As you can tell, I just love photography. Have camera will travel. Have camera will annoy friends and even strangers! I would very much like to share more of my photos with you but most of the good ones exist only in print or slide format and not yet in digital (Santa failed to deliver the photoscanner I was hoping for). Nevertheless, I recently got a digital camera and I allowed my self to be self-indulgent and decided to post four of my favourite photos here. These were all taken with an Olympus Mu camera with the exception of the photo above which was sent to me by my friend Lefter.
Museum , Washington D.C.
My very first camera was a Kodak Instamatic which was really just like a toy camera. I was totally unhappy with it. So while still a student, I saved up a considerable sum of money for that time and purchased an Olympus OM10 which is a semi-automatic SLR camera which allows for a full manual mode. This may sound a little technical but basically it meant that I could buy and use exchangeable lenses and play around with speed and aperture. In short, I could begin to experiment and become creative with my camera.
Firedance, Ulu Watu, Bali.
I'll be honest, I probably liked photography cause it was a lot easier to be creative with a camera than with other mediums like painting. Press a button versus slaving over a canvas and a palette. It was a "no-brainer". Of course, I had to learn all kinds of technical stuff like zooming, depth of field, bracketing a shot etc. , but its all fun. Like many males, I just enjoy playing with technological toys. Seaside at dusk, Durban, South Africa
Once, I had the Olympus OM10, my obsession or addiction with photography was able to blossom.Today I laugh at Japanese tourists who carry a shoulder full of lenses and tripods, and who set up in the most inappropriate places such as lying down in the middle of the road, so as to get the perfect picture. I shake my head at people who wait 5 hours for the sun to reach the preferred spot for the photograph. But in both cases, that was me, that was me.
God-daughter and her dad, Malaysia
Finally, there was an occasion when I went on a picnic with some University friends and as usual, I brought my camera along. I took some really great portraits that day. Later, when we were looking over the photos, we had such a good time laughing over the funny antics. Then suddenly, it hit me like a falling ACME safe from a Warner Brothers' cartoon. It was such a fun day and the pictures showed everyone having so much fun but where was I? I was behind my camera, recording memories but not making them. It sobered me up. I have been more controlled in my camera use now. It's good to record life but it shouldn't get in the way of living.
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18 comments:
These pictures are great!
I especially like the bali firedance one.
What a great realization to realize you missed out on the fun because you were too busy taking pictures.
Thanks for sharing those wonderful pics. But I have to agree with you about taking pics all the time. I used to be the picture taker in my family and then realized I too was missing out on making my own memories. And altho I do miss having all those pics I "should have" taken, my life is filled with mind memories instead of paper ones.
Peace
My favourite is the squirrel with the camera. So true that people get carried away so much sometimes with recording life that they miss out on participating in it. I did get a beautiful digital camera for Christmas, but my computer skills are so rudimentary, it may be a while before you see pics on my blog. Still love my SLR Minolta though....
I used to be like that with the camera - not being in the situation, just chronicling the events, not partaking. I stopped cold turkey, then missed out on having photos. I finally found a good balance. I did take one trip to New Orleans just for the purpose of getting good shots of the architecture and that was fun.
TC
thanks. I quite like the bali firedance one too cause it was probably the hardest to get right. At least 6 discarded shots and it still isn't quite right but I'll live with it.
odat
Peace comes when you have balance. Borrowing from an old Kenny Rogers song, "You got to know when to take em, know when to leave em." Of course, we'll miss a few photo opportunities but we gain more.
molly,
sadly the one you like isn't one of mine. haha. But of course it's a great photo as the subject is "photogenic"!! I know what you mean about being attached to your SLR. My Olympus was my travel companion for a good 10 years. It had been to at least 15 countries, survived 1 month of back packing, survived the humidity of the rainforest, survived falling in to a stream. I was finally relieved of it at knife-point by a robber, I felt so sad to lose it that way, that I felt like smashing it on the ground rather than surrender it. But in the end the chicken in me gave it up.
Adelym,
I remember the trip to the zoo. I'd love to see those photos and also the art work in your room. Let's plan for it. Thanks for the sweet words but I wish I had done more.
Geewits,
Sorry I skipped you. I aslo stopped cold turkey. It was not a pretty sight! Balance is good. I too make special photography trips but now when I am with friends and family, the camera takes the back seat.
