JDuding
30-07-2015, 10:55am
Hi.
As I mentioned briefly on my profile details...
...I have been an active amateur photographer for near, ever.
Only recently, I have come across a problem that has led me to seek out new skills and better equipment.
While bushwalking a short time ago, I took one of many pics that I was using to post on web sites to rub in to Americans and other over-there-ians just how beautiful Australia is.
A favourite hobby of mine.
The pics and video I have been taking up till recently have been more than adequate for the intended purpose. There was an adequate river of foreign drool to give me a sense of satisfied contentment. A job well done.
Lately though, I found that using the same pics on a local web site provided a less than satisfying result. Australians have seen Australia and the pics need to be quite outstanding to evoke the slightest indication of having made an impression.
My work was ho hum, so so.
But...
in my attempts to lift my game... I was so impressed with a couple of my pics... I decided to take them to the local printer and have them printed large enough to join the Rainforest and waterfall pics I have hanging on the walls of the house.
Shocker... my pics, at full size... were a severe disappointment... and the only thing that saved them from being burned in a sacrificial fire pit was the resolve to keep them around as a reminder of just how far away I am from being able to produce anything remotely like that produced by my inspiration... Ken Duncan.
So... I now knew that I needed to upgrade my equipment. Spent a month searching the internet and reading almost endless amounts of sales quotes and reviews on all the current and past models of Digital SLR's.
Conclusion...
Medium format = too expensive in every way.
Any cropped sensor is not going to produce gallery sized quality of the subject mater I'm interested in.
The D810 would suffice... but still out of my comfort zone in regards to parting with money.
The Sony A7R may be the compromise I have to make to enter the next level of this game.
So... what do I need a forum for?
I've done my research... made my decision.
Good question, I'm glad you asked.
I took another pic just the other day and it looked like a failure. Just a jpeg taken with my HTC M9 mobile phone... no tripod and not even a selfie stick.
But what I produced in pp... using nothing but GIMP and some luck... was something that caught my eye and kept me captivated.
Posted it on a local site and waited for some critique. Nope. Did some further editing... posted... nothing.
So I spent 2 days checking out dedicated Australian forums to join and...
...here I am.
Totally amateur and not in a financial position to buy the equipment that would see me being able to quit my day job... let alone having the pp experience to make anything taken with said equipment worth publishing.
I am, however... interested in improving my technique and skills... but most of all... I am here to find out what it is I see when I look at a pic and see something... something that I can't describe.
I am here to look and learn and to show and discuss.
Hoping this is the place for me.
JDude... Duding Around.
As I mentioned briefly on my profile details...
...I have been an active amateur photographer for near, ever.
Only recently, I have come across a problem that has led me to seek out new skills and better equipment.
While bushwalking a short time ago, I took one of many pics that I was using to post on web sites to rub in to Americans and other over-there-ians just how beautiful Australia is.
A favourite hobby of mine.
The pics and video I have been taking up till recently have been more than adequate for the intended purpose. There was an adequate river of foreign drool to give me a sense of satisfied contentment. A job well done.
Lately though, I found that using the same pics on a local web site provided a less than satisfying result. Australians have seen Australia and the pics need to be quite outstanding to evoke the slightest indication of having made an impression.
My work was ho hum, so so.
But...
in my attempts to lift my game... I was so impressed with a couple of my pics... I decided to take them to the local printer and have them printed large enough to join the Rainforest and waterfall pics I have hanging on the walls of the house.
Shocker... my pics, at full size... were a severe disappointment... and the only thing that saved them from being burned in a sacrificial fire pit was the resolve to keep them around as a reminder of just how far away I am from being able to produce anything remotely like that produced by my inspiration... Ken Duncan.
So... I now knew that I needed to upgrade my equipment. Spent a month searching the internet and reading almost endless amounts of sales quotes and reviews on all the current and past models of Digital SLR's.
Conclusion...
Medium format = too expensive in every way.
Any cropped sensor is not going to produce gallery sized quality of the subject mater I'm interested in.
The D810 would suffice... but still out of my comfort zone in regards to parting with money.
The Sony A7R may be the compromise I have to make to enter the next level of this game.
So... what do I need a forum for?
I've done my research... made my decision.
Good question, I'm glad you asked.
I took another pic just the other day and it looked like a failure. Just a jpeg taken with my HTC M9 mobile phone... no tripod and not even a selfie stick.
But what I produced in pp... using nothing but GIMP and some luck... was something that caught my eye and kept me captivated.
Posted it on a local site and waited for some critique. Nope. Did some further editing... posted... nothing.
So I spent 2 days checking out dedicated Australian forums to join and...
...here I am.
Totally amateur and not in a financial position to buy the equipment that would see me being able to quit my day job... let alone having the pp experience to make anything taken with said equipment worth publishing.
I am, however... interested in improving my technique and skills... but most of all... I am here to find out what it is I see when I look at a pic and see something... something that I can't describe.
I am here to look and learn and to show and discuss.
Hoping this is the place for me.
JDude... Duding Around.