and makes color appear more natural. One never knows what you will get indoors in natural light with slide film. Ok, so Photoshop can compensate… but there is nothing can be done about a wild and colorful shirt. It must have been a present….
I’m gonna take a wild guess. It was mom’s birthday. … and John took the picture. He’s not in it. No tripod. No inclusive selfie. It was still in the era of not digital camera that could do everything. Flash, hence, the shadows. Smiles. Universal. It’s good to see everyone happy. The cake? So, happy birthday, mom. She had a lot of birthday cards… shhhh, we don’t know how old…
The Big Apple Circus was on every Christmas at Lincoln Center. We could go. There was no admonition against pictures. So I took pictures. … in the dark, with slide film, and a point and shoot camera. I am appreciative that they let me take pictures. I am surprised that the quality of the shots was pretty good. Digital camera sensor technology today? No problem! But back then? It was a challenge. I liked to push the envelope. And then they moved the goalposts way back. Impediment no more, today’s digital camera can pretty much shoot in the dark. But a long time ago…
Was I a good dad? Different than my dad? Hey! My kids got to learn to ski. I taught them. Sort of. They got better than me. … naturally, of course. Were they really this little. Dave has been skiing in Japan chasing powder snow. Lift tickets in the US can be more than $200. Things change.
Slides. Hard to shoot with a proper exposure. No one shoots slide film much – these days. As you can readily see, the snow is overexposed. But this was about getting a picture of the kids. And many folks would cringe. You took a big $$ SLR to the snow. Moisture, cold and the elements could ruin your $$$ gear. I just shot my pictures Lucky for me there were no accidents. … to kids or gear.
Do you think about the color of light? Do you consider the time of day? Light changes with day to night.
Daylight is bright blue, a little bit harsh at times. At night it is dark, ha ha, but light is dependent upon the light source which has its own characteristics. And in sunset or sunrise light is more toward the red spectrum. I am always amazed at how people seem to ignore the change of light as the day passes.
I am partly obsessive. … not as bad as Colleen. I worry about ‘category’ and ‘tag’ for my post. It’s kind of like – did I leave something out, forget some tag??
It matters not. It is about the pictures. Who looks at tags and category anyway? So I remind myself not to “overthink.” They are both daffodils in the narcissus family with one being called a jonquil….oh bother!
Get level. Move the camera downward to get the bud even with the lens. Shooting from above is the natural angle. We are taller than the subject. It is more dramatic to look your subject straight into the eyes.
PhotoCritical 