Time Flies!

 My last post was in 2013. I deleted some of the posts but kept a couple. 

Honestly, I was not interested in blogging at the time of my last post.  I was not sure how many people would be interested in reading anything written by me. 

I no longer do wedding photography and that makes me a little sad.

My last wedding, I photographed, was in December 2018, in Townsend, Tn.

My health took a nose dive after the wedding. I wound up in the hospital two days after that and I have been in survival mode since then.

I landed in the Pikeville,  Ky. hospital about 6 months later.

But I am alive and I thank God for bringing me thru everything. 

I am going to try this blogging again and see where it leads.

If you are interested in what is on my mind, great! If not, see ya!

Natural Light versus ?

Natural light......hmmmm! It would be great if you could use natural light in every outdoor shot. That is not feasible though. Why not enhance your photographic images with a flash. Seems like some of the photographers showing up on today's scene want to do all their shots using 'Natural Light'. That means one of two things. Either they can't afford a good flash or they don't know how to use a flash with natural light.

Experimentation is the mother of success!! Try it, you might like it!

Back in the days of film you had to know about f-stops and aperture settings when using natural light and with flash. Now with digital and the program settings there is no thought process associated with shooting. Just shoot and look at the little screen and if it looks halfway decent call it artistic expression.

I think I am just old fashioned. I like crisp clear images. I am able and willing to do journalistic type photography using 'Natural Light', but why not sharpen those images using bounce flash, not direct flash. Any photographers images would get a boost if they would take a little advice from someone that is willing to share that tidbit of knowledge. Natural Light.......hmmmmmm, sounds like a drink!

Film versus Digital! No contest!!

When I started into the world of photography you only had a few choices in film. There are three main roll film types in regular use: 35mm, 120 medium format, and 220 medium format roll films.(This blog doesn't include large format. That is for another day)

Medium format has traditionally referred to a film format in still photography and the related cameras and equipment that use this film. Generally, the term applied to film cameras that recorded images on media larger than the 24 by 36 mm of 135 film(35mm film is also called 135 film because that was the number Kodak assigned it. The standard 24mm x 36mm frame uses 864 sq. mm of film surface) but smaller than the 4 by 5 in (10 by 12.7 cm) size, which is considered to be large format.
In the film world, medium format has moved from being the most widely used film size (1890s through 1950s) to a niche used by many professionals and some amateur enthusiasts, but one which is still substantially more popular than large format.

I only used the 35mm but longed to get into the medium format arena but it was just too expensive.

When I first considered the digital cameras they were expensive but not as much as the medium and large format cameras. However it took some time for me to change over from film to digital and I did it reluctantly.

Now? I would not have anything else but a digital camera!

I carry three digital cameras on a shoot (in my Pelican case) and a film camera.....just in case!!

I don't know of anyone that uses 35mm film and really don't know if it is ready available.

The only drawback to digital is that anyone that can afford a $1,500.00, plus or minus, camera is a 'professional'!! Or at least they call themselves 'professional', natural light photographers.

When I used film in a wedding I always had two cameras handy. One for color and one for black and white. That was fun! The two cameras along with a light meter and rolls and rolls of film made for a lot of work. With film you had to know what you were doing in order to get a decent shot.

Not so with digital! You see instantly what kind of shot that you got and adjust immediately to correct the settings if you took a lousy shot.

All said and done film was fun! It was an adventure! It was a guessing game! The excitement in seeing your work and realizing the f stop you used was the correct one and it paid off.

I can do without that kind of excitement. Now, using digital, I can see immediately if I took the money shot or if I screwed up.

Film? Digital? Digital, hands down!!