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12:32 pm
February 15, 2011
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This may not be the right place to ask the question, and you can answer me offline if you like, but I sure would like to know which brand and model of camera Suzanne uses to get her great shots. 
I won't name brands, but, I went from a point and shoot to an SLR with 2 big lenses to add on. The SLR is too heavy for any comfort in usage, and won't fit in a coat pocket, and really needs a tripod which I am too lazy to haul around. 
I messed up. I need EASY.
A waste of my good money, shall we say. 
Overkill for yard and garden and cat photos, shall we say! 
Soooooo…. what does my role model (Suzanne) carry around and use so often?
Thanks a lot. Retha
12:45 pm
February 22, 2010
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I had wondered that too… and I think she did do a spot on that… somewhere. However I've come to the conclusion that MY problem isn't my camera…it's the photographer!!!
I am sure someone on here can find where Suzanne's info about her camera went. I don't recall if it was just about her camera or if it was included when she was writing about something else.
1:08 pm
February 15, 2011
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Yes, I had already searched but did not find anything. If she mentions them online, maybe they have to pay her! Anyway, glad I am not the only one.
1:09 pm
February 22, 2010
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I found a post…it is in the Country Living category…"I Am Not a Photographer But I Play One on the Internet". This was posted in 2008 and I think she may be using a different one now. I may be dreaming but for some reason I am thinking she posted about a new camera. Guess we'll have to wait for Suzanne to tell us the answer.
4:24 pm
October 17, 2008
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Suzanne's camera is a Canon SX20IS. They don't produce these ones anymore, it's upgraded to a SX30IS…that's the one I got! Love it! This one has a 35X zoom, where the 20IS doesn't. And it doesn't use AA batteries (wish it did), so I bought a couple spares.
7:08 pm
February 15, 2011
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Thank you! Now I know what to shop for.
7:33 pm
February 26, 2010
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It IS all about the photographer and the subject!
My ex is a wonderful photographer and one of his best pics were taken with (get this!) an Instamatic way back in the day of Instamatics. His usual cameras for work were Nikon, Hasselblad, and / or a Yashika mat 2 1/4. (I probably spelled those wrong, but too lazy to look em up). All were heavy to carry around and then when you add all the lenses…a dolly would have been good!
It's also about taking many pics of the same subject just to get the right shot. I remember going through wedding proofs to pick the best ones to show the couple. I felt cross eyed by the end of it all as many looked exactly the same…but there was always one or two that everyone was smiling just right and no one had their eyes closed!
I use my daughters Canon Powershot S40. She was an awesome photographer! I don't feel that I do her camera justice, but I continue to try! Sentimental value will keep me using it for as long as it lasts!
Remember the wait and expense of using film???? LOVE LOVE LOVE digital cameras!!
Pam
11:23 pm
February 15, 2011
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I love digital, too! It was always a guessing game with film. Shots I took in Colorado in about 1985, lying on my stomach to get the right angle on chipmunks, would be much easier to take today. None of the shots of wading across the Rio Grande at El Paso came out, and that was very disappointing, since we did not know immediately that we needed to do it again. Of course, the one of me with my coat buttons hung in the van door came out just fine. Mountain and lake shots looked like magazine covers, but close was just impossible to get to my satisfaction.
Sometimes it actually is about the equipment. If I see a photo contest, I want to enter it. Now, in order to enter certain contests, you must send (email) the actual shot and it must be at least this many mp, and so on. My point and shoot camera shots look wonderful on screen, not too bad when printed, but closeups reveal that my pixel count is low.
SO… seeking perfection by enlarging and artistically cropping, I guess. The 35x zoom on the Canon would sure take care of that.
Also, some color is not true, and Suzanne's Canon always has true color. (So you have figured out that I am not using a Canon or a Nikon now!) I have a blurry neon blue and orange chicken roo pic as proof of color being off! He is really a greenish and red English gamecock. It was challenged as 'enhanced color' at the county fair!! I liked it, however.
Still shopping for best price… which is lots of fun, too.
2:06 pm
May 14, 2005
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Yes, that post about my camera from 2008 is outdated. I have the Canon PowerShot SX20IS, as Cindy said. Before that I had the Canon PowerShot SX10IS. Cindy now has the latest one, the SX30IS, and anything in that "family" of cameras will be great.
And that is true about taking a LOT of photos!
2:18 pm
May 14, 2005
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oh–and, on the other topic–I think it is some of each, re the photographer or the camera. There is no doubt in the world that a high quality camera will take better photos. The Canon PowerShot SX series in a mid-range camera, by the way. Reasonable price, great photos, manual and auto versatility, an all-around good camera if you don't want a full SLR or just aren't ready for one. It's easy enough to use even if you don't know HOW to use all its features, but a "real" photographer certainly wouldn't use it for normal professional use. I know photographers who have similar cameras for "leisure" use so they don't have to lug around a lot of equipment, but it's in no way a true professional camera. But, it's a heck of a lot better than the average low-end point-and-shoot and will take great pictures.
On the other hand, you can put the same camera in the hands of two different people and they will take strikingly different qualities of photos. Photography is a creative art, and there is a lot to it in terms of natural eye and storytelling talent in capturing photos. I also know photographers who are superb technical photographers but not very creative photographers. (And creative photographers who are not very adept technical photographers!) It's fun trying! I am definitely NOT an adept technical photographer myself.
