On My Newest Toy

Today is a little bittersweet for me. I finally get a chance to unpack my shiny new toy: A Nikon D5200. I’ve been saving for this camera for three years; I finally got a chance to really unpack it and see what a gem I’ve gotten. (Okay, I admit I was saving for the D5100, but they’re no longer available. I’ll just have to suffer through with the better unit. Darn.) It’s a beaut, and I can’t wait to go out and play with it. 

However, there’s a sad part to this. I have to put my trusty old Minolta dImage Z6 away, along with all the accessories. I’ve had to remove the really nice camera strap off of it-a Tamrac padded leather N45-pull all the accessories out of my old Velocity 7 bag, and put them away. This is harder than you think; there’s been a lot of happy miles and many great shots with my Z6. Bought the day before leaving on a five week trip back in 2005 for a road trip for work and pleasure in which we went (amongst other places) to the Grand Canyon for a day and I just knew the little Vivitar I had was not going to work like I wanted (with the Grand Canyon, few cameras do), it quickly felt at home in my hands. It’s been to Hawai’i three times, Canada three times, all over the west coast (I have no idea how many beach pictures the thing’s taken), and all over the United States. I’ve shot the Mexican border with it (then turned around and headed away from San Ysidro). I’ve gotten some wonderful shots: flowers, waterfalls, butterflies…sunsets. Family times: Christmases, Thanksgivings, anniversaries. I took a few shots before Dad’s memorial service with it. I took photos of Deena’s class reunion with it on my Slik U8000 tripod. It’s been crammed into backpacks; the whole kit’s been packed in my suitcase and survived. It’s been a good part of my life for the last nine years, dependable as the day is long-so long as I had batteries to feed it. 

But the reality is that time has gone by. Unlike an old 35mm film camera that you could use for years on end with proper care and maintenance, digital cameras have greatly improved. Case in point: Shots that Deena is catching with disgusting ease just aren’t possible with 6 megapixels. Consider this: my iPhone camera has 5 megapixels; great for candids and quick shots (Remember: the best camera you have is the one that’s with you) but not for the kind of stuff I really, really want to do. And since Minolta was bought by Sony, it’s not like I can move into another Minolta. Deena’s Canon suits her; she’s gotten some really great stuff. However, I knew this last trip to Hawai’i that the next time I go back I was going to have to have a better camera. Too many shots I should have gotten, too many shots my mind saw-but the poor thing was just never designed to get. So it’s all back in their boxes and bags, along with all my other older cameras, waiting for one more trip somewhere. It’ll probably make a few trips here and there, perhaps; like the little Vivitar it replaced, the Z6 will be something I might take to an amusement park or someplace I don’t want to run the risk of breaking the D5200-or having it stolen. 

And as time goes by, what is right now becoming a very light Velocity 7 slingpack will get heavier; a speedlight (flash) will likely be the next major purchase. There will need to be a few minor purchases: a second battery as even Lith-Ion runs down and needs a charge eventually; a few odds and ends including a lens protector ($30 beats replacing a $300 lens) and a polarizer; at least one more lens-and probably two will eventually get added. Why buy all this stuff? Because I’ve had to work at this the hard way. Dad taught me well, and a few classes growing up didn’t hurt-but the truth is that I want do better work than I’ve been able to. This should stay with me for quite a while; and even if I eventually need a new camera body I’ll still have the lenses and the flash to go with it. 

Enough for now. 

On Border's, Photography, and the Digital Revolution

I recently went into my local Border’s and purchased three books on photography. They were 70% off; for a little more than 26 bucks I was able to get $90 work of reading material. Not too shabby, you ask me.

I’m sad to see Border’s closing. They're yet another victim of bad economic times, bad corporate mistakes and the digital revolution. There’s a Barnes and Noble over near Valley River Mall, but it’s not as convenient. Powell’s doesn’t have a local shop, and Smith Family Books and Tsunami books are also not as convenient. (And living here, I really miss Moe’s.) 

But my trip to Border’s books-and subsequent purchase-got me to thinking about another loss to the digital age: good photography-and the stores that supported it. 

It’s my opinion that the web is full of bad pictures. Not evil, not adult-though you can make an argument for that as well, and you’d be right-but just simply bad. For every five good pictures, there's at least a dozen bad ones. Sometimes they're blurry or out of focus, sometimes with no thought given to any sort of composition...and sometimes they look like they were taken by a three year old. Tops of heads missing, cut off at the knees, etc. Add to that the fact the most cellphones are the functional equivalent of an old Instamatic-or my Ektralite 10. They really weren’t designed to take photographic art...they were designed to take pictures of Uncle Art at the family picnic. 

Please understand: I have used my iPhone’s camera on more than one occasion, usually when I don’t want to haul my Minolta DiMage Z6 around. The iPhone’s okay-with 5 megapixels it’s better than many-but still no substitute for a real camera with a viewfinder. It’s hard for me, on a bright day, to shoot without a viewfinder-and I find I can’t compose the shot quite as well. (You can read about some of my cameras here.)

In the old days, there were stores that helped you with getting your gear, and at the very least showing you how to get going with it. When you were tired of that Instamatic and its fixed-focus lens...or of that Starflex with a fixed focus lens...or of that Polaroid that ate film like I eat pizza, you went to these stores and got better equipment. Once you had that, you went back for film, developing, additional lenses, flash equipment, camera bags, tripods, and so forth. There were books that showed you how to take better pictures, and things like gray cards and light meters. Fotomat kiosks dotted the landscape; if you were willing to pay for it you could get your prints back in a day.  

Then larger chains started eating away at those businesses, and when digital cameras really took over, they vanished. Fotomat was the first casualty; some stores started offering your prints in three hours or less...for less. Which was great when I was shooting 110 in high school; I took my film to Safeway because I could afford it on a high-school budget. 

But that came at a cost. Now places like Reed’s Camera in downtown Walnut Creek and Gerlach’s in Eugene, over by the UO-gone. Wentling’s in Concord, where I grew up, which still exists-but mainly does studio work, as near as I can tell. Dot Dotson’s in Eugene has made the transition to the digital age, and is still going but it isn’t quite as large as it was even a few years ago. Some places survive by having a broader appeal: Adolph Gasser’s in San Francisco, Helix Camera in Chicago, Pro Photo Supply in Portland, and B&H in New York are some great examples.  

But what’s sad is that people are taking scads more pictures. They take them, then attempt to photoshop them into something decent. News flash: A bad photo is still a bad photo, even after you’ve cropped it, colored it, added effects to it, and massaged the thing to the point where it no longer resembles the original work. Note: I do not have Photoshop. For the time my shots are on the MacBook, they reside in iPhoto, where I may on occasion crop a shot, lighten a dark shot, or color-correct a shot. I’m not against things like Photoshop...I am against taking something really bad and attempting to make it into something great online. 

In short: I’m the same way with cameras that I am with computers. Learn to use your equipment, please.

Which brings me back, in a roundabout way, to my final trip into Border’s. I went in there originally to see if they had one book on Applescript. They didn’t; the one copy that they did have before the chain tanked was sold at full price. Interestingly enough, many of the books on photography were now right in the computers section...which is why they’re now in my possession.

Seems appropriate enough, somehow: both books and photography are victims of the digital revolution.

Enough for now.