Low Buck, but what a blast!

[derrickdehaan]

Many of you chimed in on my question regarding taking pictures of marbles (yep,

glass spheres) and the bad reflections. Well, needless to say I have been bitten

by the photo-bug and ventured to my first outdoor event with my Rebel XTi and an

extremely low-buck Tamron 75-300mm 4-5.6 LD Lens. This lens is just over a

hundred bucks. Shot some pics of a horse race and rushed home to see the

results. I shot mainly with the lens out to 300mm and shot Raw + JPEG, but lost

all the Raw images in the download. No filters and only the hood that come with

the lens. Heck, even the battery is a cheapy off brand.

 

Anyways, just wanted to say that regardless of the equipment I had, I stood next

to all the really long lens folks there and although none of them seemed to smile, I

was having the time of my life! I do have disposible income, but bought a cheap

starter kit never thinking I would get into photography. Now that I enjoy it, I cannot

wait to upgrade lenses.....or perhaps I may be happy with the Tamron and Sigma I

have!

 

Regards,

 

Derrick

[rayyeager]

Now that's the way to enjoy photography. Have fun ... Ray.

[jason_hall4]

You need to read this past but rather recent post and all if its comments. Its long...but it will show you what you have to look forward to.

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00PR6O

 

Jason

[thomasly]

That's what it's supposed to be about

Having FUN !

Now go out & have some more fun

 

Best,

Tom

[photo_dark]

whatever you do... don't buy any new lenses. If you're having fun, then forget about what anyone else has to say on this board.

 

Keep the fun in photography :)

[derrickdehaan]

Jason-

 

Thanks for the link. Its an entertaining read. Fortuneatly, I do not suffer from lens buying addiction. I may covet others lenses from time to time, but at the moment I am more worried about composition and the fundamentals of what makes a great picture.

 

I made this post hoping that others such as myself, who feel out-of-place amonst many high end equipment owners, can know that its possible to have a wonderful experience and shoot darn good photos in all actuality with the equipment they may already have.

 

Everything aside, I do know what my next 2 lens purchases will be geared towards. A wide angle and large telephoto. Next time I will buy quality/great performing lenses, as I do not see myself eventually throwing all this equipment in the closet and forgetting about it!

 

Sincerely,

 

Derrick

[obakesan]

Derrick

 

I'm so glad to read that you've having a blast ... as you've

found out photography is not only for the elite high price stuff.

In fact there is a whole new breed of hobbiests and enthusiasts

who seem to be into this. Have you heard of lomo or lomography?

<B><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lomography" target="_blank">This link</A></B> may give you a good intro to it

<P>

From that article:<BR>

<BLOCKQUOTE>

Users are encouraged to take a lighthearted approach to their photography, and use these techniques to document everyday life

</BLOCKQUOTE>

<P>

I regularly point out cheaper options in photography to people on this forum

and suggest entry DSLR's such as 10D as there really isn't much that puts

that camera behind the latest cameras when comparing outright results.

<P>

If you've started to have a great time with your new EOS maybe you might

want to branch out further into low cost photography. I do black and white

at home in my bathroom. Looking at <A HREF="http://www.flickr.com/groups/diybw/discuss/14598/" target="_blank">this thread</A> you'll see some very low cost

darkrooms. You'll spot at least two people doing it in their backyards ;-)

<P>

I've recently been experimenting with 120 film cameras and find that for less than

$100 I now have two cameras (a <A HREF="http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2008/03/experiments-in-6x9-cameras.html" target="_blank">Voightlander Bessa I</A> and a <A HREF="http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2008/05/holga-pinhole-camera.html" target="_blank">Holga pinhole</A>).

Even with a $200 flatbed scanner I'm getting fantastic results. I've found that the

Bessa can indeed push out resolution from the film for landscapes superior to my 10D.

I have taken images like <br>

<a href=" title="forest floor by obakesan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/2437941961_539ec56591.jpg" width="500" height="341" alt="forest floor" /></a><br>

and <br>

<a href=" title="lapeenRanta by obakesan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3221/2423172636_6ecf19f246.jpg" width="500" height="329" alt="lapeenRanta" /></a><br>

with the Bessa 1 and this one below with the Holga pinhole<br>

<a href=" title="kitchen6x12 by obakesan, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2028/2474463132_73bf3912af.jpg" width="500" height="257" alt="kitchen6x12" /></a><br>

This last one (as the Holga makes a 6x12cm negative) when scanned at only 800 dpi gives a whopping 3700 pixel image. I've scaled this back to effectively a 150dpi scan. Working with the pinhole and photoshop has taught me much about the advantages of large capture area and sharpening.

<P>

Anyway, clearly they can not do the same things that a DSLR can, but hot damn they're fun!

<P>

Since you've already got some EOS lenses you can get an EOS 35mm body out there on ebay

for nearly nothing (cameras like the 620, 630, 10 and even 1) are beautiful machines

and will allow you to extend your fun into other low buck areas.

<P>

Enjoy!

[sarah_fox]

Derrick, the smiles you got from other photographers were probably the same smiles you're getting from all of us. It's vicarious pleasure on our part.

 

Hey, don't forget the antique cameras, which I think are also great fun. To me a camera has a soul, and nothing is so interesting as an old soul that has seen many decades passage of time. Some of my cameras date back to the 19th century. Gosh, what they must have witnessed! I enjoy showing my old cameras some new sights from time to time. I admit I do it all too seldom. Perhaps I'll get a darkroom up and running again, sometime in my abundant spare time!

 

Gotta go! Enjoy! :-)

 

Peace,

Sarah

[bjscharp]

You go boy! :-)

 

If photography isn't fun, you're doing it wrong.