In a photo, no matter how simple or no matter how complex, the eye of the viewer is always drawn to a point. And in the same image, different people may be drawn to completely different points of interest. The photographer, in the creative planning, may seek to guide or lead the viewer to a certain area or point. Or he, she or they may create the piece and let each viewer find their own way to wherever and whatever may catch their eye. They look, they smile, and we ask:
If you’re a photographer, you know what the RAW file format is, even if you don’t truly care for it. I was in that camp; I only used RAW if I held it to be really important to do so. Translation: if I was shooting a job where an exposure problem, event or mishap would not be easily tolerated, RAW and only RAW could fix or adjust all but the most badly exposed images. Other than that, RAW and its huge file size just took up precious disk space. Wedding? RAW! Birthday party? Probably not. Model work? Definitely not! Yes, I had a vetting process for photography jobs to decide whether or not I would use the RAW + JPeg setting on my cameras. Recently, I experienced a change of heart and work flow.
Simply put, all photography work is important, priceless actually. Each and every time you press, tap or verbally activate a camera shutter, you are capturing a tiny slice of reality that will never ever exist again. Why should I value a blushing bride’s first dance as more important than a two year old’s smashed birthday cake photo? Is it right to view a model’s beautiful pose on a beach as expendable while marking Uncle Benny’s tearful retirement speech as worthy of extra disk space?
All photographs are important and should be treated as such. So, going forward, both my main camera and my backup camera are set to capture the very flexible and fluid RAW file and a companion jpeg image with each click of the shutter. Disk space can always be increased as needed. However, an image floating just outside the reaches of recovery will have you wishing you had a RAW file. My advice: always shoot a RAW file. Always.
It may come off as a strange statement but I am glad that this item broke. Really, truly, I am. Now, here’s the deal: the item in question is a UV photographic filter. I have been doing photography for some thirty years and I always mount a UV(clear) filter on all of my lenses for two reasons:
1) the most important is that the filter acts as a “bumper” to take any hits and shocks to the front of your lens. And…
2) the filter is the element that gets cleaned over and over and over again. Accidental scratches from cloth, the break down of multi coating, etc that can happen from regular physical contact is reduced.
So, while shooting a wedding with my daughter as second shooter, she came to me to point out the crack running through the filter. We removed it, put it aside and continued shooting without it. Yes, the one time in decades I shot without a filter on my lens.
It took thirty years to break a filter but it did its job; it protected the more expensive item, the lens. So, I ordered a replacement from Amazon and screwed it in place. I think I shall order a spare UV for each lens to keep in the camera bag, so I can replace it the very moment I remove the broken one. Cheap insurance.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a most beautiful theme park during the day, but it’s true beauty really shines at night. It has a haunting quality that only subtle hints of light can reveal.
Ron Slaton Photo 