Better Picture's With A $3000 Camera vs. $300 Camera?

A while back, I was speaking with someone about my black & white photography class and how every student in the class is assigned the exact same camera model (as well as a camera bag) to borrow for the semester. That way, everyone has the same camera and during lecture about the camera, when it comes time for the instructor to show us how to use and work with the camera, s/he would not have to mess around with showing each and every student how to use or work with whatever different camera model was brought in.

So, that person said to me (regarding every student being assigned the same camera model) “Is that because a person that might have a $3000 camera will take better pictures than someone with a $300 camera”? Hahaha…. I said “no”! I thought that was really funny!

I thought about that person’s remark and boy is he wrong! It does not matter if you have a $3000 camera or a $300 camera. The person with the $300 camera could take better pictures than someone with a $3000 camera.

For a professional photographer, it’s not just about point and shoot and just taking pictures. It’s about taking great interesting photos. It’s about getting that great shot with good lighting or good shadows and much more.

It all depends on your picture taking knowledge. If the $300 camera owner knows how to use and takes advantage of angles, knows how to use natural (outdoor) lighting and shadows, they will take better pictures than the person who is just pointing and shooting with their $3000 camera and does NOT know how to use natural lighting, from what angle would be best to take and get a great picture, etc. And this person had supposedly taken a photography class at one point in their life.

"INTRO TO BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY" CLASS, 2011 FALL SEMESTER HAS ENDED

Wednesday, December 14, 2011 is the last day of my “Intro to Black & White Photography” class. Even though it’s been hard work, it has also been a fun semester. I learned how to develop film and how to develop photos. Of course, we learned about aperture, shutter speed, focusing, etc.

Some of our class projects dealt with shooting exercises like “Freezing”, “Panning”, “Depth of Field”, “Bracketing Exposures”, “Backlighting”, and assignments such as “Light & Form”, “Angle of View” and more.

CAMERAS

The camera each student was assigned and used for class was the Asahi Pentax K1000, 35mm SLR with 50mm lens. I’ve read that this camera is a great camera for beginning photography students. It has rave reviews.

They say that the Asahi Pentax K1000 cameras that were first made in Japan, compared to the ones made in China, are the best because, the *China made cameras, the top and bottom plate were made of plastic rather than of stamped alloy. The production line shifted to China during the K1000’s 21-year span.

BOOK

I really like the book our class used “A Short Course in Photography” 8th Edition by Barbara London and Jim Stone.

This book covers most all the basics such as a bit about film, cameras, lens, how to set-up your own photo lab, equipment used, and much, much more. I’m definitely keeping my book! Meaning, I’m not going to sell it back to the school bookstore.

FILM AND OTHER SUPPLIES

The film we used was 400 TMAX Black & White Negative Film. The paper we used to develop our photo’s on was ILFORD Photographic Paper, MGIV, Multigrade IV RC De Luxe, Pearl, 8x10. We also had to purchase some Crescent Board to mount our photos on and some ColorMount that goes in between the photo and the Crescent Board as well as Archival 35mm Negative Preservers.

BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY LAB

It would be great to one day set-up my own black & white photo lab so that I can develop my own photos. Thing is, how much longer will 400 TMAX Black & White film be available (as well as all other film whether black & white or color)? I know there are other black & white films out there but, I’m used to the 400 TMAX.

Buying a photo enlarger along with all the chemicals needed as well as other supplies such as a black & white photo enlarger, timer, trays, developing tanks, film washer, film reels, dark room accessories, etc., it’s not cheap.

References

* http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.htmlAsahiPentaxK1000.html~mainFrame



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Your Identity: Do-It-Yourself Logo Design Sites

There are quite a few “do-it-yourself” design sites for logo creation. They might charge anywhere from a few dollars and up to $99 (more or less). With most of these sites, you can have your logo in just one day or two to three days! Isn’t that great!?!?... NOT!

These cheap “do-it-yourself” sites (you) don’t do the research needed to make sure the logo you purchase is truly original and you usually get your logo as basically a JPEG which is not a good format for being able to shrink your logo for use on small projects to blowing it up for bigger projects.

Also, these “do-it-yourself” sites seem to be using images and clipart that has been originally created and designed by professional designers exclusively for that certain company that hired a designer. These designers DID NOT give their permission to have their work outsourced and/or used and sold to others through cheap “do-it-yourself” sites.

Why Hire a Professional

One reason to hire a professional is because a real graphic designer will consult with you to get an idea of what your needs are and will do the research to make sure that the logo you get designed will be exclusive. It will not be a copy of another logo.

