Well, what made me spent some time to write this was motivated by a recent conversation with a few former photography students I taught 10 years ago. Their Nikon D90 or D300 are now in the dry box, barely touched for the past year except during one of their overseas tour to New Zealand and another to Hokkaido. They have not been shooting much with thier old DSLRs.
I shared with them the excitement of using some of the newer technology in photography, new lenses, unbelievably higher ISO, ability to focus in very low light etc. Their reply was that they are very much satisfied to use their mobile phone camera more than any other camera equipment for their daily photo needs, to be posted in Facebook or Instagram. I have also received an email from my fellow photographer in Australia, who has stopped taking part in exhibitions and competitions, now happy and satisfied when he got the “LIKES” from his Facebook posts.
Several camera shops which I have been visiting have been struggling in their sales for the past few years. Even my fellow mates in the professional photography circle have adapted drastically in their previously lucrative photography businesses. Some even gave up and opened food and beverage joints.
Yes, we have also struggled since 2011 when more people do not take up photography courses and learnt tips here and there from social media instead. Even for the overseas photo trips, with social media getting everyone so connected, it is not hard to form a small group amongst themselves and getting good leads from private sources like drivers who now lead photo trips in their respective countries. But of course, do not expect them to help you create the setup scenes with models and smoke.
Nonetheless, the passion in photography in me is still very much alive. I am very clear about my goals in photography, which is to enjoy the shooting process using a good camera coupled with good optics. I still like that clicking sound from my old D4. I can have the option to share on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and also having better resolution images from my fullframe DSLR. I can have wider options with the images like having them exhibited in overseas exhibitions, selling them and also send for competitions or enlarge into big print to hang on the wall in my house or office or in my friend’s cafe.
There is a limit to how large an image taken from handphone can be printed. The joy of seeing mine and a group of our members enlarged works being exhibited in other countries can be very rewarding.
Recently, I started to post two pictures per day on my Social Media platform, hopefully helping to jumpstart my followers and students into getting out their DSLR or mirrorless to start shooting passionately again. You need not be a serious photographer to do so, just need to reignite the passion within yourself.
There are a lot of easier to use software today, such as the ACDSee Pro series from www.acdsee.com which help many of my students solve their digital enhancement issues effortlessly. For those who like to go the extra mile, they get the Photoshop to use the plugin filters like Topaz Lab or Niksoftware. I am now conducting 2 SkillsFuture approved photography workshops at SUSS just in case you like to get back into photography with renewed zest.
At the end of the day, after taking better resolution images with the DSLR or mirrorless cameras and viewing them in the ACDSee software, you will understand why there are still so many photography enthusiasts out there still moving on in their photography journey with the DSLR and mirrorless cameras.
One thing for sure for now is that the image resolution and quality from a handphone camera is no match compared to those from the APSC or fullframe DSLR or Mirrorless, due mainly to the large difference in sensor size. Handphone photography does not enjoy the flexibility of having a wide range of good quality optical zoom lenses while maintaining its compact size.
However, perhaps one day, engineers might create ultra nano photosites to fit within the small sensor of the handphone camera, coupled with ultra nano glass elements to create compact retractable zoom lenses with diameter of a 5cent coin. This may be the next revolution.
Photography is also a good hobby to grow with in our life journey till our very last moments. It helps stimulate your mind and gets you moving. It gets you to mingle with other photographers from other countries.
Lets get ourselves renewed with more passion and zest in this great hobby in photography.
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