Come on admit it, it's all too easy!

dazzajl

dazzajl

Suspended / Banned
Messages
5,993
Name
Darren
Edit My Images
Yes
Ok, it's time for one of my crazy daft bloke threads again. :D

Prompted by a (perfectly sensible) comment in another thread, "you can never have too much storage", talking about CF/SD cards. I started to think, yes you can.

I've found that recently I don't take lots of card space with me out on shoots and sometimes I don't charge the camera batteries either.

Working with digi cameras has changed so much about my job and made life so much easier. It has introduced me to some incredible technology, most of which seems to hate me but which can be amazingly powerful in unlocking creative options. It's also taken away some of the buzz that used to come with setting out to a shoot, coming up with solutions and coming away with the money shot. We all know when a shot is in the bag these days and we also know pretty much that we can shoot without restriction, until we get the frame we want.

I don't believe that I'm the only one that thrives off of the sort of pressure you get when you NEED to get the money shot but you don't have safety net underneath you that digital photography brings. In short, pressure and adrenaline help the creative process and being limited to how much you can shoot and not knowing what's in the bag when you leave the shoot.... That's one hell of a buzz.

So, am I peeing into the wind here or do some of you harbour these feelings of rebellion too? :D:lol::cuckoo:
 
I agree you need plenty of storage - but not all eggs in one basket. I would rather carry a handfull of 4Gb cards with me than put everything on a 32Gb card just to save the tiny amount of time it takes to swap them over. I think storage is reaching a break point where the advantages of fitting so much data in one place start to become a little scarey.
 
Get a lens that doesn't auto-focus, that'll put some buzz back into it perhaps?

I know what you mean about having too much space though. I hate taking lots of pictures because I dread having to go through them at my computer... I have so many naff pictures that I should just delete and if you ever hand your camera to someone else, they always just snap everything. Drives me nuts! Also I tend to only take a picture if I think I'll be pleased with it, so the maybe shots tend to get left alone... 4GB's is too much for me (an uncommon opinion I'm sure)
 
I can see you point of view on this one. But for me having only got into photography 'propper' when I got a digital camera the pressure (and joy that can come with it) of having a certain number of frames to get 'the shot' has never really existed. My use of film use to be for just holiday snaps etc, so just took shots until the film ran out, then that was the end of it. I admit I take a hell of a lot of photos when I could concentrate, take my time and just get 1 or maybe 2 for safety, but if I am out taking photos I much prefer to keep moving to get more photos of different things that sit and wait for the perfect second for just one shot. I know for some that isnt really in the spirit of photography and capturing the 'decisive moment' but for me the moment is the time I get the shot, not always the perfect moment.

I think it is just a matter of taste and shooting style, also wether people have a film background or not I guess.
 
On the recent TP Camden Meet I was shotting RAW and only used a 2gb card that I filled not sure whether I would have used more ( I did have a spare card), I know others were taking far more pictures than me but you only see a selection of shots that were taken on the day on here.

Whilst I have never had a card fail on me (touches wood) I would just be nervous about putting so much info on a single card. Yes might risk a 4gb but I dont think larger than
that.

Having just got a m/f film camera, to test my single brain cell, that only takes 15 shots per roll I will be aiming to make everyone count after the first 5 films.
 
I know for some that isnt really in the spirit of photography
Click to expand...

Don't take any of this to mean I think there is a right and a wrong way to approach photography. Quite the opposite really and the only thing I've ever thought at all important is the passion to pick up camera of any sort and use the thing.

I just wondered if I'm the only daft sod that's feeling a really strong pull to rebel against the feel of working with a safety net? :shrug:
 
Anyway, what the hell am I sat here talking to you lot for?

