Bert's Place » Photography

Da Guy’s History with Photography

Bert — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 07:01:26 +0000

The Story …and he’s sticking to it

Da Guy used to be strictly an original American film kinda guy, i.e. Kodak all the way. Kodak and Olympus cameras using only Kodak film (no Fujifilm with over-saturated colors) was the norm for more than 35 years.

Being in the information technology industry for a living and having had a Personal Computer since it’s inception in the early 80′s, it was a logical step for Da Guy to start his conversion to digital photography when it began for the leading-edge photo enthusiasts in the early 90′s, first using Kodak Photo CDs produced from film negatives by his Olympus SLR. The ability to electronically crop and edit those photos was new and astonishing. Smaller film-based point-and-shoot cameras started to come into being with improved quality, and a number of those images made their way to Da Guy’s Photo CDs as well. Somewhere in the early 90′s, SLR size and weight became an issue with Da Guy’s evolving lifestyle and his desire to only take an occasional picture while on vacation. It had become a nuisance dragging all that gear around. His camera gear sat in the closet most of the time, as did one of the early JVC video camcorders he procured along the way. It too, didn’t see a lot of action.

In 1996, Da Guy bought the first consumer Kodak DC40 digital camera with a whopping .38 megapixels (MP). At the leading edge of technology for its day, the DC40 didn’t have removable memory cards as we have come to expect, allowing only 30-40 pictures to be retained until offloaded to your PC. It was a difficult choice to use while traveling very far away from home, that’s for sure. A replacement Kodak DC260 (1.5 MP with zoom and removable memory cards) came into the fold around 1998, followed by a Kodak DC4800 (3.1 MP) in 2000. By this time, Da Guy’s film-based Olympus SLR had been handed-down within his family, since it was gathering more and more dust on the shelf.

Time and technology kept moving at a frenetic pace. Film rapidly started going by the way-side and the cost of memory kept going down. While still out there today, Photo CDs that Kodak pioneered, just didn’t take off as technology on many other fronts kept progressing. Canon made a conscious early move into the digital world to become the number one leader in digital photography technology and copyrights, and grew to become top dog in production and sales around the globe. While retaining its brand, Kodak outsourced production of its digital camera line as it continued to evolve its business with increased competition and the changing market.

Da Guy was aware of the changes happening in the digital world — photography just not being much of a priority for him in the beginning of the new millennium. Again, it seems by 2004, Da Guy’s lifestyle and priorities had evolved (To what, he doesn’t know, so please don’t ask …maybe it was just that Guy thing of “wanting a new toy”?) It came to pass in 2004, that Da Guy handed-down his trusty DC4800 to move up to a sleek, black, Canon PowerShot S70 (7.1 MP) within two weeks of its introduction. Yes, a premium price was paid, but picture quality and camera operation was beyond his expectation. More pictures started being taken on his excursions to Walt Disney World, Europe, and Great Britain. What photo prints he had in archival photo binders that were not already on Photo CD had all been laboriously scanned into his PC. The only thing left were a few slides (remember those days?) to be scanned one day into his digital library. As Da Guy started extending “Bert’s Place on the Net” in 2006 with more photo albums and content, he found he had a couple thousand photographs stored on his PC, and thinks of places he needs to go “to get that shot”. Looking back on it now, this is when “the illness” started.

The convenience of the point-and-shoot camera remained near-perfection for Da Guy, but in 2006, he started becoming more aware of what he couldn’t achieve with his trusty PowerShot. In early 2007, thanks to another guy named Scott (who unfortunately doesn’t have stock in Canon), Da Guy was introduced to the digital SLR (DSLR) world. Da Guy is convinced Scott knew what would happen, and did it all on purpose. As is typical, that weekend, Da Guy immersed himself in research on the Net and Amazon.com books on photography acquisitions. It didn’t take long for Da Guy to discover the quality and capabilities of digital photography not possible just a few years before, new lens technologies such as Canon’s Image Stabilization (IS), and the increased possibilities to capture those special moments he’s likely to otherwise miss forever. So, thanks to Scott, Da Guy got the bug to get into the DSLR world in January of 2007 …and here he goes again!

