Our Photos

Can you find Fern?

Have you ever wondered about the photography found in this blog?
Who is taking the photos?
What kind of camera is being used?
What photo editing tools are employed?
I thought I'd tell you a little about how we do our photos.

First of all, neither Kira or I may claim the credit for the photography.
We are both behind the camera at different times and on different days. To be honest, I don't think we could keep up the pace if it was only either one or the other of us.
Who is shooting depends on the day and what is going on. If one of us knows that there will be photo opportunities during the day, a camera will surely be on hand. It may also depend on who is feeling inspired. Sometimes the well runs dry, and at other times, the compositions are begging to be shot.
If each of us is into something interesting at the same time, we will each have a camera.



So what are we shooting with?
I detest unsolicited advertising, but it's necessary to tell you about our gear.
The primary camera is an iphone 4S.
It certainly doesn't compare well to a 35mm SLR, but as far as convenience goes, it's hard to beat.
The second camera is a Canon PowerShot 640 auto.  It is a 10 MP camera that will do nearly everything that a manual SLR will do.  The major drawback is the size of the lens, but it captures a very clear and clean image.
The Canon auto must also be plugged into our computer in order to upload images.  The smartphone sends them directly.
Having shot a lot of film before digital became affordable, I do miss the quality of the chemical image over the digital one.  Especially using slide film, chemicals offer a realism and depth that digital seems to lack.
The difference is easily compared to music where the audiophiles understand the real sound of vinyl versus the replicated sound of magnetic analog and digital.
Of course, I haven't used any of the crazy new 22 MP digital SLRs, so I may be simply behind the technology wave.

Hand-made effect

As far as photo editing goes, I love having digital effects at my disposal.
In the film days, you had to have a lot of gear to fully manipulate images in the darkroom.
A well controlled aperture and shutter speed did a lot of neat effects, but nothing like what is available for so little money in a software format.
We use several photo editing apps with the smartphone.  Some see more use than others, but they offer some great options.  Sometimes it's easy to go too heavy on effects, but that's how to learn to use them more subtly in the future.
Just in case there is anyone out there with smug reprehension for the use of digital effects, consider this music analogy.
Electronic music has often been disdained as "cheating" or "not real".
Understanding the difference between playing the instrument and allowing it to play you is the key.
The tools are there to help facilitate personal expression.  Just because they are now so easy to apply does not diminish their efficacy at conveying experience and perception.

This blog has renewed my past interest in photography.  I had abandoned it a while back for two reasons.
One was the cost of shooting film.
The other reason was the loss that the photographer faces when taking a photo.
In many cases, especially for ephemeral shots, the photographer completely misses out on the moment because they are engaged in the process of capturing it.
I found that it was better to put the camera down and pay attention, letting my memory absorb the experience instead.

For Kira, photography is a new method of visual expression.  
She is a gifted artist, though there has been precious little time for her to ply her skills.
I believe that by putting more of herself into photography, she is again able to express herself through a visual medium.
It certainly shows.