dagray
04-16-2015, 05:03 PM
Often I am asked "What camera should I buy?" or I am told "your camera takes great pictures."
I will address the second statement first: yes if a camera is of decent quality it is capable of taking "great pictures"; however, the camera does not compose the picture or determine the subject of the picture as these and other aspects of photography are the job of the person who uses the tool or tools. In this case the primary tool is the camera with secondary tools being editing software, and the Photographer (user of these tools) also has intangible tools he must use to be good at his craft such as the tool of knowledge: A photographer must first know how to see (have you ever seen a small child bent way over to get a different visual perspective of an object or scene? this child is learning how to see), then the photographer must know how to compose (how to frame what he sees so that his image will show either what he has seen or what he wants us to see), after that the photographer must have the knowledge to set the camera properly (choose the right lens, tripod or not, flash or not, camera settings such as ISO, shutter speed, aperture). Finally the photographer has to know how to edit his photo to get the results he is trying to achieve; much like Ansell Adams had to know how to use a darkroom to achieve his masterpieces.
So it is the photographer or the artist that produces a great picture
As to the first question there are many factors involved:
What do you want to take pictures of?
how big or how compact does the camera have to be,?
Budget?
availability of lenses or accessories (primarily for DSLR cameras not point and shoot cameras).
these are just a few of the considerations as there are more.
Overall the real answer to that question is much like the answer to "which Bible should I buy" to which the answer is "the one you will read"... well the answer to which camera should I buy is simple "which one will you carry with you to use? This is the answer for one reason: A camera not used is just a paper weight or dust collector where even a cell phone camera that gets used can produce acceptable images for prints up to 16x24 inches.
Dave
I will address the second statement first: yes if a camera is of decent quality it is capable of taking "great pictures"; however, the camera does not compose the picture or determine the subject of the picture as these and other aspects of photography are the job of the person who uses the tool or tools. In this case the primary tool is the camera with secondary tools being editing software, and the Photographer (user of these tools) also has intangible tools he must use to be good at his craft such as the tool of knowledge: A photographer must first know how to see (have you ever seen a small child bent way over to get a different visual perspective of an object or scene? this child is learning how to see), then the photographer must know how to compose (how to frame what he sees so that his image will show either what he has seen or what he wants us to see), after that the photographer must have the knowledge to set the camera properly (choose the right lens, tripod or not, flash or not, camera settings such as ISO, shutter speed, aperture). Finally the photographer has to know how to edit his photo to get the results he is trying to achieve; much like Ansell Adams had to know how to use a darkroom to achieve his masterpieces.
So it is the photographer or the artist that produces a great picture
As to the first question there are many factors involved:
What do you want to take pictures of?
how big or how compact does the camera have to be,?
Budget?
availability of lenses or accessories (primarily for DSLR cameras not point and shoot cameras).
these are just a few of the considerations as there are more.
Overall the real answer to that question is much like the answer to "which Bible should I buy" to which the answer is "the one you will read"... well the answer to which camera should I buy is simple "which one will you carry with you to use? This is the answer for one reason: A camera not used is just a paper weight or dust collector where even a cell phone camera that gets used can produce acceptable images for prints up to 16x24 inches.
Dave