It seems 2007 became the year of the camera for Da Guy. Besides the addition of his DSLR and a bunch of accessories to his toy box, Canon continued to introduce new Point-and-Shoot cameras in their line-up, bringing down the size and increasing their capabilities as technology marched on. In May of that year, Canon introduced their 8.3 MP PowerShot SD850IS to some wonderful reviews. As the price kept coming down, Da Guy snagged one to replace his aging but trusty PowerShot S70, that had served him so well the last few years.

2010 saw a few technical upgrades to his photography stuff, but in 2011 a new era entered with a Canon PowerShot S100. A great pocket shooter. As the rumors gained momentum on a new Canon EOS 5D Mark III and the price came down on it’s predecessor, late in the year, Da Guy also upgraded to his first full-frame DSLR, a Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Now, it’s up to him to get focused himself, learn this thing, and get out there and shoot!

Photography: Resources

Bert — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 07:01:10 +0000

It’s all about research, reviews, and purchasing advice before you take the leap.

Info on the Net

You could spend a lifetime surfing. Here are a few websites, blogs and podcasts Da Guy finds useful in his exploration.

alittlephotoshop — Photoshop for photographers
Ansel Adams — THE Photographer. The Sierra and Yosemite. Black and white. The man who turned photography into art.
The Art of Photography Podcast — Down to earth basics, interviews and more. Podcast available via iTunes.
CamBags — a terrific site to help with that difficult decision about what to store your gear in. Pictures and reviews of bags in use by real people with real equipment.
Lisa Bettany — photographer, model, and app developer with a super blog. Also check out her worthwhile Mostly365.com experiment.
Canon Digital Learning Center — free online learning for the Canon EOS Digital Photographer
Cleaning Digital Cameras — a useful place to start your exploration of a potentially scary DSLR topic that we all have to deal with some day
Digital Photography Review (DPR) — one of the top resources on the Net for everything digital
Digital Photography School — helpful how-to
The-Digital-Picture.com — Canon is the specialty, with reviews, how-to’s, practical recommendations and equipment comparisons
Canon Enjoy! Digital SLR Cameras — this fun, flash-based Canon site is for those new to DSLR, or perhaps those Point-and-Shoot enthusiasts that want to know a little more about what those “other cameras” are all about, and how it’s done
Fredmiranda.com — the place a lot of digital photographers hang out. You may want to as well.
Rob Galbraith Digital Photography Insights — The place to go for Compact Flash and SD card performance ratings before you add to your digital storage. The site seems to have halted updates to the performance database in late 2008, but it still has valuable info for those not familiar with what CD/SD speed really means to your photo experience.
Imaging Resource — choosing and using digital cameras
Scott Kelby — A photographer and prolific author of digital photography and Photoshop books
The Luminous Landscape — a fabulous non-commercial how-to site run by Michael H. Reichmann
Joe McNally — Awesome photographer, great blog
NAPP – National Association of Photoshop Professionals — Some free stuff here related to the Photoshop world, but for those that join get a subscription to Photoshop User Magazine, as well as hundreds of training videos, hints, tips, forums, special events, podcasts, discounts and more.
William Neil — Awesome landscape photographer
Nicolesy — Great blog by this lifestyle and food photographer
Northlight Images — The reviews in this outstanding UK site are some of the best related to digital imaging color management products, i.e. which products do you use to ensure the color you see on your PC or that comes off your printer is realistic and life-like.
Photography Blog — keep up with what’s new
Photography on the Net: Canon Digital Photography Forums — hosted by Pekka Saarinen. An active community
Pixel-Peeper — An outstanding site run by an amateur photographer allowing you to get beyond the specs and reviews to see real photos taken with different cameras, lenses, and settings. Specs are interesting. Reviews are valuable. Seeing is convincing.
Galen Rowell — Surely one of the best landscape photographers of our time, with a life that ended all too soon. Check out his legacy at the Mountain Light Gallery in Bishop, California or through many of his large format books on Amazon.com.
Rick Sammon — One of Da Guy’s favorite authors on digital photography and Photoshop
Singh-Ray Blog — great photos demonstrating use of these high-end filters
SLR Gear.com — Focused (pardon the pun) on lens selection and independent reviews
Strobist.com — A super BLOG about flash photography
Stuck in Customs — Trey Ratcliff’s blog focused on HDR
This Week in Photography — TWIP. A super fabulous website and podcast available via iTunes. If you’re new to this podcast, it’s worth going back to the first weekly and hourly podcast from 2008 to start your journey with these guys.
Tips from the Top Floor — Chris is informative and always amusing.
Art Wolfe — Landscapes, wildlife and people. What an awesome contemporary photographer

