filters

I got two 52mm filters for my lens for christmas, and I have to admit being a bit stumped what I'm supposed to do with them. I got one that's a UV haze filter, and that actually seems pretty obvious. I haven't had a chance to see if it works, but reducing haze? Hey, I'm all for it. It would make shots like this turn out a lot better:



I also got a circular polarizing filter. I've taken a couple of test shots (they're still in the camera), and, aside from eating light, I'm not sure what this thing is doing for me. In theory, I understand that it reduces reflected light and can add contrast, but what that will actually mean in terms of results is another question. I need to get it outside in plentiful light to see what it's all about. Unfortunately, I'm locked in the horrific wet gray hell of a pacific NW winter right now, so photographic opportunities have been limited.

influences

I started taking pictures seriously in High School, inspired by my friend Mark. I didn't really know anything about photography at that point, but I had my Pentax, so I used to go out at night with Mark trying to take low-light photos around the suburban environment. By the time I graduated, I had taken perhaps one decent roll of b&w pictures that I then almost immediately lost without ever printing them.

Mark was, at the time, receiving some instruction and a lot of support from Deb DeWitt-Marchant, a very successful Portland artist. Typically, I was there to catch any scraps of wisdom that hit the floor and cobbled together some sort of aesthetic based on that, my other drawing and painting, and various artists I admired (if only briefly).

In college, Mark worked for a long time at the darkroom, and I was lucky enough to have him show me around the place. I took enough pictures to put together a handful of photos that I thought were a lot better than they really were. I worked in the library for several years, and was a regular visitor to the photography section, where I gravitated to black and white or botanical material.

My final year in college, I got some sort of a wild hair, and all of a sudden I was seeing all sorts of photos I could be taking everywhere. That turned into an interest in unnoticed inanimate urban subjects, and I turned that interest into a b&w photography project.



My interest in photography really lay dormant for quite a long time after that. Aside from a lot of decent travel pictures and 1000 or so images taken as a travel/music writer, I didn't do much. I would pull out the old K_1000 from time to time, but until I got my first digital camera, a 1.3 MP Sony, I didn't really take anything worthwhile. I really didn't take many decent pictures until a couple years ago, when I got my Sony DSC P10.

Digital photography was a major revelation to me. Suddenly, I could render color images almost exactly as I saw them. Being able to review photos made it so I could learn on the fly. I didn't have to take the picture, hope it was right, then learn that I was mistaken days or weeks later. I could take a picture and learn from it instantly. Within perhaps 3 hours of getting the camera, I had improved my phtographic abilities dramatically. I think that most of the world was undergoing the same sort of revelation at about the same time (if not sooner).

Of course, when I got my DSLR, something similar occurred again. The ability to think about the image and then see it materialize or transform is incredibly valuable. I don't think I really feel fluent using the DSLR yet, but hopefully I will be able to capture what I see most of the time sometime soon. It's just a matter of practice, I think.

to RAW or not to RAW

...that is the question. I have had the ability to shoot in RAW format since I got my camera, of course, but I never have, mostly because of space considerations on my card. I'm starting to reconsider it, though, after LinusMines asked me about it. It's been forever since I took enough pictures in one session to fill up the SD card, so why not up the format and see what happens?

I thought I'd try to talk myself into it here first. RAW is, of course the best format available, at least according to what I've read. The question is why, and whether using the format has any benefits to me, a slacker/amateur photographer with delusions of grandeur.

My first concern about the RAW format is the size of the files created. I can easily pick up another SD card or two, but I use an aging computer to process and store finished images, and one of the unfortunate side effects of taking more good pictures has been an insupportable increase in stored data. Using RAW would exacerbate the problem, since I would then have to store both the RAW file and the finished image. The only way around that would be to get an external storage device (probably a good idea anyway) or a new computer (probably a good idea anyway, but I'm putting it off until strictly necessary). I count this as a con.

Next, I wonder if the difference would be noticable, in terms of image quality. I really don't want to take the extra time to get the same results, and digital manipulation has been kept to a minimum since I started using a DSLR. However, I can definitely see that, in adverse lighting conditions, a RAW format picture could be salvaged where a pre-processed JPG could not (or at least not as easily).

Lastly, I think that shooting in RAW might be wasted on me, because I still do not use a decent photo editor to process my pictures. Yes, it's true, everything I process gets processed by Picasa, and nothing else. What can I say, it works for me and I'm lazy, so that's what I do. I've thought about spending the big bucks on Photoshop, but why would I do that instead of, say, buying a new lens and a really nice tripod? If I can get good results using the low-budget editor, it's hard for me to see why I should spend the big bucks. Same with RAW. It might make a difference, but I like what I'm doing now, so it's hard to get motivated to change. maybe once I get used to my hardware upgrades I can start thinking about upgrading software, including shooting in RAW. Or who knows, the new hardware might make it necessary.