What camera should I buy?

I actually hear this question often. It is a good question, but it can’t be answered that easily. If you spend anytime on photo-related web sites then you will see this question posted everywhere. It is mind boggling how some people believe this is a question that could just be rattled off the top of my head.

My generic response is that I can’t answer their question.

“I love your pictures. What camera to do you have?” For some reason I don’t think a 1974 Koni-Omega 7×6 Rangefinder or a 1950s Rolleiflex 2,8 would work out well for you.

So lets tackle this question with more questions.

1.How serious are you about photography?
If you answer honestly and tell me that you are not serious.
“I want to photograph my kids and send them to my parents.”
“I want a to photograph my friends hanging out to post on Flickr^®”

No need to go any further, get yourself a compact digital camera and you will be perfectly happy.

If you answer, “quality is important to me and I want to make prints”, then we just came to a fork in the road.
The path to the left we have Advanced Point & Shoots and to the right we have DSLRs.

How much control over camera functions do you feel you need? Full control? A DSLR may be the way to go. Reasonable control with a good zoom range? An advanced point and shoot may just fit the bill.

I suggest shopping around for right camera for you. That is a hard thing to figure out. Read everything you can get your hands. A camera that makes sense you is important, because if it doesn’t you will never use it and never get a decent picture from it.

This leads to the next question.

2.What is your photography experience?
This is tricky because people often don’t realise what they don’t know about photography.
Fortunately, for people that tell me that quality is important and answer they have a lot of experience, this question is easier to answer than one might think.

Often times individuals that tell me that they know a lot about photography are not really asking for advice on a camera, they are looking  to see how much I know or to let me how much they think they know, or worse, compare gear. UGH!
This behavior easily thwarted when I ask  if they know how to calculate depth of field.

Truth be known, I love talking about photography with others that are genuinely interested in the art and science of photography. All too often people have a hard time taking advice on how to take better pictures, even when they ask for it. I dislike critiquing photos for friends, I have no problem doing for people I don’t know.

I find that beginners are generally open and just don’t know where to start, because the world of photography is so over saturated with advertisements, fashion and even ego. It is difficult to sift through the bullshit. So what do you do? Read! Read! Read, everything you can get your hands on. Surf the web, talk to as many friends as you can find. Buying the right camera can be difficult if you care about taking nice pictures. First and foremost, don’t buy a camera solely price. An expensive camera is still just a camera and believe it or not that will not make you a better photographer.

If you are a beginner, do this; go to the Boulder Bookstore and make your way to the magazine section. Purchase three magazines, American Photo, Popular Photography and Outdoor Photographer. Don’t be tempted by Darkroom Techniques or PDN, these may be a little overwhelming. This is a great place to start. Read and learn about photography. You will learn that you love to read about this crap. Buy a camera you are comfortable with. Shoot a lot. Read more and try to comprehend and apply what you have learned. Most of all be honest with yourself in regards of editing your images. It’s not about your gear, it’s about your heart. Get a Picasa^® or a Flickr^® and post the good ones, join some photo groups on Picasa^® or a Flickr^® and try to get some feed back. Now it’s okay to buy a DSLR, look how far you’ve come.

Learning how to make good images is a long process, but worth every second you spend on it. Just keep in mind, the only person that needs to be happy with your photography is you.

“If photography were more difficult, there would be more good photography.” ~Ansel Adams (I think)

Online Resourses
http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/
http://dpreview.com/
http://gizmodo.com/tag/digital-cameras/
http://www.photowalking.org/
http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/
http://www.popphoto.com/

There we went again.. This time it went from Zanmai to the Pearl Street Pub. Paul and Lia have a huge fan base here in the bubble. It’s like the that local band you love and move to Hollywood to make it big.

It could be said that it is an end of an era. We will indeed miss those guys, but with that said they could turn around in a year and move back to the Bubble. This was Paul’s last day at Conor’s.

At least I had my phone.

Paul and Lia are heading to Bend Oregon in a week. We’ll miss them. They will be happy in Bend, the great outdoors of Oregon is a difficult call to ignore.

The going away bbq party was great fun. A half barrell of Stella was kicked in three hours. Troy, Chris and John played music and a great time was happy by all. There was so much great food and beer, I guess that’s the way they roll.