Hello from the very cold PNW

Hello World

I am a well seasoned photographer and fairly new to the compacts. Why compacts? Because it fits my lifestyle. I am not young at 57 but I am very active. I walk everywhere and enjoying motorcycling in the summers. The big DSLRs just don't work for myself as they are too bulky and heavy. I am currently using the EOS M which takes nice images.

One aspect I am different is how I got I to this decades ago, I suspect. I started with underwater photography in the early 70s all over the world with the Nikonos 1.
In College I was a staff photographer doing sports as well as interview photos and similar at San Francisco state.

I reached a plateau about a decade ago. I was not getting any better... It all was just boring; no spark or heart to my images.

I went on the quest I guess everyone goes and tried to "buy my game" with the best equipment I could find. The result was a lot of equipment and slightly better images so I quit.

A few years ago I decided to have a ago again and it was pretty much the same; still boring and uninspired then a friend who is an excellent photographer that's has had his work displayed at the Smithsonian gave me a tip. Simplify.


So , as he suggested for the next 18 months I used only an iphone 4 to now the 5s. It forced me to create shots and it was more fun than I had in decades.

I didn't have to worry a about settings, JPEG vs RAW, lens etc. I was free!
Now moving to add ( not replace the iphone) I am using the EOS M. It gives a bit more latitude but is very simple as well to capture the shot.

What did I learn? Composition is King. In my mind it's everything I had always looked at - shot if not ideal it's something I could fix in the darkroom or later on the computer.

BTW I don't do Photoshop any more. I use Lightroom for the library function mostly... And I shoot JPEG. These I edit on the ipad.

Some of this may seem blasphemy to makes than a few. For myself it's the shot a pretty quick edit with a coffee and share.


Go Seahawks!
 
Hello World

I am a well seasoned photographer and fairly new to the compacts. Why compacts? Because it fits my lifestyle. I am not young at 57 but I am very active. I walk everywhere and enjoying motorcycling in the summers. The big DSLRs just don't work for myself as they are too bulky and heavy. I am currently using the EOS M which takes nice images.

One aspect I am different is how I got I to this decades ago, I suspect. I started with underwater photography in the early 70s all over the world with the Nikonos 1.
In College I was a staff photographer doing sports as well as interview photos and similar at San Francisco state.

I reached a plateau about a decade ago. I was not getting any better... It all was just boring; no spark or heart to my images.

I went on the quest I guess everyone goes and tried to "buy my game" with the best equipment I could find. The result was a lot of equipment and slightly better images so I quit.

A few years ago I decided to have a ago again and it was pretty much the same; still boring and uninspired then a friend who is an excellent photographer that's has had his work displayed at the Smithsonian gave me a tip. Simplify.


So , as he suggested for the next 18 months I used only an iphone 4 to now the 5s. It forced me to create shots and it was more fun than I had in decades.

I didn't have to worry a about settings, JPEG vs RAW, lens etc. I was free!
Now moving to add ( not replace the iphone) I am using the EOS M. It gives a bit more latitude but is very simple as well to capture the shot.

What did I learn? Composition is King. In my mind it's everything I had always looked at - shot if not ideal it's something I could fix in the darkroom or later on the computer.

BTW I don't do Photoshop any more. I use Lightroom for the library function mostly... And I shoot JPEG. These I edit on the ipad.

Some of this may seem blasphemy to makes than a few. For myself it's the shot a pretty quick edit with a coffee and share.


Go Seahawks!

I was with you up to Seahawks, but that's OK! Looking forward to those shares!
 
A share? Alright the literally first shot with the EOS m. Played with on an ipad with waterlogue

ahu6ajyt.jpg



Go Seahawks!
 
Welcome. Went to school in the PNW (Evergreen) back in the late '70s and lived in Seattle and environs until '92. Was a Seahawk fan back in the Kreig, Largent, Warner era. I've lived in Philly now and I'm an Eagles fan, but not crazy enough to handle being AT the games! The Hawks are looking pretty tough right now. Assuming the Eagles get knocked out early (if they even get there this year it'll be a gift!), I'll be a Seahawks fan again. I had pretty serious periods of being a Colt (Baltimore) and Seahawk fan, so I figure I still have the right to root for them as a backup with the Iggles are out of it...

Simplify is good. I don't go as far as only carrying a phone cam (I enjoy the tactile part of shooting with a nice piece of gear too much), but I'll go for long periods of time with one lens (whether a prime on an ILC or a fixed lens camera) and shoot nothing else. I'll still play around with exposure and whatnot, but it's all about the content and the composition for sure and the rest is just a tool to help get it across, or a distraction if you let it be. Now I'm back into a shooting with a variety of stuff phase (seems to happen every holiday season when family is around and I start using different lenses to shoot candid portraits and stuff, and (OY!) even zooms, but it'll pass and I'll be back to the simple approach soon enough.

Again, welcome!

-Ray
 
Welcome. The M is very capable little camera if you take the time to use it well. I definitely lean toward your view of composition. If only I could do it . . .
 
Welcome! What an interesting - and inspiring - story.

Keep having fun shooting and participating here.

Peter
 
Thanks for the welcome. I do like the feeling of the forum.

I don't care to rehash Nikon vs Canon RAW vs JPEG and all the rest; ad nauseam.

I like that the focus seems to be more on the images than the tools.


Lighten Up Francis.
 
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