Quote:
Originally Posted by dcstep
I shoot wildlife, travel and landscape. I find that in order to do those well that I need to do lots of planning and work in order to be at the right place and the right time. Wildlife requires a lot of skill from me to get close enough, aim properly while composing at the same time as my subject might be flying by at 30-mph. With travel, it's a challenge to get unusual perspectives and weave a story good enough to put into a vanity book for each major trip. For landscape, being the right place and doing my best to control my luck with weather and light is a big ole challenge.
My digital processing is pretty simple. I shoot in Raw and try to maximize the information collected in the Raw file. I do very little post processing, mainly adjusting EV level, adding contrast and micro contrast as needed, generally lowering highlights and raising shadows and, finally, cropping. I hardly ever get into Photoshop.
I DO try to process the same day that I take the shots. It's partly to avoid building up a backlog, which I see way too many digital photographers do. Also, I find that same-day processing helps me with color interpretation. Here in Colorado, the sunrises and sunset can be spectacular with really widely varying pinks, reds, purples and blues. The reality looks unreal to many that have not witnessed it first hand themselves, so I put a lot of effort into color accuracy on my landscapes, particularly when the sky goes crazy-colors.
Also, I'm usually mentoring one noob or next-step photographers and I find it satisfying to see them capture shots that they hadn't dreamed of just a few weeks prior.
Oh, finally, the AF and metering systems on my Canon EOS camera/lens systems are not fully functional on any bodies more than a year or so old. I remember trying to shoot birds-in-flight with my old Pentax preset telephoto lens at ASA 200. No thank you. I'll take my digital images at ISO 800, f/8, 1/3200-sec. and 10-fps, with an AF system that nails 8 out of 10 shots. Last Saturday I was shooting at ISO 12800 before dawn. In film days, I'd be praying for the sun to come up 30-minutes early.
Anyway, there's a lot to keep me happy. Oh yeah, when someone buys an image and hangs it on their wall, or puts it in their fund raising calendar or uses it in some magazine in Europe that I'll never see, that's satisfying. It's all additive and hard enough without putting up obstacles that are easily avoided.
Love the discussion my friend.
When you tried digital, did you go "all the way?" By that I mean, shooting in Raw and using something like Lightroom to process in a way pleasing to you. You must have been unhappy with your results. Separating process from finished product, was there a common element missing in the finished product?
Hand held, before sunrise, at 1/60-sec. and 254mm, thanks to ISO 12800 and modern image stabilization:
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Totally understandable, to be honest it sounds as if we take different things away from it. With that being said, I think if I shot wildlife it would be in digital anyway. Too many variables with a subject which you can't control.