When it comes to cameras, it seems as if we have come full circle. Let me explain. 

 

Before digital, we had 35mm film. It almost didn’t matter what box you stuck it in, so long as the box had a decent lens, you’d pretty much get equally usable image. From that standpoint, what really mattered was what “lens box” you preferred to carry around with you. Some people liked the the simplicity of small rangefinders, while others liked the mental engagement of using an all manual SLR. Occasionally, it came down to features. If you were a sports shooter, you probably needed a fast pro SLR, and if you liked to shoot street portraits, you probably wanted a compact SLR with a few auto features.

 

When the photography world moved to digital, image quality suddenly became inorexably dependent on camera type and sensor size. Whereas with film, 30 year old camera and a good lens would still make great photos, the same could not be said for digital. If you wanted the best quality imagery, you had to spend up and get a pro DLSR. 

 

Now, with the emerging maturity of compact cameras and better sensors, you have a choice again. Sure, features still drive the need for some people to buy higher end DSLRs, but these days, most camera sensors will produce acceptable image quality that is good enough for just about anything you’re going to want to do with it.

 

What does that mean? It means that you if you want great photos, you don’t necessarily have to go DSLR. You have choices now, and depending on what kind of photography you like to do, there are any number of great cameras out there that offer you outstanding quality and a variety of usable features. Even if you do decide that a DLSR is for you, image quality is no longer the main thing that separates the high end from the low end. Nikon’s entry level DLSR received and excellent image quality score from DXO labs. 

 

The reality is that you could give a good photographer any number of cameras, and you may not be able to tell which photos were shot with each one. This year, I’ve had photos published that were shot with my Fuji X10, and in fact, a couple of them are about to be reproduced in an exceptionally large size. Here’s another photographer’s take on the matter. 

 

What this means is that, whether you’re buying your first camera, upgrading or considering a backup to your main body, this really opens up your options.

 

 

Last week, I wrote  a post called “Are your photos really that good?” I was serious. It’s a valid question. You should answer it. Not to me or to anyone else, but to yourself. The reason that I wrote that post was because I’ve seen people recently who have bought thousands of dollars worth of gear upgrades when it’s obvious that they don’t really know how to use their current gear. And what’s worse is that they don’t have the mindset to recognize that they could use some serious instruction.

 

Don’t get me wrong, this is not about what kind of photographer you ARE, but what kind of photographer you WANT TO BE. You should want to be great. It’s perfectly ok if you’re not right now, The problem is that some people think that they’re already there and they’re not. There’s a fine line between confidence and humility. Even if you know you’re good, you should still work hard to get better and to recognize the areas where you need to improve. You can read the rest of my post through the link below. 

 

 

If you’ve been following along with my cyclocross photos this fall, you might know that I’ve decided to jump in and start racing myself. Why? Couple reasons. First of all, I love riding my bike, and although I don’t really consider myself a racer, it’s fun to explore my own competitive nature and push myself with something new.

 

Also, because I felt that throwing myself into the sport firsthand would help give me new insight for photographing it. Not only would I get to experience for myself the tight turns, the fast straightways, the mud, the grit and the lung busting run ups, I’d get to know some of the racers. Anytime you form relationships with your subject matter you’re going to come out with better, more in depth photographs. 

 

This is essentially my approach for much of the subject matter that I shoot. What can you immerse yourself with this fall? 

 

 

Just letting you know that the 99 cent price on my new Creative Photography Techniques is about to expire. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet there’s still time. If you have read it, I’d like to thank you for your support and ask you to consider liking it and writing a review on the Amazon Store page.

 

Remember, even though it’s an Amazon exclusive, you don’t have to have a Kindle to read the book. With the free Kindle app, you can read it on any device.

 

 

If you read my review of the Photo Sport 200, which is my favorite camera pack these days, you might remember that I said that I’d like to see a little bigger version. Well, Lowepro answered with a brand new adventure photography pack called the Rover Pro AW. It takes the best features of the Photo Sport and the Flipside Sport and rolls it into a pack that’s big enough for overnight and serious backcountry use. It comes in two sizes and has enough features to make it a rugged and very usable pack.

 

You can read my full review here, and if you decide that the Rover Pro, or any Lowepro bag is right for you, I can offer you a special 20% discount through the Lowepro store. Click through and use the discount LP20 in your shopping cart. (US only.)

 

 

With an incredible variety of courses by top pro shooters, Kelby Training is a highly effective and useful resource for helping you learn and improve your photography. Having watched a couple of workshops last year, I can easily recognize how a modest amount of money and time investment has greatly improved my photography, and I’ve been shooting for over 20 years. 

 

Right now you can use discount code KTCJQ12 and save $10 on an annual subscription to Kelby Training. Essentially, for less than $4 a week, you can get an entire year’s worth of video tutorials by photographers like Joe McNally, Tom Bol, Dave Black, Jay Maisel, Moose Peterson, Lindsay Adler, Syl Arena and many more. Imagine how much better you'll be after a year. After even just a month!! And seriously, four dollars? That’s less than a single large Starbucks mocha latte. Sorry, "Grande". At any rate, it’s certainly a much better investment. Try it out and see for yourself. 

 

As always, thanks for reading! Have a great week and enjoy shooting this fall. 

 

-Dan