When the time comes for your startup/company to get a logo, contract a professional designer to do it for you! The designer could be either a freelancer or one that works with a design agency.

Yes, it may take anywhere from a month, six months or more to get your logo through a professional designer, but in the end, the results will be credible.

Besides receiving your logo in JPEG format, your professional designer will deliver your logo to you in a “vector” format which is an editable and scalable version which you will be able to use in a variety of projects from placing it on, let’s say, a flash drive to a ginormous billboard without the logo losing its quality.

Also, in vector format, your printer will have no problem working with your logo with placing it on your product. Otherwise, they will tell you to come back when you have the right format.

Some designers might even be able to help you come up with a tag line or help you tweak the one you have. Ask your designer. Extra charges may apply.

The process that your professional freelance designer will go through usually involves…

• Consultation/Question Briefing (what is your product/service, who’s your target audience, do    you have a tag line, what colors are you leaning towards, how/where do you plan on using       the artwork (copyrights), do you have specific images, etc.)
• Contract Signed (will state your project details, payment, deliverables, etc.)
• Deposit (some may ask for a deposit up front (usually freelancers) or they may send invoices (usually small and large design firms)
• Research (competitors, what similar companies logos look like, what does the target audience like, etc.)
• Design (concepts, layout ideas, typography ideas, colors, collaborative working process with client, etc.)
• Artwork Approval form (signed by client once they have approved the final artwork)
• Final Payment (final amount of the payment is due to freelancers)
• Client Gets Final Project (in b&w and color and as JPEG, TIFF, PDF and EPS formats, and either e-mailed and/or on CD)

So, contact a REAL designer for your projects! And, don't steal other designers work by "doing-it-yourself". You really don’t know where the “do-it-yourself” site got the images/clipart that are posted on their site. Your logo may end up not being valuable and you won't have permission to use work that has been designed for others and/or for other companies.

Yes, it does take time to get a good, quality professional logo and you may pay hundreds of dollars or even thousands of dollars for a logo designed for you by a professional designer. That logo will be original and yours exclusively! It is definitely worth the time and the money!

Your logo should be unique to you and your business. It should evolve with your business. It will be YOUR IDENTITY!

Copyright Laws

If you buy a logo off a "do-it-yourself" site, you could be in trouble if you purchased a designers work without their permission (due to the designer not having given the site their permission to post any of their images and/or their work on such sites).

The designer owns all rights to the artwork they have created for a client unless they sign off on the contract or on a separate agreement that you (the client) have bought out the copyrights from the designer or the designer may “lend” the client a piece of their copyright.

For more information on copyright laws, you can view Copyright Basics for Graphic Designers on the AIGA web site.

Multimedia Class Project...

Class: "Intro to Multimedia"
Project: To tell a story with images and music
Software: Final Cut Express on a MAC
Project Title: "Mealtime... with Family & Friends"
Music: "Raise Your Glass" by Pink and "We Speak No Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool and D Cup

I'm taking three classes this spring (2011) sememster. One of them is "Intro to Multimedia".

Our first project was to "Tell A Story..." with images and music. So, I thought, what should I tell a story about? I was thinking, "A Day in the Life of a Four Year Old" or, maybe "Mealtime with Family & Friends". I finally decided on the meal.

The actors of my mini-movie are my family and friends. Besides those who are in the movie, there were other family and friends behind the scenes. In order to eat up all the food afterwards so it would not go to waste, I needed extra people...LOL

THE STORY

For the story, I wanted to have lots of food and show family and friends enjoying a meal together.

On the day of the shoot, Friday, February 4, 2011, I cooked spaghetti, biscuits, baked a cake, brownies and muffins. Plus, I bought salad and we had either three or four pizza's and other stuff. When my son got home from work, he cooked a couple of beer can chicken's which turned out most excellent. It was great!

WORKING IN CLASS

Our next two class days, we had the whole class period to work on putting together the movie. It was fun editing the music and images.

Now I know some basics on how to use Final Cut Express.

LEARNING ADOBE PREMIERE

At home, I have the Adobe CS5 Master Collection on a PC (I want to get a MAC someday so that I can have both the PC and a MAC). When I get a chance, I need to try and make another mini-movie utilizing Adobe Premiere.

Adobe Premiere looks similar and somewhat works the same as Final Cut Express. Of course, PC's and MAC's are somewhat similar, yet they are still somewhat different... it's good to know how to work on both. It will be good to have some knowledge in both programs.

FINAL PROJECT

Below is my final project. Enjoy!





Visit my You Tube Channel SaFire98 to view more video projects.