Next camera, I'm hoping to be a Canon Rebel, a step up. (More expensive for one of the really, really nice Rebels, so I'm waiting.) I'm definitely a Canon fan.
6:59 pm
December 28, 2008
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Canons are great cameras – or at least they always were, and I am glad to hear that they still are. My first Canon was an AE1Program. It still is a wonderful camera, if you want film. It has a 35-100 zoom lense that just lives on it. (With a beverage cozy covering the lens!)
Had to laugh – my first camera was an Instamatic that came with serious instruction from a professional photographer. He set me up with a lab to get rolls of film developed for 50 cents per roll and told me to take LOTS of pics until I figured it out! In black and white only to learn composition, then get into color later.
Don't know if that system works for anyone, or if he just knew that is how I needed to do it. My second camera was another Instamatic, with an adjustable lens, believe it or not. It took GREAT pics.
All just to agree that taking lots of pics is for sure the way to get some really good ones. Pros take bunches of pics, so the rest of us really should not expect to get decent ones without also taking a lot of not very great ones.
10:07 am
November 11, 2010
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To this question I'd like to ask about photo editing. As a writer would never publish a piece with editing, so too, doesn't a photographer always edit? Tips on this, please, i.e. software you use and also most common issues/fixes. If we need to create another thread, please forgive me.
Who told the story about saying to a photographer, "you must have a great camera to get shots like that" is like saying to your dinner hostess, "you must have great pots to cook a meal like that" ?
10:50 am
February 10, 2009
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I'm not a photographer at all, as anyone who's seen the pictures I post can surely tell but what I do is use as high a quality photos as my camera will take and upload them, then crop them and reduce them in size etc.
I use a very old copy of Adobe Paint Shop Pro which I sprung for ages and ages ago when I could get a student discount. I wish I'd gotten Photo Shop, but it's too late now for regrets! It doesn't do color adjusting well or specifically fix things like red eye or glare very well, but I'm used to it and can get around to crop and edit some flaws pretty well. Since I'm not a great photographer, that's ok for me.
I'll be watching for other software that works too though, it's possible that there's free stuff out there that does more now than my old software does from back in the day. (can't upgrade it, they want me to buy all new now!… of course).
11:24 am
February 10, 2009
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mamajoseph said:
Who told the story about saying to a photographer, "you must have a great camera to get shots like that" is like saying to your dinner hostess, "you must have great pots to cook a meal like that" ?
No idea who said this mamaJo, but I LOVE it!
11:36 am
May 14, 2005
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I use Photoshop Elements. It's much less expensive than the full Photoshop program and it's more than enough for me. I love it.
11:57 am
October 31, 2010
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I use photoshop because I do graphic design as my job. That being said, I wanted to comment on the student discount software.
Many of you have children that can qualify for the student discount for high end software packages. These are great deals on full software versions. Once the original is purchased, they can be upgraded at upgrade prices just like the regular software as the years pass so you're not locked in to the version you purchased. Of course, upgrades are MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE than the originals, so it pays to keep them up-to-date.
Professional photo editing software is great…but there IS a learning curve involved. If you do purchase Photoshop, I'd encourage you to purchase a basic tutorial-type book and work through the exercises. It will help you get much more out of your purchase….or just hook up with someone like me that has used the program for a number of years that's willing to teach you a trick or 2!!
12:20 pm
October 31, 2010
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One more bit of input…
as a graphic design person, I'm asked to take photos for my workplace for advertising, web, etc. Regardless….I am one of those people that carry the little Canon myself. I can't imagine lugging around a huge SLR camera and lenses when I'm vacationing or just doing life, etc. I want something that's compact and ready to go. I have a Canon SX110 IS and often use it even for work photography rather than the more expensive SLR.
The main advantage I like on the SLR is the exchangeable lenses that allow for a much greater zoom. The SX110, however, has 10X optical and I'm finding it does really well for most the photos I take personally.
I DO use photoshop on my photos a lot though!!!!
12:58 pm
December 14, 2010
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I have had some very good cameras and some very simple cameras and I have taken a few excellant pictures with all of them.
I once took a batch if pinwheel cookies to a church party and someone asked me how I got them so perfect I said it was easy you just work as carefully as you can and pick out the two dozen that are perfect. The same holds with photography. You take many, you wait for the light, you try to get the best angles and take advantage of opportunity.
4:20 pm
February 15, 2011
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I use Picasa 3 and PSE 8 for editing. Actually, for quick and efficient photo editing, the free program Picasa 3 has the main choices right up front – crop and straighten. I just learned to add text across the printed part of the pic, so it made it easy to prominently show the location of the shot… our garden sites.
And I learned to scrapbook digitally and then print the pages with Picasa in about 4 hours one morning, and was very pleased with the results, making a going away gift for a friend. "They" say working out puzzles keeps you from having alzheimers - they should try figuring out new software!
In April, that camera was $200, and now the very same one ranges from $379 to $519. Groan. Do they go on sale at Christmas?
9:30 am
May 6, 2010
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I have Photoshop Elements 9. My husband got it for me for Christmas last year. He got me my first DSLR for my birthday this year. Although, I don't have really any idea what I am doing with either of them, I bought a couple of books and I am learning. There are a couple of blogs that I go to for PSE9 that I find very helpful. Anyway, I am having fun playing around and learning!
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