I was over hear last night, but then I clicked on someone's name and went out and about browsing on other sites and never did comment. I really enjoyed these photos, and I, especially, like the all blue one. Wow, that must have been quite a sight to behold! There are two things I wish I could do really well, the first one is to take really good pictures and understand how to, the second things is to play the piano. I know nothing about either one of those, but when I see someone's photos such as yours, well, I am reminded of a few things that I wish I were talented in, even a little bit. :)
Gosh, Over here..not over hear.
Gosh these are unique photos LGS...the first one from friend is priceless! The museum photo evokes the idea that perhaps the people too are part of the display.
I had to limit time on the computer, as you did with photography, or it would have become an obsession very quickly :) Great post LGS.
ellie,
Compared to learning to play the piano, learning to take reasonable photos is easy. There really isn't that many things that you need to know. If I can learn photography almost anyone can! C'mon. just do it.
janice,
thanks for the comments especially about the museum photo - that was interesting. Talking about computers and obsessions, blogging is becoming a problem for me!
LGS, I know you didn't take the photo at the top, but I have to say it's adorable. What a little face...! Your photos are beautiful.
You have travelled quite extensively too, haven't you? Lucky you!
Cheers,
Josie
Wise chicken....
josie,
Yeah, I wish I could take credit for the first photo too. And yes, I feel very fortunate to have been able to do so much traveling. Most of it is work related which means I don't get to travel with my wife which is a bummer.
molly,
Confucious say"better to be live chicken than dead duck."
I used to be in a a lot more photos before I got my hands on a camera. Soemtimes it gets between you and the expereicne, but sometimes it enhances the expereince by making you "see" in a way you might not otherwise. But, eyah, balance is important. I believe the Buddha was talking about photography when he proposed the middle way.
your last line is true, but who would have recorded all this amazing memories, if it was not for you:)
I also love the Bali one, and you made Durban look nice:)
Well, as a photo lover here you caught my attention. Fortunately, I really don't enjoy taking very many 'people pictures' so when I'm just hanging out with friends or family, I'm rarely behind the lens. Usually those chosen moments with nature. And I'm not very patient so waiting 5 hours for the right light doesn't fit my lifestyle either. I will give it a fair chance, 5 minutes, maybe 10...15 if I brought along a magazine. *grin*
Love the fire photo the best. I do have photos from a 'fire dance' scene that are pretty cool (yes with people in them and everything) Fire is amazing to capture.
Photography is a great hobby, and sometimes a terrible obsession.
csl,
balance is using the camera but not being a slave to it. lol. I'd never be able to "say" that with a straight face!:)
etain,
thanks for the kind words. Durban was nice but I was a little put off by riot cars near the beach.
becky,
but of course the bali photo is the most difficult to take.
Hello fellow bloggers, here is an excerpt from an article I found to be quite interesting:
In January 2007 Olympus released a new model, the SP-55OUZ, which seems to be the prodigy of this line, being a lot more performing than the previous model, the SP-51OUZ. The main characteristics of this camera are the image stabilization, 7MP resolution, and the 18x optical zoom range. The Zoom market became quite competitive and the model in discussion competes with other high quality models, such as Sony H5 or Panasonic FZ8.
This new Olympus camera is supported with Olympus Master software and AA batteries, has internal memory and xD picture card slot, over 20 scene modes, 25 language options, RAW and exposure modes, super macro mode, and 7.1 Megapixels. The SP-55OUZ model is not a small camera so some may not prefer it because of this, but taking into consideration its qualities, the size is not at all an inconvenient.
Another great digital camera is the new FinePix S4700 from Fujifilm. This model is the optimized version of the FinePix S4600 model, which was voted last year as the European Zoom camera of 2006 by the most important European association of electronics consumers. The new model is compact and lightweight, has 10x optical zoom lens, Fujifilm Intelligent Flash system, having several scene selections. Its menu system is highly improved and it is ideal to carry with you anywhere, since it can be easily operated with one hand.
The most significant changes FinePix S4700 has over its predecessor are the ergonomic design, reduced proportions, improved ISO sensitivity up to 1600, new flash modes and a 7.1 Megapixel CCD sensor.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-g1 is another great digital camera recently released on the electronics market. The G1 model, in particular, is Sony's first wireless digital camera, which has 2.0GB of internal memory, 6 megapixel and a 3.5 inch LCD with a 921,000 pixels resolution screen – similar stats to the Canon PowerShot G5. This model has the ability of sending photos wireless to other digital enabled devices such as laptops, palms, PCs or cameras. Reviewers say that Sony G1 model is the perfect take away digital camera, since its internal memory is pretty generous.
Hope you found this to be a good read,
Michael
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