Please don't be 'THAT' Photographer...
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ค. 2022
- Thanks to Lexar for sponsoring this week's video. Check out the 2000x range of cards at Wex: www.wexphotovideo.com/lexar-6...
This week I try to make 3 landscape photography videos, and largely I fail. I also talk about gear a lot, and how some photographers harm their own work by the way they think about cameras and lenses.
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Great video loved every minute of it but I found it funny when you were talking about your dinner it’s not pronounced chili con carne it’s pronounced as chili cone carneh, it’s Spanish for chili with meat, great vid man🤙
James, I must say I really like the fact that you don’t shy away from showing us your mistakes and scouting trips that didn’t bring the results you were hoping. I know it’s basically a part of your youtube persona at this point, but so many people try to look flawless these days that it’s really important to have reminders that nobody is perfect right out of the gate, you need hard work, determination, the ability to learn from mistakes and the honesty to admit them. Which is very well connecting to the point you made about how gear doesn’t define one’s photographic skills. Huge respect to you, mate. Thank you for the inspiration!
I agree with you--it is his persona and one of the things that's makes his videos interesting to me!
Um cara simples e sincero, muito bom .
Perfectionism is a toxic habit. And guess what, all people we are addicted to toxic behaviours do we feed ourselves with extraordinary perfect skillful content and as long as we admire it, inside us we feeling so bad that we have not the technique or equal skills to bring the same result.
So, by accepting reality as it is and learning to use mistakes for personal improvement, everything is becoming much easier.
That's my outcome.
Ourselves versus the perfect social image they try to convince us we must achieve.
Thank God, there are people brave enough to act against this situation.
Whenever I find myself thinking "need updated gear" I say to myself "ten years ago when your camera came out, it was the best on the market and taking professional, more than adequate images then, so why not now!"
Agreed! whenever somebody says i should move on from APSC my answer will always be as long as its good enough for film its good enough for me
I still use a 16mp Fuji XT1 a lot of the time for that very reason.
@Paul Davies We arent talking about film we are talking about movies... most movies are still filmed in the super 35 sensor format so thats why i think APSC is good enough for me. Might have came out wrong but not a native speaker so yeah
@Paul Davies Im shooting stills about 90% so :') but i dont see the advantge in going full frame because my a6300 is still a great camera. Unless sony produces an A7C with like 33mp i might move on but for now :)
Agree, also. I shoot micro four thirds. Started with a G85/80, and also a G9. It has given me an opportunity to buy some good lenses (some with Leica glass) without sending me broke.
Me watching this video:
“Yeah, you’re right! I’ve got an 80D and an assortment of glass-maybe I should just work on honing my composition to get better”
Me in two hours:
“If I don’t buy this R5 and $10k worth of lenses I’ll never be a real photographer”
Haha I know this well. Sometimes the excitement of new kit can get me out of the door as well, but I try to stop doing that! Canon 80d is pretty decent and with half decent lenses you should be able to get some great shots. Light and composition are what I try to focus on now. Patience and getting to know a place are the biggest things for me.
why RF glass as well? canon has an EF to RF adaptor that makes EF lenses perform as if its native.
The best thing about photography is that you only keep getting better at it, so you're always approaching your new favorite picture, no matter what gear you've got.
When I got back into photography, I pulled out my ancient digital DSLR and forced myself to learn how to use it. I told myself, that if I could master it I would upgrade in a year. I would say for me it was a steep learning curve. With all the bad photos, I had to troubleshoot why they were so bad. Out of focus, dark, and so on. This really forced me to learn the fundamentals of using a camera and photography in general. By the end of the year I was consistently taking better photos. I have upgraded to a nicer camera now. Because I wanted to. Sure it does a whole lot more than my previous one, but I don’t think I would be able to take full advantage of it if I hadn’t learned the fundamentals first. In my opinion, good photography requires developing skill and practice. There is really no shortcut.
