Sunset over Sherwood
If it takes a million bad words to reach a stage where your words are good, as I noted in my last post, how many photographs must you take to reach the same level of excellence. I used to think I was a reasonable photographer, but recently, after a break, I’ve found that my photography skills seem to have withered and died. I can still spot a good photo, apply the rule of thirds, lead an eye into the photo etc, but I am having difficulty actually using the camera.
Sunset over Screveton
In the days of SLR and film I had a problem with the picture that developed not being what I thought I had seen through the lens. These days I have that problem multiplied. Though it’s generally easier to match the two images because the screen tends to show what I see, the colour matching is variable. Sunsets are a nightmare as the camera tries to remove the beauty in an effort to make everything average. Even soups, as I have demonstrated in various blog posts, can appear very different, as vibrant orange becomes beige and verdant green becomes eau de nil.
Carrot & Ginger Soup
At that point I resort to trickery and add colour using the various buttons the camera provides, except for the “new” camera. It isn’t that new now, but I didn’t use it for work on a daily basis and have never developed the ability to find all the features. That’s what I mean about losing the ability to use the camera – it’s a Canon, rather than an Olympus and I can’t get my head round the navigation. I suppose I will eventually become accustomed to it, but by that time I imagine I will have worn something out and will need to buy another.
Carrot, Parsnip and Swede Soup
Photos are, predictably, sunsets and soup.
All good photographs. Do you have any editing facility in your computer?
Very little. I’ve never been able to do much with the colour – I rely on the camera settings.
Yes. Sunsets are the most difficult. The camera seems to want average plain uneventful things; then it does well.
Yes, digital photography is brilliant in all respects, particulalrly cost, apart from sunrise/set and shiny silver coins, which often come out with a brown or yellow cast artificial light.
The thing to do if your camera allows it and you have time to spare is to take the pictures in RAW format and then the camera won’t fiddle about with them. Of course this means that you have to do it yourself which takes time and practice. I should do it, but I never do as I don’t have the time or patience.
I was once told that I should be taking everything in RAW, but I’m really just a snapshot photographer at heart. The technical stuff – pushing film speeds, fill in flash, etc has always passed me by.
Lavinia is absolutely right. Sunset over Sherwood is a beauty.
Thank you Laurie. Yes, she is correct about cameras and correct about documents. Sigh . . . 🙂
The camera never quite sees the scene like the eye does.