At 20:23 5/17/01, Ryan Medd wrote:
Hello All,
I am new to this group, have been reading for a while and am taking in
quite a bit - thank you all.
Welcome to Zuikohobbyism (those who call it this are accused of "being in
denial").
However, when I decided to seriously take up photography not so long ago,
I decided that digital was not for me. There are two reasons for this:
- I find most digital pictures too "harsh" or "sharp" (35mm seems to be
softer. Yes, I know you can manipulate the digital pics......)
- I wanted to truly learn photography. I felt that if I went digital, I
would not truly learn the art.
Ryan,
You _are_ moving in the proper direction. To truly learn serious
photography requires learning how to control the light that strikes the
film. It applies to film choice, the optics used and its perspective,
exposure, and influencing or controlling the lighting itself. It's about
creating a "vision" in your mind of the image you desire, then controlling
everything you can and/or seeking all the proper conditions to create it.
Understanding "cause and effect" is necessary to accomplish this. In
learning, manual control teaches the "cause and effect" in manner that is
very obvious to the student. Later, as a practicioner, the desire for
control of everything that makes an image takes hold and increases; manual
operation facilitates that control. Even when I switch a camera to "auto"
(on those couple that can do this), there is a part of the brain
continuously evaluating what the camera is choosing to do with the shutter
speed as I adjust the aperture. Experience and knowledge about what the
camera body ought to do in "auto exposure mode" is the sanity check.
Shoot film, keep track of what you did when shooting it, study the results,
adjust how you do things, repeat, and keep repeating. Ask questions about
"cause/effect" if you don't understand why something looks the way it
does. I think Chris O'Neill mentioned he has noticed an improvement in his
own work over the past two years. He's right . . . it has gotten
better. Remember, it's not so much _what_ you use, but how you use
it. The most important piece of hardware is the photog's brain.
Welcome to photography!
-- John
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