So true a friend of mine basically did the opposite of me instead of learning how to work with whats given he upgraded his body from A7I to A7III while only shooting stills more or less and not making use of the costly features of a newer body, eye detection, Dual ISO,.... most of the features only shine in low light conditions and shooting JPEG only it will only get you that far if you want to do a creative edit.
When I got my DSLR my stated goal was Astrophotography, so I kinda jumped straight into the metaphorical fire for learning the functionality and limits of my camera.
Don't regret a thing though because I've gotten good enough and good enough suplimentery hardware (star tracker, a couple lenses, a intervolometer) to take images I do really enjoy, and of course I've been taking that experience to learn to shoot better during the day now too and wanting to take hikes to get nice shots of the forested mountainous areas here around BC.
Very happy with my little Canon Rebel T6
@@UNSCPILOT Astrophotography is one of those disciplines where it's worth paying extra to get good low light performance. A lot of daylight photography can yield good results with just a point and shoot.
@@lihtan and even middling low light preformance can be overcome with enough persistence, exposures, and knowledge.
But I will agree that good low light preformance works wonders to make it easier, my Rebel T6 struggles a bit but I still have some shots I adore of Andromeda, Pleiadies, California nebula, and the Orion Nebula.
It's a difficult and potentially expensive discipline in photography that's already potentially expensive, but man is it amazing when you finish stacking and processing that first good image of a beautiful Nebula or galaxy you've never been able to see with your own eyes
You gotta love that cut from hopeful "A couple days later, I went out for another go" straight into wind and rain on the camera. Thought I was watching a photography video, got a perfectly timed comedic documentary. This is why I subscribe to you, James. This is why.
Always amuses me James how photographers profess that it's "not about the gear" then justify their purchase of a 61 megapixel camera. Great vlog as always James. Hope you feel better soon.
Haha, I do a lot of justifying it to myself 😀
But he showed that it is possible to get the same great shot (of the beach) on both cameras. So he made clear that it's more about the skills and the experience than about the gear.
I think it's completely fine for someone who is so into photography to buy a big expensive camera.
@@JamesPopsysPhoto The pro finds the best tool for the job. The rest of us are in desperate search of jobs for our tools. 😝
Great cameras aren't about improving the photo, it's about taking certain photos that you simply can't take with a cheap camera. You're paying for technology that allows you to boost that shutter speed and not sacrifice entirely on exposure. The less you have to do in the edit the better.
@@Born2EditHD Granted, however an over reliance on technology has to be tempered by artistic ability. Even in 2022 we still study images taken by photographers who's equipment would be seen as laughable today. Maybe they wouldn't have attempted what we see as "easy" today but I still think it's too easy to blame the camera for unfulfilling results. An on going debate.....
From experience, when somebody says, "I could have taken that..", or "it's not that special, they were at the right place at the right time, nothing more" it's usually a sign of jealousy. I've seen those comments and even gotten similar myself, what they often want to say is "damn, I wish I had taken that" and the reality is that for most serious photographers, be they passionate amateurs or actual pros, it's not just luck. They had to spend a lot of time planning, working on their skills and ultimately going out and not getting the results they wanted hundreds of times before it finally all pays off, and makes all the other "failures" worth it.
I've actually been asked a couple of times if a certain shot I took was photoshopped, or somebody just assumed I did an image composite because they thought there was no way it could be that "perfect". It was a shot of a lightning strike between two supports of a tall bridge in the middle of the night. For every shot like that I've taken, there's countless others that didn't pan out. But if I don't put myself in the position where the successful shots are even possible, then I wouldn't get any of my best shots. That's just how it is.
When people say "i could have taken that", but you didnt, didnt you? Haha
Take 2 made me laugh out loud. Refreshing honesty as always - it’s nice to see that even the pros have numerous less than expectation outings!
I love the “I could have photographed/painted/written/composed that” line of critique. It’s like, yeah…but you didn’t.
