Bluelight photographers, unite!

[pseudointellectual]

Alright, let's all pony up with some shots of our gear, or gear we use. Post some of your favorite images you've taken, as well. Let's have some good, hearty photography discussion. This isn't an e-dick sizing thread(ie. I have a 1dsmk2 w/a 1200mm L lens, I'm uber l337, etc.), this is a thread in which we can critique each other, share information, and learn to become better photographers.

My gear..Canon Elan 7n and EF 50mm f/1.8 II

I'll post pics of some other equipment I use later tonight.

 

[BA]

I don't have any actual pictures of my camera, but this is what I have

Canon T-70

I have a couple different filters for it as well.

I also have this "camera", I'm reasonably sure it's 1.3 megapixel - Nokia 6230

 

[abieda]

oooh.. my first camera was a canon T70. I also have a canon elan 2, a canon G5 digital and a pentax optio WP. The pentax doesn't take the greatest pictures but it's really fun to have a digital camera that can be used underwater.

I don't have any pictures of my equiptment, yet, but mayhaps I'll post some later.

Here's a favorite photo of mine, taken with my G5 during a lunar eclipse.

 

[pseudointellectual]

alright, more pictures of gear have been uploaded, and now reside in my gallery. when I get back from school, I'll probably upload some photos.

 

[wanderlust]

here are the two recent favorites i have been using. i have a few more older medium formats i love too but am too lazy to find pictures of:

pentax medium format

canon 20D dslr

 

[pseudointellectual]

oo..medium format. the 20D is what I have in mind for later on down the road. by the time I'm serious about purchasing one, I think it's successor will be out, and the price of the 20D will drop dramatically(think Rebel when Rebel XT came out). are you on fredmiranda.com?

 

[shutterbug]

i don't have any pictures of my gear either...i'm really more interested in the pictures we take. i use an old 35mm minolta that was my grandfathers...i'm a firm believer that high tech equipment doesn't equal good photographs; you can take just as good of a picture with a camera that you don't have to shell out hundreds of dollars for it's all about talent!

anyway, i'll definately post some of my images...unfortunately though, i don't have a scanner and most of my work that i'm the most proud of is done on paper in the darkroom (b&w). i guess i could try taking pictures of those pictures (?)...haha, and have them look really shitty. i'll see what i can do

 

[pseudointellectual]

...i'm a firm believer that high tech equipment doesn't equal good photographs; you can take just as good of a picture with a camera that you don't have to shell out hundreds of dollars for it's all about talent!...

that is true to some extent; however, equipment does matter. you can't get a non-rectilinear image (fisheye) on film without a fisheye lens. sure, you can manipulate it digitally, but it won't be of the same quality(size, angle of view, etc) as capturing the image mechanically. equipment tends to become a limitation as a photographer progresses. in terms of film, things are a little different, because the glass, film, and proper metering are things of the greatest importance, while with digital, there's a whole slew of important factors, including the aforementioned, except film...replace that with the sensor(size, type, megapixels, etc. are all topics of discussion). what I'm trying to say, is you can't get the same image out of a lowly Sony DSC-P72, such as the one I have, as a midrange DSLR such as wanderlust's 20D. It's physics!...or something like that. :D sorry, I tired to get a little heated when I hear that arguement. [/rant]

 

[mariacallas]

I took up Communication Arts back in college, and I used my grandfathers manual Pentax for my photography course (we used black and white 35mm film, manual cameras and developed our own film in my liberal arts college darkroom)

This was waaay before digital cameras became de rigueur for most everybody (especially film students!) but I was glad I learned how to shoot manual pictures properly and develop them. I went thru a slew of automatic cameras after that, and right now I have a two year old digital Canon Ixus 3000 which I'm pretty much satisfied with. (the only digital camera I own, aside from my Nokia 7210 and 6600 ) I'll probably get a newer camera in the future when I can afford it , its not really up there in my list of priorities tho :D)
Here a few pics I've taken with my Ixus :

lol:D

 

[mariacallas]

.i'm a firm believer that high tech equipment doesn't equal good photographs; you can take just as good of a picture with a camera that you don't have to shell out hundreds of dollars for it's all about talent!

I agree!!!

