| | Well, it seems to me it is time to start writing, i.e. to start writing
about my philosophy concerning photography. These days, I'm a kind of a
retro, I'm doing pinhole photography, I'm using various old cameras and
I'm using old lenses on a digital SLR body. I do not use auto-exposure
let alone auto-focus. All this started when I noticed that quite many
if not most people doing photography harboured the notion that one had
to have the latest and greatest auto-focus zoom lens in order to take
good photos. What a silly misconception. It is quite possible to take
good photos even without a lens, a good photo doesn't necessarily need
to be sharp, lens flare isn't always an evil to be avoided at all
costs, a hundred years old camera or lens can produce photos with a
great visual or emotional impact despite being technically
lacking.
The following photo has been taken with a ninety years old lens taken from the cheapest pocket camera of that era:
It perhaps isn't a great photo, but the latest and greatest lens would
have precious little to add - and would probably detract something
essential from the mood. (Click the pic to see a larger version.)
The following photo was taken completely without a lens, with a pinhole camera:
It would be very difficult or quite impossible to take this photo with
a normal camera as the nearest 31mm high chess piece is only about 85mm
from the camera. (Click the pic to see a larger version.)
Every day, on many forums, people are asking which lens they ought to
use for this or that in order to guarantee good results. Well, a
technically perfect photo isn't necessarily a good photo, and a
superior lens doesn't transform the owner into a good photographer -
there is no magic bullet. In a way it is quite liberating to use a
"bad" lens as one then cannot blame the lens for bad photos and one
need not be disappointed if a photo isn't technically quite as perfect
as expected from an expensive "perfect" lens. I've got a number of very
good lenses, but I mostly use my "bad" lenses because then I'm free to
concentrate on the essence, on the pictorial aspects of photography. |
| | Posted 12/11/2005 11:32 AM - 82 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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