I love your line of critique where you think that just because someone didn't do something it means they're not skilled enough. Anyone could paint many of the famous picasso paintings, most of us didn't live in that era, how are we supposed to paint something when we didn't even exist? The only distinction is that a picasso painting has had many decades to gain an unreasonable amount of hype that is doesn't deserve.
I hate it when someone opens with a compliment about my work, then follow it with, "You must have a really nice camera."... 😑... Right. The 2 decades of passion, and countless hours of training, weeks of showing up at the same spot at odd hours trying for the right weather while getting eaten by mosquitoes? That's nothing. My entry level camera must be the culprit.
Photography IS easy at some point (auto mode ain't no slouch, I hear) but it seems to me that the whole challenge is just being in the right place at the right time with a camera in your hands. Gorgeous location you've got there and I very much enjoyed the picture of the bay in the storm.
It's also about having an eye for composition and lighting. A good photographer can walk into a "boring" location and coax something interesting out of an unexpected place.
Those who started with film cameras had the opportunity to learn by fighting their equipment to get good images. The Coronet Ambassador, Zeiss Ikon Nettar (6x9cm negs), Pentax S1a, Canon AE1, Olympus OM1, Lubitel 2 were all basically manual, aperture, focus and shutter speed and your mistakes were very expensive. The embarrassing bit is that some of the images I got back in the day are better than many I have done to-day (where a direct comparison makes sense). Where the mistakes are costly you review your methods very carefully to learn from your mistakes which is missing with present day, effectively no cost, digital imaging.
The Pentax K1000 was my first real camera. I loved that camera and regret selling it. I replaced it with a Pentax ME Super, but it wasn’t the same.
I think this is so important to keep in mind. You do get more possibilities of failing early and often though when shooting digital, which provides more learning opportunities than being restricted by amount of film available and having to wait for a film to get developed.
After shooting on phone cameras for all 17 years of my life, I’m picking up some 400TX, and Colorplus 200 for my dad’s OM-1n
I hope to learn how real cameras work.
Minolta XG1 42 year's ago. Forced us old-timers to use our imagination with the physical settings of the camera.
I am getting into digital with both my phone Galaxy S21Ultra and Canon M50 Mark2. I'm starting to learn photo editing However I try not to edit my photo's. Make them look the way I want by using iso, shutter, aperture, white balance and nd filter.
Thanks for persevering at least James! Lots would've just given up on a video at the point of 2 failed videos :)
Thanks again, James - it’s the train wrecks that teach us most, and your philosophical approach is inspirational. I’m losing count of the expeditions I’ve undertaken for the perfect shot which crashed and burned, or failed to rise to my inflated expectations, but the sheer joy of the one in a thousand shot (just around this corner) is priceless…
Breathtaking view and footage there! That shot at 2:15 was great, makes me want to be there. At the beginning of photography/videography, it's really easy to get sucked into thinking the camera is more important than it is. It's nice to hear that sentiment being shared, a lot of channels constantly throw around the nicest newest gear and spend no time talking about the actual experience of developing a creative style.
I have been that woman in the ‘dressing gown’ hastily making my way back to the car after a a wild swim ☺️
It was such a Jane Eyre moment from my perspective 😊Great photos, btw. You should continue with your videos.
What photo snappers may not understand is that it takes a great eye to get the best compositions, and that’s what you have. It can take years to develop it. Keep up the wonderful work!
Its a question that does erks me on the whole. "You take good photos because you have a good camera"
Well its true to a point, as without great tools (this case camera) that are suited to your needs and requirements. Its going to be slightly more difficult to achieve the shot you want.
But it doesn't mean you wont get a great shot with something cheaper and technically "less capable".
As you have to take into account the skill of the user and the scenario.
Always love watching your videos James. They have helped me learn and become a much better photographer than I was when I first started. So thank you for sharing all your wisdom!
I really like the effort you put in all the videos you do and the way you easily convey it in a positive way in this one too. And again - great pictures!
What you said about people robbing themselves of the chance to get better, is what I often think when someone mentions talent as a reason why someone else is better at painting, cooking, etc. The gear and the natural inclination might make it easier, but they still won‘t take you up that mountain three times.
