Kent

When our teenage siblings are in the area, I like to take them out for a photo shoot. They are always willing. This is one of the shots I got during the snow storm we had the other day.

Follow for a Chance to Win a $25 Amazon Gift Card

If you follow this blog in the month of March, on April 1, 2012 I will be giving away an Amazon Gift Card.  For every follower that is following this blog until then I will increase the gift card by $.10.  That means that if 100 follow the blog on April 1, 2012 I will be giving away a $10.  If 250 follow the blog I will be giving away a $25 gift card.  There must be at least 50 followers for this giveaway to occur, which is about 30 new followers.  There will be a $25 limit on the gift card.  Check back to see if you are a winner on April 1.  The winner will be chosen at random.

Drummond Photo Shoot

On a cold January day, this lovely family visited our home for a quick photo shoot. It had to be quick because there was one fussy very energetic one year old, along with his big brothers.

Meet the Drummonds. They happen to be a very special family to us, since they are my (Bethany’s) brother, sister-in-law, and nephews. When smiles were nearly gone, and the older two boys were nearly consumed with wiggles, I pulled out a puppet, and this was the result.

 

Mommy and Daddy’s smiles weren’t hard to find!

And big, 6 year-old brother thought he was tough stuff when he got to pose by himself.

Little brother enjoyed copying big brother.

 

And the littlest one just wanted to be done, but was willing to share a few smiles along the way!

  

It’s hard for this aunt to believe that her nephews are growing up so fast! It seems like yesterday that I went to see them the day they first made their appearance on planet Earth.

Abraham Lincoln???

My brother-in-law, Andy, is a fun individual.  He loves many ironic things.  I had to take his picture just after Christmas and he got a T-shirt that he is wearing in the picture.  I thought to myself, “Self, he looks like Abraham Lincoln.  All he needs is a top hat.”  So my wife gave him a digital top hat and made the picture look better by making it look more 1800’s. 

Choosing the right Camera-Film or digital

If you looked at the titles of my posts last week you can pick any of the combinations and come up with a different camera. Just using six different name brands and not even considering where to buy the camera, or costs, and only using 2 choices for the others, there comes to well over 500 choices. That is why I am spending a good chunk of time on this section, that and because it is important to have the right camera for you and for your needs.

This in my opinion is the easiest choice that you will make, yet it is very foundational to how you will take all your photos. Let us looks and the pros and cons of the film, or 35mm, camera.

35mm Pros

You can blow up the pictures easier and the quality is superb.

You can prove your pictures were unedited, in most cases, which can be important, but generally will not be.

Cheaper initial startup cost

Can use if you don’t have a computer (though you really don’t need one for a digital camera, a computer does make it a lot easier to use)

Digital Pros

Easier to find

Cheaper in the long run if you print pictures

Smaller storage

Easier to back up copies

Quicker print times

Easier to print

More options in the camera

Editing is easier

You can see your pictures before you print them

And really there is so many more options that I do not have space to list them all.

Really the pros of the film camera really are marginally better than the digital, but the digital’s pros are astoundingly greater than the film camera.

Though the quality is better in the film camera, with the technology today it is only slightly better, even in the moderately and economically priced cameras. This is really not a selling point for me for a film camera. Even a few years ago some photo contests required film shots, however, those are becoming dinosaurs, but I still see a few around that want a film shot picture just to prove it has not been edited. Only one out of maybe ten thousand might want to invest in a camera for this purpose, so don’t until you need one. The startup cost may be less, but that is probably because you almost have to go used and even if they were $100 compared to a $1000 digital camera, look at the long term price. (My camera and flash did not even cost $1000) If you take fifty pictures a week with a film camera, you have to print them all because you cannot seem them, while digital camera you can print only the ones you want or as you need them. And with the use of digital picture frames, or in my case we can show them on our monitor (or a TV) just like a one of those picture frames, you will have to print hardly any at all. So for our math for your digital camera let’s say you print 10 a week. Total 2 year cost is Film: $1608 and Digital: $1301.60. By year two you are already saving money and you will have a better camera.

Some people look at the features of a film camera and say that it is more reasonable, but there is a reason when you go into Wal-Mart, a film camera is like finding a Dodo bird in your backyard.

I think it is important to end on why I think the digital camera is the best camera. You can see your picture immediately with no costs (I had to add no costs because the old polaroids you could see them immediately. Those old polaroids were my first camera back in the 80’s.) I just did a photo shoot a few weeks ago. I got hurt during the setup of some new equipment I had just bought and so I was not in a good mood. I was running late and the family had a baby who was not in a good mood either. Nor did the other two boys want to cooperate all too much. So trying to get one good family picture when one boy was crying 99% of the time he was to get his picture taken, and the other two just being boys, getting a good picture was like getting blood out of a turnip. So what did I do? I took over 100 pictures trying to get just one shot. If you look here you will see one of the pictures. You would not know it but this child is in almost full crying mode. This picture was taken when his face was turning from a frown to a half smile from something my wife did behind me, but he was still crying, though you would never know it. Digital photography really revolutionized photography.