Category: Uncategorized
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Our Town
Photos from a few hours of shooting folks in our town – Oakville, Ontario, Canada – May 18, 2024 Our club, the Oakville Camera Club, offers a lot of training and photography opportunities for members. A vibrant, big club we’re blessed to have a wide spectrum of talent and newcomers. One of the opportunities offered…
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How Do I Get Better?
I see this plea daily on FaceBook. Somebody with a new digital camera or a new-to-them old film camera posts a bunch of really bad images and asks for advice on how to improve their photography. How bad could these images possible be? Well a lot of them are really out of focus. Some of…
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How Far Is Too Far?
I normally don’t do this preferring to use my own images but for teaching purposes i’m using an Ansel Adam’s image that includes the printing instructions he sent to his printer to create the final print on the right. So how far is too far when it comes to image manipulation? When it comes to…
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It’s A Playground
If you’re new to film photography or even if you’ve been around for awhile Karin Majoka has posted a video you should watch. In her April 16, 2024 how-to-do-it video Karin reviews the 13 most common mistakes newcomers make when buying and using film cameras. In my 60+ years of shooting film I think I’ve…
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It’s Not The Camera
Another day, another guy lost on FaceBook when it comes to his camera. This time the post reads like it comes from a long-time photographer who is new to Olympus OM-1 (and this post could have been about any new digital camera) and his complaint that he couldn’t get a decently sharp image of bike…
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The Zone System
After 60 years of shooting pro and amateur I am still not sure I am the guy you should ask about the Zone System as described by master photographer Ansel Adams. Invented by Adams 80 years ago the Zone System is used in black and white photography as a relative quick way of determine the…
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How To Fail
I did not have the heart to reply to the guy on FaceBook who was attending a motor sport event soon and wanted anyone who had used his camera (Olympus OM-1) to share some pics and some settings. This is the perfect storm that will lead to frustration and failure. There is no useful information…
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Why So Expensive?
Newcomers often get dazzled by the amazing technology available for our shiny new digital cameras. When buying a new camera often the photographer’s first lens is the “kit” lens that came with the camera. These are relatively cheap slow zooms that actually change aperture as the move through their zoom range. This reduces construction costs…
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Everyone An Expert?
Do you complain about the lyics in the latest Taylor Swift song? How about the work of Bob Dylan or Frank Sinatra ? Do you think Rembrandt got his painting right? How about Picasso? Did Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev meet your expectations? Unless you’re very different from most people you’re going to say well…
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Where’s The Duck?
One of the fastest ways to get better as a photographer is, as I’ve said, join a local club and get involved with all of their activities. Last night the Oakville Camera Club hosted a webinar featuring renown master Canadian photographer Freeman Patterson. A member of the Order of Canada a read of his achievements…