I really appreciate this video. You’re up front, honest, and tell it like it is.
2:26 either a woman in her dressing gown or a very lost hospital escapee. In all seriousness though, love your videos. As others have said, you add a lot of character to them by admitting your mistakes along the journey of making this content. In many ways its what makes your channel stand out from the many other content producers who try and create a perfectly authored recount of their traveling experiences. Great stuff!
Hope your cold gets better, I'm recovering from covid at the moment so haven't been able to get out with my camera. Very grateful for content creators like yourself as I have something to keep me occupied.
James, stuff happens and your honesty of some of the issues and mistakes you've faced in the field is refreshing. Many of us have experienced the same. On gear, one good exercise for me is to go back and review my image library going back years and knowing the camera gear I had then was no where near as sophisticated to what I have now, yet many of the images are as good or some even better than what I've captured recently. It's the effort for detail (preplanning, composition, etc.), not just the hardware that makes the difference in "keeper" images.
"That band makes such great music, they must have amazing guitars and microphones"
"That painter makes such great paintings, they must have amazing brushes, colors and canvases"
"That photographer makes such great photos, they must have great camera and lenses"
Of course the great artists have good instruments, no matter the discipline, but only with photography the success is attributed mostly to those so often.
I’m always blaming myself for my mistakes, love photography because I’m constantly learning. I also love that you being a professional go away over night or drive several miles and coming back with a handful of shots you actually like or in some cases, none. I’ve learnt that happens a lot too.
I love your videos. I am learning so much. Plus, I laughed so hard at the beginning of this video. Thanks for that! Hope you feel better soon.
Thanks James for sharing your experience with great comments & thoughts & advice....as I am only a hobbyist I still need to learn more about this photography.... your videos help.... great locations as well.. cheers from Australia 😀
You are literally so sweet, I love the way you approach photography and how you show all parts of the process
Good to see you JP! The best eye, the best imagination, the best experience, knowledge and understanding, then perhaps the best gear. With the exception of the latter, they can all be developed with practice IMHO.
I'm working on the eye part. Quite possibly the most fun yet frustrating part of it all. The journey so far I've rather enjoyed more so than otherwise.
As someone who takes aviation photos with a DSLR ,I can say that you don't need the best equipment to get good photos.
The camera is a tool to take an image. What you point the camera and how you compose the image is up to the photographer.
The women in the dressing gown immediately made me ask the questions around suicide. That is the medic in me.
Your determination to make a video was admirable. Well done that man.
Re the woman in the dressing gown, my first thought was it was odd and even worrying, but then it occurred to me that it might not be a dressing gown but a dry robe. It's very possible that she had been wild swimming in the lake.
Big thumbs up for using a MSR Hubba Hubba tent ! I just had to replace my version after ten years of hard use. I am sure I will get another ten years out of this version.
Loved the picture on the lake :]
That photo you took, its incredibly beautiful. It gives me a lot of joy to look at. Photos mean different things to people looking at them then to the photographer. We dont have the associated chaos and backstory. We who are only seeing it make up our own adventure about it. I am new to photography but I swear this is the truth.
I totally agree James about not needing the best of equipment. I used to wish I had, but I'm not bothered so much now, would be nice but not essential. I have a bridge camera that has many limitations, but I'm working my way around these and I feel I am benefitting. The camera is on manual all the time and I like that feeling of trusting more on myself to keep on improving and getting the best out of my camera. Great photography James.
Some of my best photos were taken with my cell phone because that was the camera I had with me. Gear has its place, but you're right, skill trumps gear.
I used to think that way about cameras. But I realized there's plenty of images that I like that have been taken on phones or terrible film cameras. I use an a6000 and I think it's a great beginner camera. I've been on it for two years, and sometimes I'd like to upgrade, bigger sensor, better resolution, etc but I haven't really hit a wall yet and I still learn every time I go out.
