If you have followed me on Light Stalking for a while, you will know that around two years ago, I sold my Fuji system and went all in on a Sony a7Rv with various lenses. The decision was not made lightly but based on both my photographic and video needs as well as lingering doubts about more recent Fuji cameras.
So why have I returned to Fujifilm? Well I haven’t, at least not on a professional basis, but I have bought a Fujifilm camera. Let me explain
Author: Jason Row
Jason has more than 35 years of experience as a professional photographer, videographer and stock shooter. You can get to know him better here.
As photographers, we don’t have to explain ourselves, our images do that for us. But whilst they will often tell a story, they don’t always tell our story, the story of how and why we took a certain picture. Sometimes, it is simply nice to be able to show other people the creative and technical thought processes that brought you to that final image.
I haven’t been to a photography show for a very long time. In fact, it’s quite possible the last one was in the analogue era. I had tentative plans to visit Photokina in 2020, but we all know what happened then.
So with this year’s UK based Photography and Video show taking place in Birmingham, a significantly closer location to me than London, I decided to take the plunge and spend two days there.
That new lens you just bought, bitingly sharp isn’t it? It’s cutting edge, using the latest optical technology, advanced coatings and complex mechanical engineering. Yet, the images you take from it, lack something.
They are unbelievably sharp, edge to centre at all apertures, yet the images lack spark, they seem clinical. Welcome to the world of perfect photography, it’s a world that we and the manufacturers have striven for for decades. However, now it’s here, it all feels a little disappointing.
The relentless march of technology has very much changed what we can do with our cameras. Thirty years ago, putting an ISO 1600 film in our camera, guaranteed very grainy images. Twenty years ago, shooting digital at 3200 promised a similar grain in the form of noise. Today, I can shoot a 61 megapixel camera at 16000 ISO and get results that look significantly better than 3200 ISO on a 12 megapixel camera 20 years ago.
Before we look at that, let’s take a look at why the tripod has been such an important part of any photographer’s life.
Very little photography marketing these days tunes into the most important element, creativity. Why is that? Because you can be creative with cheap, old and used camera gear as much, if not more than with the latest megapixel busting dream machine.
The simple fact is chasing perfection can stifle our creativity. We can concentrate far too much on the many technical elements of our cameras to the point of ignoring the creative. Today we are going to look at why low tech and older camera gear might just be the creative spark that you are looking for.
