I have taken thousands of images this past year. The ones that I am most pleased with are in the gallery section. You will see they are small in number, which is as things should be.
I always thought I had a reasonable eye for an image, but it has been great discovering new composition skills. Once I had got the hang of rule of thirds, I tried leading lines, and want to explore more symmetry based images.
I discovered a local photography class called Victoria Photography Group. They have a FB page, and a wonderful teacher called Ron Pogue. He is very experienced, has been a professional working in various parts of the world, but most importantly in unendingly patient and encouraging. I have learnt more about the technicalities of shooting, such as shutter speed, and aperture, along with EC. He can spot a great angle in micro seconds and it has been instructive to see how he can quickly frame an image and capture it. He described how important photography is in capturing a time in history, how a photograph can become an important historical document that shows how our world is changing.
I have also learnt from other people in the class, as there are usually no more than 6 or 7 of us. And a shout out to my new camera buddy Kim Park , who just happened to get the same camera as I did, a Sony a6000 and started out just after I did. I have really enjoyed going on photography shoots with him.
I quickly became obsessive about getting a mirrorless camera, and did take the advice that there is no point in buying a fancy smancy $3000 camera as a learner. It is not the camera that makes a good image; it is the skill of the photographer. So after months of research I opted to buy a Sony a 6000. One of the first mirrorless cameras (in 2014), and hugely successful, so very available on the second hand market. I bought one with a kit lens, (18-50 mm) and had saved up for a wide angle (Sony 10-18 mm) and a prime lens (Sigma 30 mm 1.4). I then saved up again and bought a used telephoto zoom (Sony 70-350) from Camera Traders in Victoria BC. This is it as far as lenses and camera go for another two years when I will look to upgrade.
But then I discovered vintage lenses and a whole new world of craving and obsessing emerged! I was blown away by the beauty of the images that I saw online from these old lenses. They have a soft tone, beautiful colouring, and amazingly different bokeh. As luck would have it, a very kind colleague graciously gifted me some old lenses, a Tokina sz-x SD 28-105 mm 1.4 and a Tamron 35-135 mm 1.3-4.5.I was struck by how heavy they were, and how well made. I learned about adapters and bought the adapter that would allow me to use them on my camera. Here is an image from the Tamron 35-135 mm:
I also purchased two vintage Minolta lenses (Minolta 75-200mm 1.45 and a Minolta MD Zoom Rokkor-x 50-135 mm 1:3.5 off FB, Minolta being the forerunner for Sony. The cost was a princely $50!. My favourite of all of the vintage lenses is the Minolta 35-120mm. It is lighter than the other lenses, and I like the images I get from it:
None of these lenses will appear in anyone’s top ten vintage lenses list (I know because I have trawled through endless web pages and You Tube videos!) Again, I don’t intend to splash out money as newbie with vintage lenses. My next purchase will be a 50 mm, and that will be it for a goodly while.
Not long after I started photography I became fascinated by street photography. I remember how nervous I felt, (and still do to be honest) when attempting to take an image of someone. I was inspired by Dawn Eagleton in this video with Sean Tucker , as she talked about how she takes her candid street photography of people. I devoured endless You Tube videos of street photographers, watching how they quickly saw a scene and shot it. I love being on the street with my camera. I feel part of life, and I am getting better at responding to situations, but still not quite there yet. The need to get my settings organised at the beginning of the day, and not muck around with them too much has been a salutary experience.
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