What Photographers Should Ask for the Holidays

Now that Halloween is officially behind us, we'll soon face the dreaded question, "What do you want for the holidays?" 

It's not like I don't have things on my wish list. There's plenty of photo gear I want. But it's also not like I can say, "Honey, would you please get me the new Panasonic GX7 camera body?"  And that's the problem. Photographers like expensive stuff.

I remember back in the early days of digital photography -- I needed a bigger memory card for my Apple QuickTake 200. They were somewhat pricy then. So that's what I requested. 

I did receive the SmartMedia, and was quite happy to have it. But I could also tell that it wasn't very satisfying for the giver. That's when I learned that gifts have to work for both parties involved. 

So now, when the predictable "what do you want" question surfaces, I reply, "Honey, I'd love a new cap. And how about this camping stove I've had my eye on?" Both items are a treat that I'd love to have. And they both actually help me be a better, more adventuresome photographer.

But most importantly, they are far more satisfying for the giver than a 1.4X tele extender. 

-Derrick

What's More Important: Pictures or the Experience?

I remember a time, especially in my 20s and 30s, when I was so obsessed with getting great shots while on the road, that I was clueless to everything else that was going on around me. (I probably wasn't a great travel companion during those days either.)

Over the years, I think I've mellowed in this area. My current philosophy is to travel light with high quality gear, so if something does present itself, I can capture it. And I'm doing a much better job of staying in the moment with those I'm traveling with. 

So this leads to the big question: What's more important: pictures or the experience? 

I'm certainly not going to discount the pictures. As I look at images from the past, they help me relive those great experiences. People sometimes ask me, "don't you want to get a souvenir or something to remember this place?" I have the best souvenirs of all:  photographs. 

But I've discovered that I have to live also. If my only experience from a trip to Alaska is  freezing by myself as I wait for the sun to rise, then I wouldn't call that a memorable trip. I want to eat good food, visit museums, explore the countryside, and have someone to share it with... during the activity itself. 

So I'm no longer the obsessed photographer with a viewfinder-only vision of the world. These days, I still have stories to tell and pictures to show. But now I have others to share them with.

-Derrick

Old Digital Cameras

I'm not quite sure why I hang on to old digital cameras. 

Technically, they are inferior to anything that I shoot with today. They're often slow starting, slow focusing, have low resolution, and are noisy at ISO 400 or higher. Yet, I keep them.

Actually, it goes beyond that. I have the battery chargers, connection cords, cases, and in some instances, obscure memory cards that work only with particular devices. With nearly every camera in my "collection," I can still take a picture. 

This includes an Olympus Camedia C-211 with a 2.1 MP sensor and a built-in Polaroid printer, an Apple QuickTake 200 with the multicolored Apple logo on the front, and a Canon PowerShot G1 with a 3 MP sensor that takes great Infrared pictures. I even have the original Kodak digital camera that doesn't have an LCD or removable memory. 

Maybe I keep these aging devices because they remind me of my own history, and how excited I was taking pictures with them. I still have those images. The metadata tells me which device was used and the time the picture was captured. 

These might be low-resolution accounts of chapters in my history, but I have them. I can look at those pictures today. And that's probably why I keep those old digital cameras. They are as much a part of my past as the events themselves.

-Derrick

The Work Room

Sometime late last night I finished updating the Photography Workshops page  for the 2014 season on The Digital Story. If you've ever attended one of my events, you know how passionate I am about them. 

I think one of the reasons why I like these gatherings so much is because they aren't virtual. A group of people with similar sensibilities get to work and hang out together... in the same space.

Back a few years ago, I was lucky enough to join 11 other pro shooters on an adventure to Iceland to vet the first version of Adobe Lightroom. It was an amazing event. I saw some of the most beautiful landscape ever.

What's interesting to me, however, is that my fondest memories of that adventure was hanging out in the workroom with the other photographers. We edited our images, talked shop, made prints, and got to know one another.  I still smile when I think about those afternoons in Iceland.

I try to bring this camaraderie to the workshops I facilitate. Capturing great pictures is important, but so is fellowship, good food, and community.

Photographers are really the only people who are interested in what other photographers think. That's why we need to get together every now and then. 

The Three Legged Beast

When I'm packing for a trip, there's always that one item that just won't fit in my suitcase. Most of the time, it's a tripod.  

By definition, tripods are leggy, awkward beasts that weigh as much as everything else combined. I'm not talking about a mini tripod. The object of my perplexity is the standalone, full size, big headed set of sticks.  

If I could get by all the time with just my Joby Gorillapod Micro 250, I would. The problem  with micropods is that they're not tall enough. So you need something like a big rock or a fence post. And those are heavier than a tripod.

So why do I even worry about this? Well sometimes I don't. Actually, often I don't. Most days I say to myself, "Screw it, I'm heading out with my nimble shoulder bag, and that's all."  And I usually get pretty nice shots.

Then there are those rare occasions, darn it, where I need a full size tripod:  

• Extreme depth of field for landscape
• Slow water shots
• HDR photography
• Timelapse
• Stars
• And other stuff I can't even remember right now.

So what do I do? Well, I get the lightest, sturdiest, most compact full size tripod I can afford, and I put it in the trunk of the car or my suitcase. There's still no guarantee that it will make it in the field with me. But at least the beast is within reach if I really have to have it. 

Darn it. 

-Derrick