Time is running out
Time is something precious that we never have enough. Of all things in the world, time is one of the things you can’t buy or bring back. Perhaps, that is why I love photography. It helps me to freeze time and get all these emotions I had at the moment with me through the journey of time.
I bring my photos with me in prints on the walls of my house. I also love using my favourite photos as wallpaper on most of my electronics, whether a work Mac, personal PC or an iPhone. Besides enjoying the pure quality of the imagination on a large high-quality monitor, I feel the warmth of those special moments I enjoyed going through the journey. Being a lifetime critic, I examine my photos and think about how I would improve them. Whether it is a composition, timing waiting for that blue hour to get the lovely warm tones that warm our hearts, or a story to tell, it is a gratifying experience in pursuit of excellence.
Improvement is hard. Most of the time, your first mistake is easy to spot and find quick tips to address. However, as you go further, it becomes more and more challenging to get better results. It is like climbing that tall mountain. The further you climb, the stop is more frequent, and the preparations for the next step are more thorough. Slowing down and going analog is one of the techniques I’ve been practicing lately to help me get better photos.
I recently inherited an old manual Nikon 50 mm f/1.4 lens. My first impression after using the premium S-Line of Nikon Z lens was … wait for it… “It is so sharp. Wow!” It is so bright and clear. You see what you are shooting through the viewfinder and can focus by turning a well-made mechanical dial. It is a magical experience — a 50-year-old lens can be used with the latest Nikon Z7 II mirrorless camera and produce stunning photos. Of course, I’m not in the business of promoting Nikon, but that is, in my opinion, nothing short of amazing.
The manual lens completely changed my perspective and thinking when I shoot. As mentioned above, you learn things in areas you did not expect before, such an assumption that the latest new lenses are not necessarily better ones. They are different. Let’s talk about a few areas that will potentially bring change to your expectations when moving to the manual lenses and when you would want to use these.
Let’s talk about aperture for a bit. When using an automatic lens, I usually look at the image’s histogram and try to ensure I optimize usage of the limited dynamic range available in the camera and expect to adjust the shot in Lightroom as part of the post-processing. With a manual lens, my thinking is entirely different. By adjusting the aperture ring, which I need to turn physically, I change the light coming through the lens during the tuning. Naturally, it pushes you to think about lighting. The automatic lens is always kept at the widest aperture unless you set it to manual mode. While looking for convenience, our workflow is to imagine how the photo would look, shoot and then check. Yes, we can move to a manual mode of operation, but how many do? With a manual lens, you are putting yourself back into a healthy challenge that forces you to change your habits and start thinking about light and the zone system, imagining elements in the scene and positioning them among the shades of grey. Some good photographers I know worked so much on that level that they can do it instantly as they look at the scene and imagine the view they want. I heard someone saying that he needs to come to a location early morning to get that fog to create that required visual separation between the foreground and the background. I feel this is where painting with light comes in and helps us to transform into this extraordinary world where we feel excited about the highly anticipated result of our work.
Another area is focus and depth of field. When shooting with an automatic lens, it was more discovery to see what happens after you press a shutter release. Low friction in the process steals the fun of adjustment, as we are naturally lazy. It is much easier to take a quick guess, press the button and then see a digital preview on the small screen at the back of your camera. If something does not work, you take another shoot and check again. Some bracket with a few shots, and see results later. They love experimenting and bringing those few shots together by merging three or more images in Photoshop or another photo editing tool. We can increase dynamic range and depth of field, improve colour saturation and decrease noise in low-light situations. All these methods provide exciting options to enhance our photos or make our choices easier. It is different, though, to empower you at the time of a shot and make a decision in the infinite space of options at that moment. A slight turn of the focus wheel can change your photo so much that it will change the story behind the image. Imagine you have two subjects in the picture, not far from each other. The focus will help you tell your audience who the main subject is and what the story is. Playing with the focus ring allows you to play with it and instantly check how the image is read and to what extent. One could say we can do the same with our latest cameras. Not sure if you noticed, but our latest cameras are more oriented toward the speed of taking an image. This marketing approach is focused on selling us constantly improving faster cameras. Our viewfinders are tiny, allowing you very little to see with no fine details, not talking about focusing. Is faster better?
When I often shoot with my Nikon and manual lens, I take a few shots with my iPhone. I review the results afterwards and ask myself where I get better results. I might sometimes get good results with my iPhone, but in many cases, my Nikon images are more thought-through, exciting and have better quality. Do not get me wrong. Some iPhone images are impressive as that dragon I shot during my recent hike, which got a lot of “claps” on my Instagram account.
I enjoy hearing what people feel about my photos. We all bring our world and history, experiencing different emotions when we see images. I believe that learning and understanding we get from other people is a vital part of growing and becoming a better photographer.
Sometimes I feel that Instagram misses an opportunity to allow us to share larger images. So many beautiful details are lost in smaller previews, and our pictures tell different stories. I feel my visual language is limited, and I can’t fully express myself. So I decided to extend my channel to show my friends the full version of the images. I enjoy looking at those images on my monitor while working. That is why I decided to put pictures on the web. I’m still shaping the idea behind my photo gallery, and I hope you, my friends, will point me in the right direction regarding what my gallery should be. At the moment, I decided to use a low-effort distribution channel — a read-only Dropbox folder.
I keep updating that folder, learning what photos I enjoyed looking at more or printing a canvas of. I love shooting nature landscapes, sunsets and sunrises in a Canadian rural village. I have been trying to spend more time there lately. This helps me embrace a minimalistic lifestyle, slow my pace to focus on a few essential things, and live every moment fully present.
A few of my friends and people I know have asked me if I can share my images after seeing my Instagram account and meeting me on one of my road trips. Some want to use my photos to remember their experience in the places we visited, like a postcard. Some want to build a calendar for the next year and are looking for a picture. They like to enjoy looking at a new image every month. Whatever your reason, like a true artist, I love when my art finds its followers and is appreciated. Feel free to check out my Wallpaper folder and use the images.
Please do not distribute or sell images without my permission.
I appreciate your comments to learn more about what you felt, loved, and hated and what I should contribute more.
