I think most successful people are loathe to admit how lucky they are. It’s that uniquely American myth about self-reliance and “picking yourself up by the bootstraps” blah blah blah. It comes down to ego I think. Successful people want to believe they did it all themselves, which is no doubt partly true….but just partly.
Yea, I know it seems a bit creepy and egotistical to assume that anyone should care how I made a photograph. So right up front, I’m writing about it because every I time shoot, I learn something new. I am a firm believer that you cannot learn photography by sitting in a classroom, or going online and watching tutorials, or even reading books. You have to get the camera in your hands and USE IT! So I wanted to share the techniques I used here, in hopes that at least some of you might want get out your cameras and give them a try. That’s pretty much all there is to it….I’m just trying to be useful…..while I continue my quest for world domination.
Off-camera flashes are a great way to enhance your photos. There are any number of great flash accessories from from companies like Honl Photo, LumQuest, and Gary Fong (links at the end of this article). The products they offer are very cool and allow you to take you flash technique to “the next level”, to use a cliche’d phrase. Unfortunately, you can spend a small fortune on various light-shaping tools to create the shot you’re going for. Here is my humble offering in the form of instructions to make your own dome diffuser. (more…)
I often get asked which lens I recommend……as if there exists a lens that can do it all, for everyone, in all shooting conditions. The fact is, you have to decide what kind of shooting you intend to do, and then figure out which lens can help you, and of course, how much it will cost. In the end, I always recommend either the Canon 50mm prime f/1.8 or the Nikon 50mm f/1.8. They are both full-frame lenses, which simply means the image circle they produce will accommodate a 35mm film frame size, which full-frame DSLR sensors are. Only the higher-end cameras have a full-frame sensor, and virtually no one who asks me about a lens has a FF camera. So why do I still recommend them?
I wanted a faster lens, so I just bought a brand new Tamron 17-50mm zoom lens to replace the lens that came with my old Canon Rebel XT. When I replaced it with a Canon 40D, I sold the XT body but kept the lens. The Canon kit lens’ maximum aperture is f/3.5, but is variable to f/5.6 at a 55mm focal length. The Tamron has a fixed max ap (stays the same across all focal lengths) of f/2.8. However, I was curious as to what the difference in optical quality was, if any. So I performed my own “Shoot Out!”
