New toy- Panasonic DMC-FZ30

[hausdok]

Whooosh!!!

Always knew I was sort of a yokel but that flew over my head like an AK round. That's probably because most of my photography was limited to crime scene stuff. Guess I have to go down to the S.A.M. and stare at something on the wall for a while and get me some of that kulcher.

Jim,

The MX is so simple to use it hurts. Drop in your film, set your ASA and shutter speed, focus, spin the aperture ring till you get a green light on one side of the viewer and snap. Wanna increase contrast, click forward a notch to one yellow light above the green. More, another click. Decrease contrast, back it off to one yellow light below the green, for more another notch.

There's something reassuring about that shhhclick when you depress the button. I still can't get used to the danged faint beep of these digital things and all of the various ways of using the little programming buttons. Oh well, that's progress I suppose. Sigh.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[kurt]

Truth be told, I still have my completely manual Olympus OM-1. No nothing other than set the shutter speed and adjust the F stops, or vice versa. Beautiful photos.

The shame is imagining the equipment has much to do w/it. Having pursued photography w/quite a bit of passion for over 30 years, it's the decisive moment that determines if an image is worthy, or if one simply stained otherwise good paper.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by kurt

Pixel's, silver salts, editing software, hardware, & accessories.

Good God, WHAT ABOUT ART?

Are we so inured to the mechanics & frills that we have eschewed the admonitions of Stieglitz? Is Henri-Cartier Bresson's decisive moment lost in the titillation of equipment acquisition?

Well, that's one of the reasons I prefer old equipment. While using it, I'm *required* to think about what I'm doing. The process of using the machine forces consideration.

You can achieve consideration with digital, but its easier to just point-shoot-point-shoot-point-shoot without any thought at all till you get a keeper -- mostly by accident.

I also prefer prime lenses to zooms for the same reason. You have to compose the shot in your head first. Forethought helps on the road to art.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[kurt]

Originally posted by Jim Katen Forethought helps on the road to art.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

Especially so. And then, you have to forget it all in the decisive moment when the shutter opens.

Composition, color balance, depth of field analysis, movement; all critical elements, all so often ignored in the rush to fiddle w/gizmos. Once these components are integrated, THEN, the intimate understanding of mechanical phenomenon in the camera must be considered to achieve final effect.

And when it's all put together, one must NOT dwell on the tawdry instead of the sublime, or it all falls apart in the click of the shutter. It's the decisive moment; when experience, knowledge, intuition come together, and are momentarily forgotten in the rush of creation so that the ultimate viewer is not aware of the man hiding behind the curtain.

I think I'm going to cry now.......

[chrisprickett]

THREAD DRIFT ALERT!

Forethought helps on the road to art

Well, sometimes...

My most favorite art (pictures from my kids) is pure whimsey!

That's the thing about art. It's so many things to so many people.

I make furniture and wall hangings(some may call it art) I have three rules:

1. No plans

2. It has to be out of my shop in less than a week.

3. Spend no more than $20 on materials.

I scrounge dumpsters on construction sites for most of my materials and get my paint, stain, etc, from the Home Depot "goof" rack. It's like a big treasure hunt! That's what works for my personality. If my "art" *required* planning, forethought, and (heaven forbid) consideration, I would call that WORK and avoid it at all costs.

For me, the ability to take a camera right out of the box and get some results, before enrolling in a Harvard post-graduate photography course, fits my personality.

[kurt]

It's where I find the great benefit of digital photography; the more you shoot, the cheaper it gets. When I had my darkroom, it was always depressing developing dozens of contact sheets to find only one that was worth printing. Lotta wasted paper & chemicals down the drain.

Shoot tons of stuff; like hundreds and hundreds of images. Then, you find the one or two that are cool, and delete the remainder. Put your camera on total manual control & play w/shutter speed & F stops to understand the interrelationship, then go nuts take lots of photos.

And, get a Maxtor OneTouch backup HD; a big one.

[Jim Baird]

Took some of the best pics during my film "career" with an Olympus XA, a little rangefinder no bigger than a pack of cigarettes with almost no automatic functions. Only thing you could do was pick aperture or speed and it would pick to match you. Acutally won a local "nature photo contest" at a local camera shop by submitting a 4X6 print.

Other thread drift flash news:

My IT digital computer guru-adviser told me last nite that Minolta is completely vacating the camera/photography business, and has sold the whole shebang to Sony.

[Neal Lewis]

Chris,

Can you post some pics of your "dumpster" furniture. I hope it's better than a coffee table made from a large wire spool.[]

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by kurt

And when it's all put together, one must NOT dwell on the tawdry instead of the sublime, or it all falls apart in the click of the shutter. It's the decisive moment; when experience, knowledge, intuition come together, and are momentarily forgotten in the rush of creation so that the ultimate viewer is not aware of the man hiding behind the curtain.