Parabéns pela iniciativa de compartilhar conhecimento e experiências aqui.
Great video James.
Always so down to earth and honest 👍
Great video!! Subscribed and can’t wait to see more. I have a decent camera (x pro 3) but my favourite picture of all time was taken on Samsung S6 - the best photos make you feel something and that is beyond the technical capabilities of your gear
I love your honest videos man! Keep up the fabulous work.
Well I really like the wet and windy, Corrie/tarn/mountains photo.
Photographer is like fishing, you can spend a large amount on equipment but it’s about nouse, reading conditions , risk taking and inspiration.
I am grateful for your insightful analysis
James, always enjoy your videos mate…. It is great to see the “real” side of photography and not just those epic photos that you get every once in a new moon …. As everything in life for the most part, it comes down to the man (or woman) behind the tool being used….. Sage advice I need to continue to remind myself…. Keep snapping!
Former director of photography now full time photographer (well for the last 22 years). I was hired years ago to be the director of photography at Travel + Leisure. My first week at the job I was reviewing the shoots that were in house already to see what should be published and what should be rejected. This was when nearly everyone was shooting Pentax 67 or Mamiya RZ. One of the stories I reviewed was shot on 35mm and I had a bit of a snob moment thinking "it can't be good because it isn't medium format". Of course, I was wrong. It was a travel feature on Peru. The images were really great and it re-set my thinking about gear and how a good photographer doesn't need the biggest and best to take memorable pics. (Can't remember the photographer's name but his first was Hans). However, the 35mm format was not the friendliest for magazine layouts which is why medium format was so perfect for publishing. The 6x7 frame filled the magazine page very well while the 35mm format was a long format for the page and cropping was usually necessary. (When I began taking pics full time I used RZ and 4X5 for film and Phase One P45+ for digital...now basically R5 but eyeing the Sony systems).
Ah it's great to see another photographer having several failed/semi-failed trips! On some photographers channels they always seem to come away with the goods, and I find that wonderful, but a tad disheartening at the same time!. Thanks for your honesty James it keeps me going - great channel.👍
I always enjoy your video forays, Mr. Popsys. Thanks for this one.
Nice to see you chilling out!
I just want to say, I absolutely love how you edit your photos. The greens and yellows reminds me of overexposed Kodak gold 200, sometimes the pastel colors look like kodak portra. It looks awesome!
Cheers James, I’ve got a pretty decent camera (D500) and can confirm all my bad or mediocre shots are 100% down to me
Big save and much positive energy despite bad conditions and failed use of gear. Keep up the good mood.
He's 100% right about people not blaming there self but instead blame the gear I use a Canon rebel T3 and a Canon 60D I get amazing pictures and no one expects those camera's is the user not the gear.
Dear James, thank you for the entertaining video. I use a very expensive GFX camera and sometimes people ask me whether they need something like this and I always say, if your photo ought to look nice, a modern smart is sufficient enough. I use my cameras because I love using them. It’s all about the shooting experience. That’s why I shoot a lot of film as well. I just love using the gear. I barely use my phone. Ultimately I take so much more images. I don’t justify an expensive camera due to its image quality but to the user experience. For that reason I don’t own a Sony. It’s not nice to use 😁
Brilliant. Thanks for the honesty and humor.
The reason I like watching videos like this is because I find them inspirational. I've just taken an interest in landscape photography and boy, it's really hard to find that good composition. I still suck at finding compositions, but I get a little bit better each time I try.
I feel like Composition is the very basic lesson in photography, yet the most difficult skill to master.
Speaking of improving the photographer over the gear: I think that there's something that I've called the "Bokeh Plateau".
Where generally a step up in gear has allowed photographers who have an intermediate amount of compositional instinct or knowledge, and know a nice golden hour when they see one, to jump up immensely in their use of contrasts to make a photo dynamic.
This is the contrast of focus. Bits are in focus, bits are out - And the photo has the implication of meaning and narrative through that read point.
