Chicagoist: Focus, People, Focus

Big-Fat-Old--&--Disposable

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:31:42 -0600

I only use disposable cameras, for many years now, thats all I need, I can take 27 good images from one D.C, usually in the daylight --- the natural light tends to assist disposable cameras... then the film is printed on HQ paper & scanned in high rez then edited in PS, another one bites the dust (disposable camera) :P good fun for days happy snapping..

dre

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:27:38 -0600

Great to hear, PhotoshopAbuser! That's how I started out: my dad handing down to me a Minolta AE-1. Regarding film vs. digital: I think Ansel Adams put it best when he alluded to the fact that it's a different medium for which we will re-explore photography. I shy away from comparisons to film because you're talking about different mediums. It's like trying to compare polaroid to 35mm to medium format. Keep shooting, Chicago!

Mike Schinkel

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 22:53:39 -0600

Flickr and blogging more than digital have changed my habits; the fact it is now super easy to share my photos while controlling their location on the web is killer. I had a great Olympus c2100uz for years. I've had several in parallel with it, including a Kodak V570 which has wide angle and is small, but nothing could compare to the Oly-UZ. Unfortunately, the Oly-UZ started showing it's age recently so I splurged for a Nikon D40. In some ways the Oly-UZ is better (it's almost impossible to take bad pics with the f2.8 and 10x+image stablizer), but shooting with the D40 is a dream. The nightmare of course, is the cost of the lens I'm now going to have to buy to get the same low light and clear zoom shots, but it's gonna be worth it. Oh, and the bigger hards disks to store all the photos!

jeff aka PhotoshopAbuser

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:03:43 -0600

My son just turned 10 and has been shooting for a few years now. He started with my old HP 2.1mp and then moved up to a Coolpix S6 when he showed a genuine interest in photography. This Christmas, he moved up to a Nikon d40. It was a logical choice since I have a d80, and my Uncle has a d2x. Glass is no problem and he just got a new flash for his birthday. The ex and me are by no means rich, but he really enjoys taking photographs and is very good about taking care of his stuff. That was the deciding factor. I am trying to teach him about photography and like any 10 yr old, sometimes it sticks and sometimes it doesn't. I think the only thing digital photography has changed for me is that now I will shoot just about anything and have tried things that I wouldn't have attempted with film. I am constantly trying different things, be it lighting or composing a little differently but it is so much easier when you can upload and view your images later in the day vs. later in the week and see what worked and what didn't and hopefully learn from it. I believe digital makes it easier to learn photography. I only hope that my Son can take it to the next level someday.

woodlawnchuck

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 16:22:06 -0600

There are so many great cameras out there, even just the point and shoots. You can see it in the FLICKR albums, just regular shmoes, taking great pictures. I've posted here at least five times that I was in love with a picture you guys put up. I can be pretty certain that not every picture you have is from some photographer of the professional sort. So, do you think the digital age of photography will banish the professionals? By the way, while black and white can be beautiful, I would much rather look at color - it's the most underrated art form on the planet (of course this is my opinion).

prescott

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:56:12 -0600

I keep focusing too hard on that burned out LED to even answer your question....

Amanda

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 12:48:24 -0600

Not that this really needs to be said after Mandy's post, but I have a friend who will go out with us and spend the night almost exclusively posing for/taking pictures and then reviewing them. It is embarrassing and annoying. I do like to bring my camera out with me more often now that digitals are so small and simple (though currently it is broken because I was taking it out too much) but there is taking a few nice pictures of friends, and then there is acting vain and obnoxious. The strange/comical facial expressions that the digitally addicted use also a strange aspect of this. To answer the question though, my photographing habits haven't changed all that much -- I probably take the camera out a bit more, but I used to go through a ridiculous amount of disposable cameras anyway.

Violet

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 12:08:42 -0600

I traded in my ancient (but beloved) Mamiya SLR for a super-low tech Kodak digital point-and-shoot a few years ago. While this camera does suck in many ways, I do enjoy its relatively small size -- I take it out with me more, and like having it always on-hand. I find that I'm able to be way more adventurous with digital, since I don't have to worry that I'm wasting film/money with each shot. It means that when I do go back to a "real" camera, I'm going to be amazing!

Olivia Leigh

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 11:56:39 -0600

Pantagrapher: I don't think that's a totally uncommon feeling. Prior to getting my DSLR, I was generally frustrated with film. I thought I couldn't accomplish what I wanted to until I got the DSLR. A few months after using it, however, I realized the beauty and color nuances of film that digital can't always match, and I've been progessively adding to my film camera collection ever since. One of my friends had the same experience: pine, pine, pine for a DSLR, use it for a while, go back to film. If developing weren't so expensive and I weren't such an impatient person, I imagine I'd shoot film almost exclusively.

Mandy O'Reilly

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 11:45:25 -0600

OMG, my photography habits have totally changed since digital. I take my camera to concerts all the time now, turn the flash on, and hold it up intermittently throughout the show. Just when you think I'm done distracting you, oops, out comes my camera again...clicky clicky! Digital is sooo awesome because I can review my pictures as soon as I take them. Which I always do, because concerts tend to drag on. With a film camera, I'd take one or two pictures and be done with it, but now I can see immediately what worked and what didn't. So I just take picture after picture after picture. The BEST is when me and my girlfriends all have our cameras. We like to show each other the pictures we're taking right next to each other. Nothing beats nostalgia for five seconds ago! Some people say this practice takes away from the atmosphere the band is trying to create, and is distracting to people behind me. Yeah, well, some people suck. I say if you don't like it, then go get your own camera!

Jeff C.

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 11:23:09 -0600

I shoot with a Canon 350D with its 18-55 kit lens and an EF 50 f/1.8 prime. I'll be forever indebted to whoever buys me the EF 24-70 f/2.8 L.

pantagrapher

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 11:15:42 -0600

My ex-girlfriend bought me a Canon PowerShot A40 (2.0 megapixels! 3X zoom!) about five years ago. I started shooting and never stopped. Now I primarily shoot with a Digital Rebel XTi. But I still bust out my trusty PowerShot every once in a while. The weird thing is that digital is getting me more and more interested in shooting film. One of these days...