I think I'm going to cry now.......

I agree with all of that except for the tawdry part. I like a little bit of tawdry now & then.

I'll bet Gauguin did too.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[kurt]

Well, see? Katen's head is in the skin again.

Tawdry, as in mechanical, sublime, as in ethereal, i.e., thinking about the gear instead of the image.

IOW, don't let the machinery get in the way; understand it, but don't let it rule the composition.

Although, a little POV w/the digicam now & then can be fun.

[chrisprickett]

Originally posted by Neal Lewis

Chris,

Can you post some pics of your "dumpster" furniture. I hope it's better than a coffee table made from a large wire spool.[]

Id be embarrassed! Well, ok...

Coffe table- Made from 4x4's and 2x6's

Download Attachment: coffee table.JPG

155.75 KB

Corner table- Made from 2x2's and a piece of granite that was yanked out of a kitchen remodel

Download Attachment: corner table.JPG

149.76 KB

House Shelf- Made from 1x6'pine (painted Part)and 1x6 Cherry (stained part) The cherry is pieced behind every shelf because it was just 1' cutoffs

Download Attachment: House shelf.JPG

159.02 KB

Wall Hanging- Warped cabinet door (painted & glazed) with a bunch of crap glued to it

Download Attachment: Kitchen hanging.JPG

160.92 KB

Parsons Table- A bunch of scrap pine

Download Attachment: Parsons table.JPG

146.57 KB

Pot Shelf- Maple cabinet door (panel removed), painted BBQ grate, Maple cabinet extension jambs. I bought the chain and S hooks

Download Attachment: pot shelf.JPG

141.34 KB

Wall Shelves- MDF scraps (painted and glazed

Download Attachment: Shelves.JPG

147.94 KB

Not exactly Ethan Allen, but it be what it be. I've got another 5-10 "cabinet door/wall hanging" jobs, as I used to have a kitchen business and had good access to warped doors.

[kurt]

That's pretty cool. It's probably why you're such a well adjusted whacko; you work out the angst w/projects.

I think the whole world would be a lot better off if folks could get involved w/stuff of their own creation. It irons out the kinks. Plus, kids always dig it when their parental units make stuff and hang it around the house; gives them a sense of place & belonging, it does.

Good work, podner.....

[Brian G]

I like the three tables, particularly the very "Craftsman" parson's table. Of course, they aren't quite as daring and avant-garde as a plywood drip pan....[]

My favorite digital photos all came down the same path. I know what I want, I try to get it lined up, and when the time comes I turn off the front of my brain let it rip (I putt the same way, and it works well there too). The lack of consequences removes hesitation...there is no penalty for taking a poor digital shot. Digital is a license to stop treating every shot as if were sooooo important and enjoy it more. The one on the left is just such a shot, my son Jake at 5, as the rare and little known "Kudzu Tiger"; my idea, deliberate, but lucky too.

In just the 4 short years since I bought my first one, I've already taken pictures of places in my home town that have since disappeared or changed drastically. Anyone can be a photo-historian with digital.

Brian G.

Megapixel Man [:-masked]

[Bill Kibbel]

Kurt wrote:

"Plus, kids always dig it when their parental units make stuff and hang it around the house; gives them a sense of place & belonging, it does."

As an art major (and direct descendant of a painter and photographer) I want to believe that. But, the truth is, my kids have no interest in any of my artistic creations.

Do the offspring of creators of plywood drip pans and boilers that look like they were fabricated at a Naval shipyard dig it, or are they working through it in therapy?[]

[kurt]

Originally posted by inspecthistoric

But, the truth is, my kids have no interest in any of my artistic creations.

Now, I don't believe that for a second. If they act disinterested, it's because they've found a way to work you, just like all kids search for any angle they can find to work the old man. You'd like them to be interested, so of course, they can't be interested.

[Brian G]

Originally posted by inspecthistoric

Do the offspring of creators of plywood drip pans and boilers that look like they were fabricated at a Naval shipyard dig it, or are they working through it in therapy?

Mine does dig it, but not so much because it's mine. First and foremost he follows his own natural fascination for fabricating, assembling, or otherwise making things from parts. Beyond that he's been given a general appreciation for pure left-brain creativity by my artist mother next door, who rarely makes anything "sensible" (no fun in that).

Brian G.

Master of the Plywood Pan-theon [^]

[Bradd Judd]

Chris,

Hold it steady, push the button and download the card into the computer, Windows will guide you through the rest. Go have fun and then bring it out on those inspections. Piece of Cake! Once you master the built in Editor, and your ready for the bigtime, then go Splurge on The Adobe Photo Shop. Hell, take a continuing ed course at your local college!!!! Enjoy!

[n/a30]

I use Microsoft products. They work fine for my purposes.- Digital Studio and Picture It for stills and many others for video editing.