The photo that started it all

[kazuya]

i took this photo about 12 years ago with a ancient practica slr id bought from a car boot sale, i used a 500mm lens that was so long it used to wobble in the middle, i forget how much i paid, but it wouldnt have been more than a few pounds for both.
id only ever used basic compacts before so you can imagine it was a big step up, i bought a roll of film, had fun loading it and away i went.
as you can imagine most of the pictures were rubbish, to light to dark or out of focus lol
but amongst all the rubbish there was this picture of my daughter natasha, and i loved it, in fact its still one of my favorite pics, yea theres a lot wrong with it, but i still like it, and after i saw it i was hooked on photography and i still am

[Hawgwild]

I like it. I still shoot film occasionally, do you? And yes, I know how old this post is LOL

[peterbj7]

One of my favourite pictures is a still I took with a Sony DCR-PC3 video camera years ago. It's of an exceptionally pretty and characterful cat that I no longer have, and artistically it's by far the best of him I have. Just as the ear filters out all the rubbish and hears the music, so the eye can tolerate graininess and let you see the picture. By any objective standards it's a rubbish picture, but it's dear to me.

[kazuya]

thanks guys
yes i was surprised to this post when i logged in lol

[peterbj7]

With modern PP technology you can probably improve that picture considerably. Your daughter? She's an adult by now.

[kazuya]

yea she will be 18 this year and ive not tried doing anything with the pic, but you know what, i like it just the way it is

[Hawgwild]

I couldn't help myself lol. I agree, some pics are better left as they are, but I simply "lit up" portions of her face to better see her eyes. Nothing drastic.

[peterbj7]

Can you say exactly how you did that? My PP skills are distinctly poor.

[jdnan]

What got me into DSLR's was my trip to Russia & what got me into investigating better equipment was the shot below at the Moscow wedding that was the impetus for our trip. There is a lot wrong with that picture as well, but the capture caused me to ditch the video camera and start learning how to shoot better stills. The pictures stirrs me to this day: the look on the bride & groom, the girl in lavendar just missing the bouquet, the bird in flight, as if God is blessing this wedding, & most of all, my teenage daughter's gorgeous red hair glowing as she catches the bouquet. It causes emotion to well up in me each time I look at it.

[peterbj7]

Just like the little boy who said he preferred radio to television because the pictures were better, really good still photography can show movement perhaps better than an average video.