I'm off to shoot some pics. :D
 
Couple of days ago I wrote a thread starter for the film forum along similar lines, but as with 90% of my writings I didn't post it.
It was a questioning of the mental state:D of a person who when he goes out to shoot these days, does not take a digital camera anymore, and even when he goes out with no intention of shooting, still takes a film camera instead of digital.
Obviously I'm not a commercial tog, but for someone who is passionate about his/her photography, the pressures can be self applied without any commercial factors involved.
I do not feel this weight of expectation shooting film anything like I did shooting digital, dis-advantaged by frame quantities and no preview facility's.....its so much easier to let go, be relaxed and take time to enjoy the entire process.
Some peeps work better with a sharp stick up their arse, I feel it most in a studio/product scenario where you have absolute control over everything, and even shooting digital can't quite get it perfect whatever the size of the flashcard, I cant stop till it is how I want it.
Its quite...exausting, flippin drained afterwards, but I like shop free shooting.
A no preview film camera removes that element as the lights go off to the tune of "K serrah serrah"........:)
 
Jimmy_Lemon said:
I think it is just a matter of taste and shooting style, also wether people have a film background or not I guess.
Click to expand...

I think "style" has a lot to do with it, especially in specific genre's like street.
Garry Winogrand left behind nearly 300,000 unedited images, and more than 2,500 undeveloped rolls of film when he kicked the bucket.
Theres definately nothing wrong with shooting the heck out of everything, as long as THE shot gets got somewhere amongst it all.
If it doesn't, maybe a different approach is required.

dazzajl said:
Anyway, what the hell am I sat here talking to you lot for?

I'm off to shoot some pics. :D
Click to expand...

eh eh....I just got back, I took digital for the first time in months to shoot some wind surfing, film is great but...hurr:suspect:
 
just back from shooting a wedding. both shooting with 4 gig cards. plus 4 gig spares each.and a couple of 2,s.
we cant afford to run short of memory during a wedding.
it tends to be done at speed and you dont know when a once in a day shot may present itself.you have to capture everything.so theres enough pressure trying to get the shots
register office today. so around 500 shots between us.even on raw that aint gonna fill a 4 gig, but all dayers will.
you still have to work hard to get the quality of shots, but you take a fair few that will be discarded. maybe 20% if theyre not spot on framing wise, or distracting background action.etc. maybe 400 will make the proof stage.
bigger proofbooks equals album upgrades.

so you can never have too much memory.
we got an 80gig portable harddrive too.:eek:
 
I may be barking up the wrong tree, but I think I understahd where you're coming from.

It's kinda like when I turned up at some lovely place in Gillingham on friday and the place was a tip, not really very photogenic and the agent was looking over my shoulder the whole time. The pressure feeds the creative process.

I have similar feelings about my landscape photography. The more I've suffered e.g. a hacking long painful walk, or getting up early with a minging hangover, the better the shots will be lol.

So yes, you can have too much storage.




p.s. forgot to charge my batteries on friday too and did the whole days work with just 2 bars on the batt meter!
 
forgot to charge my batteries on friday too and did the whole days work with just 2 bars on the batt meter!
Click to expand...

Yup, I think you get where I'm coming from. I bet that day was actually quite a buzz just because some that safety net was gone. :)
 
I only ever shot weddings on film... never did a wedding with digital. Funny, but no matter how many times I did it and how much I knew I'd checked everything, the relief when the shots came back from the lab was real!

A lot of the pressure has gone without a doubt, that preview screen is a real comforter blanket along with the ability to shoot hundreds of shots at no cost, to pick out a couple of dozen good ones.

In some ways I envy the modern wedding shooter his ability to get his shots just how he wants them in processing before he sends them for printing - to be able to crop exactly as he wishes - a lab never seems to get that quite right.

At heart though I'm still an old school shooter, I rarely fill up CF cards, and prefer to try to take my time over shots. My camera bodies all have disgustingly low shutter actuation counts.

Having said that, there isn't a hope in Hell of me going back to film any time soon. :shrug:
 
I recently moved from film to digital.

Currently have 20GB of card storage should I need it but often find myself going out for a walk and taking only a 1 or 2 shots of a subject, kind of like a bracket with my old film setup.
 
dazzajl said:
Don't take any of this to mean I think there is a right and a wrong way to approach photography. Quite the opposite really and the only thing I've ever thought at all important is the passion to pick up camera of any sort and use the thing.

I just wondered if I'm the only daft sod that's feeling a really strong pull to rebel against the feel of working with a safety net? :shrug:
Click to expand...

You're not alone :) It's one reason I started using film again.

Restricting yourself to 36 shots for the whole day really ups the fun factor whilst forcing you out of bad habits. I love it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top