I took my camera out of its bag a couple days ago. Lovingly brushed it off and attached a favourite focal length lens – my 24-105 f/4. I use this lens for much of my walking around shooting. But as we all know, there hasn’t been much walking around to be had lately.
As I turned knobs and adjusted settings, more and more came back to me about why I love photography. The choices available and decisions made around capturing a photograph give a sense of control and accomplishment to my day. While they can also be a source of frustration, for the most part, they are positive.
This week, our provincial authority once again allowed visits to local parks and recreation areas. Day trips only, no camping, no lounging. We can walk through, stop for a few minutes to see the sights, and move on, all the way staying wary of the need for social distancing and self-protection. Retail and many service businesses are also opening with restrictions.
There have been such a wide variety of plans released by all levels of government to give us our lives back. Frankly, some don’t make sense to me, but I give full credit to politicians for doing their best to navigate the complexity of sanity, economy and safety. Continue reading “Up and At ‘Em”
I had ventured out for groceries, and to the drug store and pet store, and even made a stop or two at the home centre. All within my municipality – heck, all within 10 km. At no time did I wander – always in and out knowing exactly what I was there for. So no chance of being exposed – or so I thought.
Most of us have similar stories. In fact, exactly the same stories.
Over the past year, I decided to include filters in my camera kit. I took them on several trips and even on local outings, determined to take the time to use them properly. I started out with the standard collection of screw-on filters – a polarizer, a variable neutral density filter and a graduated neutral density filter. I quickly discovered the pros and cons of these types of filters and expanded my kit to include a square-format drop-in filter system. This consisted of a lens adapter, filter holder and a variety of 100mm square filters.
Recently, one of these subscription channels included a short discussion on how Instagram has influenced the way photographers approach their art. The premise was that Instagram has completely changed photography. Their argument: its technical requirements and this generation’s social norm of wanting instant gratification and continuous stimulation of the senses has resulted in a new standard for photography. What is that new standard? 
But first we had to decide what the heck is “fine art”? We’ve had several animated discussions in the past few months, even a field trip to our local art gallery. In the past, I’ve written about 
I’ve set myself a goal for the next year to become more proficient at Photoshop. I use a variety of editing tools now, most of which are slider-based. You move a slider and watch what happens on the screen. The sliders in most applications are laid out in a nice orderly fashion, and you can literally move from top to bottom and achieve a well-edited well-presented image.
Add to that the challenge of learning something new as an older adult. We don’t absorb information the same way as we did as a child. We don’t necessarily retain it even when learned. Memory declines in uneven ways too – with muscle memory and the memory of physically doing things changing at rates different from the memory of reciting things or recollection. So I’m not only setting a goal but trying to find the best method to accomplish it. 