This is why people are quick to look to gear to offer them a new solution. The usual option being: Switch to fullfra-- I'm joking - Switch to black and white and play with light contrasts.
It's easy to get comfortably stuck on the bokeh plateau, because I think the next step of improvement is counter intuitive to everything that has worked thus far: Stop down, get everything in focus and use layering and dynamic symmetry to compose the colour contrast of the context in scene. Usually this where people figure out they have had their white balance set on cloudy for the last three years, and never noticed how everything was a muted brown.
It's not necessary, but the instinct to buy new gear might help this time, since a wide angle lens like a nice 28mm or wider will really frustrate you with how little bokeh there is, and how much crap there is to arrange in frame, and distance/depth near/far contrast to think about - usually just resolved by getting lower to the ground or behind a thing to build a frame within a frame.
Thus begins what I would call stage 3 syndrome in photographer: wide angle addiction. Feeling like a genius for working every scene whether it's landscape, street, or portrait. Trying to convince your girlfriend that the 12mm portrait you took with the lens touching their nose is the new editorial fashion look, and that her face doesn't look more long and horsey, but thinned by the focal length.
And idk where you go from there tbh. I'm not that advanced myself. Probably using actual story in your images, or developing a set of euristics to practice experimental stuff and still get a great shot - Couldn't tell you. I'm doing the deep and wide thing still.
Stage 4 is offering preset packs or "teaching" online. Which takes you to stage 5: the portraits of your neighbour in the retirement home.
@@prayforpeace2204 haha, I forgot about preset packs. Although, I think that's a stage 2 thing. You have to be a little delusional, amateurish, or kind of a con artist to sell preset packs. It's like learning piano to be a piano teacher. You can be passably informed if you can stay one lesson ahead of the kid. 😂
@@-grey I see James sells presets. Delusional or con man do you think?
@@anthonybailey7628 probably a bit of a con. I'm fairly sure he knows they're a bit of snake oil for amateurs. But where there's demand, why not supply? This is his business after all. If I was a TH-camr I'd sell presets too. People want them, they believe they're good, so why not? It's like religion, or contacting dead relative for closure. Sometimes cons are helpful to people.
Great video! Thanks!
You can't always have a gob smackingly good day, whether it's out taking photos in the great outdoors or working in an office cubicle, but James you never fail at making the best of it and showing the muddier side of landscape photography... days that just don't live up to your aspirations, makes you seem more down to earth. Things don't always go your way, and showing that is a good thing, it helps to not discourage the rest of us, we don't think that James always has epic failure proof shoots. Humility is a great thing and I know your friends and family appreciate that as well.
Thank you for reccognising there are some types of photography where gear does matter. The types that I find myself doing... with a camera that's not the best at low light high dynamic range, without face / eye af... but anyway. I still see is makes a huge difference if you spend time and effort in getting to know what you do. "Given the circumstances / situation" I do allright. It makes a difference knowing what you can reasonably produce and trying to influence those circumstances as well.
Great video. Keep 'em coming
After watching your video I realized how much I was overthinking about technical stuff and "regretting" picking EOS 90D instead of EOS 6D Mark II or used 5D Mark IV. Lesson learned: Your camera was the best on the market when it got released and everything new comes within few months so just sit back and keep photographing instead of complaining.
Learning from mistakes is often the best ways to learn. Gear is a great distraction and as you say often a shortcut used as a quick fix to 'improve' - we've all been guilty of that I'm sure.
I do my photography Street and Landscape with a Canon 450D stock 18 - 55mm lens and 90 - 300mm lens.... total price I paid about 160 quid (+ couple of quid as time went on for extra batteries)
Just stumbled on your channel today. Good stuff. Love your attitude.
I second your comments about cameras and what is considered necessary in certain circumstances. I’ve spent the last three weeks with my left arm in a sling (dislocated elbow), leaving me with no choice but to shoot with an old albeit good Olympus point-and-shoot camera. Admittedly, I limited my subject matter to landscape, plants, flowers and insects but I was surprised at the quality of the images. It made me realize that gear matters but perhaps not to the degree imagined.