 

[shutterbug]

in terms of film, things are a little different, because the glass, film, and proper metering are things of the greatest importance, while with digital, there's a whole slew of important factors

this is probably why we disagree (and not to get you more heated ), but i personally don't really like digital cameras and photoshop and all the technology that's come about for photography (even though it is what everything is coming to). i mean it's neat, but i don't feel that an altered image (via photoshop) is true photography... i like the idea of the good old-fashioned ways, where you process your film and print your pictures and don't change them to make them look better.

it's like airbrushed models in magazines...too fake. i like things the way they really are...when i look at a photograph, i like to know that i could go to where it was taken and that's what i'd really see.

and i'm only 20! a newbie to the game, but sticking to tradition and what i like!

 

[shutterbug]

thanks crystal (for backin' me up)! by the way, i really like your second photo down (of the clouds)...i'm a sucker for cloud pictures...when i see them it makes me want to go run thru them and play in them (if that were possible )

the one after that kinda reminds me of a corona comercial

 

[DG]

i mean it's neat, but i don't feel that an altered image (via photoshop) is true photography... i like the idea of the good old-fashioned ways, where you process your film and print your pictures and don't change them to make them look better.

it's like airbrushed models in magazines...too fake. i like things the way they really are...when i look at a photograph, i like to know that i could go to where it was taken and that's what i'd really see.

I agree wholeheartedly with you. Photography talent is when you can take a photograph that does not need editing, sharpening, or any changing. I do however really like photoshop and other photo manipulating programs for the sake of being artistic and fun.

My mothers boyfriend is a photographer and has been doing it for over 30 yrs i believe, and he just moved to using digital cameras and photoshop because most of his clients all want things a certain way with certain things you just cant do with a different lense. Sometimes he lets me use his cameras but they are so damn expensive im scared of breaking them lol.

I had a Sony cybershot digital camera but for christmas i just got this and i LOVE it:

I also got the underwater case to go with it but i am skeptical about taking it with me when i go scuba diving this april on vacation...yes it says it can go up to 130 ft deep but im so scared my camera will break

 

[Dtergent]

I use a Nikon F90X SLR. It's a great camera but I'm still getting used to the weight and the sound... I used to have a Canon Rebel EOS (also not digital) but I lost it on a trip.

I don't have anything against digital photography, although film does have a different look and is generally nicer. Film is just so damn expensive compared to digital, and you can take hundreds of photos. Though if I had unlimited cash I would definitely stick to film. I just don't have the budget to experiment much now... maybe when I start working again.

 

[chrissie]

you can take a great image without a great camera, but a great camera is going to make it all that much better.

as for modifying images digitally, i see no problem with it. film photographers use filters for contrast etc and touch things up by hand. it does take talent to capture a moment with photography and make it great, but it also takes talent to tweak that image to take it to the next level. i don't see how it is any less artistic.

 

[jaymie]

i shelled out a few hundred for my second manual camera, the canon AE1. pretty basic really and unfortunately i don't have the cash for all the lenses i'd like to get, so for now i've just got that with it's standard 52mm lens. i wanted to go for a nikon because of the trade off you get with the lense functionality, but the program at my school only had canon equipment for rent and i wanted to be able to use all that for my projects. i can't complain though, it's very sturdy and works well for the sort of style i go for. i also have a super 8 camera, (real good for dodgy sort of old school films) and a polaroid.

i just wanted to add my two cents on the digi topic as well. i am not a traditionalist, although i do have a respect for those who are. i really admire the modern photographers who use only older, but not necessarily outdated equipment, such as the view camera. i do not feel it is less or more artistic than you make it out to be. the wonderful thing about photography as a medium is that is so very multi-functional and there are so many great things you can do with it to create what you see out there in the great wide world.

that is the AE1 down there

the super 8

 

[jaymie]

here is some b&w stuff i've shot in the past year. i worked really hard to get these looking good in the dark room....there is definitely a lot i don't know - so bein in the dark room is a most challenging place. you really discover all the improvements you could make in all areas of the process when it's all layed in front of you, there is no magical human behind the curtain fixing all your mistakes for you. and you can work so hard and get nowhere and ya feel like a total retard and then when you're not even tryin you get this amazing picture that you've no clue where it came from!! all you can do is to keep tryin!

 

[SA]

you can work so hard and get nowhere and ya feel like a total retard and then when you're not even tryin you get this amazing picture that you've no clue where it came from!!

Nicely put, jaymie. I miss those discovery moments with film cameras.
Great photos too.

 

[jaymie]

'preciate it. ^

 

[Belisarius]

Beautiful shots, Jaymie--I do miss the old B&W "art" shots. It seems to be a dying craft.