Time to Buy

Check out and support your local photo store if you have one, especially if they’ve been helpful and have real product on-hand for the touchie-feely we’d all like to have before we lay down our hard-earned cash (or is that plastic?). You’d be remiss though, not to search for prices and availability on the Net in this highly competitive market when you already know what you’re after. Be sure you understand warranty implications if you buy on the “Gray Market”. That’s something that ‘s just not for Da Guy, even at the slightly lower prices it some time entails. Use comparison sites such as BizRate, PriceGrabber and ResellerRatings.com to find yourself a reputable online dealer with loads of positive consumer feedback like the ones below. Be sure you add any shipping and handling fees to the price of your products before making your final decision. THAT can make a difference …and be sure you read the fine print as to what “free shipping” really means and how long that will REALLY take to reach you.

These are the places who have received nearly all of Da Guy’s business for photographic gear. Give them a shot.

Amazon.com

You never know without trying, but Da Guy finds “best buys” and hard to find items at Amazon.com more often than you’d think.

It’s generally where his search begins.While it’s not always the case, Da Guy typically finds better pricing on combined electronic and photographic accessories such as CF and SD cards here compared to the other places; Sometimes better pricing on cameras ($200 savings on his old 40D); Sometimes better bottom line pricing because of free shipping; Sometimes better availability of brand new gear (like his SD3500IS that was available from Amazon several weeks before the other guys, and it included free 2-day shipping the day it became available since he’s an Amazon Prime member.)

B&H Photo & Video

B&H has a wide selection of in-stock items. Prices typically are comparable with Adorama, and between the two competitors, should be able to give you nearly anything your heart desires and pocketbook can afford.

If you are a NAPP member, check out the NAPP discounts page for any promos in place with B&H (like free 3-day shipping, that can be a “total price” tie breaker in this cut-throat competitive world).

Adorama

Adorama is one of the two places Da Guy winds up when he wants something found in reviews or articles, as well as when he just can’t seem to find it anywhere else. Da Guy’s online experience with Adorama has been great with same-day shipping on in-stock items and fast shipment on backorder or special-order items. They have a huge in-stock selection including B+W filters, lens hoods, Crumpler and Think Tank bags )which B&H does not carry), Photographic Solutions products, and more.

If you are a NAPP member, check out the NAPP discounts page for any promos in place with Adorama (generally free ground shipping, but sometimes product discounts as well).

Beach Camera

Almost always, Beach Camera has the best prices on big-ticket items including some electronics things such as cordless phones when the manufacturers allow online discounting (and a lot do not, hence why the price is the same from many online retailers). Beach Camera has a photographic stock selection that’s more limited than Adorama and B&H. The have fast, generally same or next day service. Several of Da Guy’s major purchases have come from here, but as his acquisitions become more esoteric, this place does not generally win his business. Da Guy had a great experience with a returned telephone product where he was treated far better than expected — terrific customer service. Note: As with most mail-order houses, pay attention to the extra FedEx shipping fees that compound quickly if you just can’t wait for the free “within 10 business days” slow-as-molasses UPS shipping.