Good lesson in life... be better today than you were yesterday. Applies well here too.
Perfect timing watching this on Black Friday with cyber Monday looming. Not…buying…new…gear…must…just…take…photos…😂
Dude this guy is raw. Content is raw. Photos are raw. This guy is original AF. I freaking love it
James! I was in Snowdonia last weekend doing my DofE, and finished in Betws-y-Coed! I was really hoping to see you!
Yes, like photography like life, blaming others when its nearer to ourselves that need to change and improve, thank you for this video, so good
One of the best ways I've heard it put is this: If you think you're equipment is not adequate enough, look at photographs from the D-day landings. They are some of the most impactful, memorable photos, and they were taken with basic film cameras, using 1940's technology, while under fire. It's not the equipment that's the issue. You can take incredible photos with what you have, you just need to work to improve your skills and keep an eye open for those moments or places worth photographing.
Nice scenery. I am soon moving away from my beloved home mountains, Torridon area, and trying to be optimistic about the change in scenery and this video helped
I agree. Right now I'm taking what I think to be pretty good photos on the canon 400d. You can buy it used right now for $50 and I LOVE IT! I will upgrade sometime but not until I'm happy with how Im doing
Great message.
Good points. 🎯 Nice locations. Better luck next time. 🍀 👍🥂
I'd not come across your channel before, James, but came to you via Nigel and I really enjoyed this, now subbed. Very funny delivery and a lot of substance in what you said. Also very reassuring perspective on MP density and the 'cor, nice camera' rhetoric. Every time I think about upgrading my gear, I realise I'm just looking for a shortcut to the next step up. The reality is I need to seek out more interesting or less familiar locations. Cheers.
Danners! Those are Mountain Light II, yes?
They're amazing off-trail boots. Mine have lasted over 30 years on eight soles.
Oh man, hands down funniest and best photographer ahahaha. I think its the accent that makes your jokes just so pure xD
Actually laughed out loud at the part where you went back out for another go…. Take 2…. Then saw the weather 🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️😆😆 thanks for the great video.
Excellent point about gear and photography. I'm sure A. Adams and I. Cunningham would agree considering the beautiful work they created and the gear they had to work with. - Elaine
Looking at the side-by-side comparison between a photo taken with a 50£ camera to a ~2000£ camera at 9:53 .
You can really see that the photographer gets you 95% - the edit and composition make the photos virtually indistinctable from each other.
To someone who has grown before the digital photography age, it's simply so inspiring to see that photography really has become democratized in the sense that anyone can get into it no matter their budget.
I suspect the cheap camera took the one with the heavy vignette, but I fully support your point. Also you could fool me by editing out the vignette or leavikg it in or adding one in for aesthetics so in the end, you know. 👍
Love this video, James, with its focus on reality and what can really happen on photography missions; it made me laugh! Must try the chili con carne some time! 👍😎
I was very tempted to buy higher end stuff. In the end, when i had nearly bid on an ebay auction i asked myself the question: "what am i actually gonna use it for?" In the end i bought a M4/3 camera because i can actually take it with me everyday and use it on a detour on my way back home.
Just great!
Really enjoy these video adventures. I feel I can especially relate to all the mishaps. 😆
When I started to get into wildlife spotting I bought my first switch-lens camera, and while my experience and skill is far from the top, I've learned the same thing about both the wildlife and the photographs: if you want to see 'em you gotta go out and look for 'em.
(I was kind of thinking about that right now anyway, while I'm sat here binging photography vids on youtube)
Also, currently bidding on a film lens that might be older than I am. If I win it (and get the right adapter) I'm thinking of giving it a spin on my beat-up, 12MP, £34 Lumix GF5. Now there's a fun camera.
And that's it, in my view. Not that photography was a chore (except when trying to use narrow lenses in dim forests) but when I think of it as fun, when I think there are things out there that need photographed, when I start to put myself in the frame of 'I'm a photographer; I photograph things', then the photos, and even a few keepers, start to come.
