What has allowed you to make a significant, positive difference in your photography ?

[Monza76]

Originally Posted by lesmore49

Ira,

We have a lot in common in our reading tastes...I've got The Pentax Way, had it for many years...great book.

I'm also a fan of Peter Egan's columns in both R + T and Cycle World. He has published books with his collected columns from both magazines. I have a number of his books...great writer.

Les

I have seen ads in R&T for his books, I will have to pick one up some time. I guess you watch Top Gear as well?

[lesmore49]

Originally Posted by Monza76

I have seen ads in R&T for his books, I will have to pick one up some time. I guess you watch Top Gear as well?

Peter Egan's books are top notch.....has his columns and some stories that have previously appeared in R & T .

His motorcycle books (CW columns) are titled 'Leanings'...if you like motorcycles they are excellent.

Top Gear is one of my favourite shows....I love it. Only wish that BBC Canada would show more new episodes...I also wouldn't mind seeing some very old episodes that go back a number of years.

One of the cable channels used to show another British TV car show called Fifth Gear...don't think that was the title...but something like that. Starred Tiff Needell (sp. ?)...he was very entertaining, similar to Clarkson, Hammond and May.....

Les

[Monza76]

Originally Posted by lesmore49

Peter Egan's books are top notch.....has his columns and some stories that have previously appeared in R & T .

His motorcycle books (CW columns) are titled 'Leanings'...if you like motorcycles they are excellent.

Top Gear is one of my favourite shows....I love it. Only wish that BBC Canada would show more new episodes...I also wouldn't mind seeing some very old episodes that go back a number of years.

One of the cable channels used to show another British TV car show called Fifth Gear...don't think that was the title...but something like that. Starred Tiff Needell (sp. ?)...he was very entertaining, similar to Clarkson, Hammond and May.....

Les

Fifth Gear is the name of the show, it is actually the cast from the original Top Gear from the 1990s, it got cancelled, they went with another network and Clarkson managed to revive Top Gear with a new format (the one we know and love).

Sorry to hijack this thread, we will stop now.

I am really trying to become more of a photographer and less of a gear junkie. I do however believe that a backup camera gives me the confidence to shoot in more situations and get better pictures. Before my son's DS was stolen I took the DL everywhere and often got very good pictures because of it. Now that I have just one camera body again (and despite the fact that a K10 is far more rugged than a DL) I sometimes hesitate since I have concerns of damaging the camera.

It is -6C today with light (crystalline) snow and a -12C windchill factor. I will take the K10 and the old M100mm macro since the old MF lens will probably be less affected by the cold. Hopefully I can get some shots of ice-fishermen on the harbour.

[Monza76]

This may sound odd but one of the things that could improve my photography is a good chair. Seriously, I would spend more time post processing my images (which is a valid part of the photographic process that has just moved from the darkroom to the desk), if I had an ergonomically correct work station. Where I am now I have very little furniture and there is no furniture store in town, as a result I sit at a borrowed, too-tall desk, in a kitchen chair. After 15-20 minutes I have aches and pains that tell me to get away before I do any real harm.

I try to shoot finished images but there are always little adjustments to make such as straightening, minor cropping, white balance adjustments, sharpening etc.. Here those chores are literally a pain in the neck.

[penolta]

For me, it was Digital cameras and the computers and their image processing software. I had been a film photographer for years, but the ability to experiment with an instant view of the results has made it easier to make rapid (and much more economical) progress toward a goal. I have always read photo magazines, and learned form them, but a forum such as this with live discussion allows a two way interchange that was never possible with letters to the editor. Newer technologies, cameras, and lenses allow incremental improvements, but are really of less overall significance in an individual's growth as a photographer than learning what makes a good photograph and how to take it properly.

[Mark1616]

Just to pick up Top Gear again, you can get it with BBC iPlayer..... however, you need to use a proxy server in the UK to be able to view it. That's what I do while here in Egypt otherwise I would go crazy LOL.