I just burst out laughing at the start of Take 2. Wasn’t expecting that. Good man James 😂😂😂😂
I just stumbled upon your videos, and I love how you show the awkwardness of talking to yourself outdoors. :)
I 100% agree that a expensive camera or crazy lens dose not mean better photos. I have a $150 camera and a $15 lens from goodwill and I can take some fairly decent photos.
Love your stuff keep it up
Great video as usual.
Gorgeous place. I spent most of June in west Wales. Fortune smiled on those who live there!
Always enjoyable, James. 👍🇦🇺🦘
As to your point at 6:00… I also get frustrated when people say things like “your camera takes great photos!” Thank you for giving all the credit to my camera and not me
I am very known to your channel and so glad i found it for a couple of reasons,s the first being encouragement,I have a £50 Coolpix i bought off my brother and thought for some time i needed to spend 7/800 pounds to get the best results ,and you have shown me that you do not have to spend that amount to get some really good results,so thanks for that ,I will now continue having fun riding my bike around the villages of Newark on Trent having fun, and enjoying what I like so thankyou.
I tend to agree with the fact that the medium doesn’t make the artist, but I have to say that since I buy my X-E4 with a 27mm pancake my photography and the joy of taking pictures has increased ten folds. I used to take nice pictures with ny IPhone and I still think is a very valid tool for filmography, but having a fast, reliable camera with a good lens on hand makes you better at improving your craft l. I don’t think it makes sense to me to buy something super expensive but I will surely buy a similar camera just to have second lens attached. I did that in Antarctica with my old Canon which worked well but I lost many good pictures because of its lower speed. Cool video as usual!
I count myself lucky. I started on a Nikon D3300 with a kit lens, and I just kept taking photos. I wanted to, I wanted to just.. take them.
Later on in College I got a little more about the gear, but I certainly didn't have the money to go buy any new cameras, so I just used the college ones when I could, and kept running with that camera longer and longer. I kept going forward too, using some of the best stuff, getting involved with film. I used everything from a T3i to a Red Helium, shooting with the best and the worst. After all of that time I finally settled in I suppose. My trusted D3300, with thousands and thousands of photos taken.. was still what I was rocking. But my photo competency had only ever increased, and got better and better. The point I am making is that I got better and my photos drastically improved because of it, so the camera never BECAME outdated, my skills kept up to date and the camera was more than adequate.
My camera never became outdated, because I didn't become outdated. If you follow what I mean.
I recently bought a Fuji XS-10 - Replacing my camera, not because I really needed something "better" though the features are awesome. I wanted a new tool, something fun for me and something to work with more in the future. I got a wonderful artistry tool out of my Fuji, it's not top of the line and it doesn't need to be. Because the goal is for my skills to be top of the line, not the gear I use. Nothing is holding me back anyways. I was lucky though, I got into photography at a time where I couldn't get swept into the gear hype train, I couldn't afford it, get pulled into the idea that I do need to have something better to take better photos. I just kept trying to take better photos with what I had.
the best equipment can only allow shots that you couldn't get with other equipment, what it can't replace is a good eye for composition and lighting, that is entirely up to the photographer. Mother nature of course provides the weather conditions.
studio photography is a whole other creature, because then not only is it about camera and light placement, but also which lights create the scene your trying to invent? do you want strong shadows do you want soft shadows do you need to fill the shadows with a fill light? do you need diffuse light or a spot?
I think it's worth it for photographers to learn from studio photographers like Philip McCordall who came up during the 80s... and the tricks they had to learn to fake things before Photoshop.
like bathtubbing the studio floor with black plastic and jacking a car up and sitting it on bricks before filling the room up with water until it just covers the bricks, to get that perfect reflection for an ad shoot. I don't remember if he mentioned how he got the water out afterwards 🤷♂️
That picture of you on that rock is wonderful!!!