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The moment before the moment...

Apparently upgrading to a much more expensive and vastly more capable camera will not necessarily translate to amazing quality photographs. In fact, if you have been accustomed to the easy point-and-shoot type of digital cameras, the transition to the Digital SLR platform is not quite what you'd expect. They're somewhat easy to use in auto-focus (just like any digicam), i mean anyone who's not too clumsy can point-and-shoot and get decent clarity. DSLR's are so wonderfully perplex in manual mode, it would drive any digicam spoiled person out there insane...

Not only is the camera perplex, it also wants a variety of lenses if you desire to expand your horizons so to speak. Certain lenses aren't capable of certain shots, so, not only would one posses one lens for every occasion, one might actually need around five maybe seven (and more if you ever become a professional...). I'm sitting on three right now and i suspect more to come in the following months (which really means next month...). I purchased a zoom telephoto lens (70-200mm L f/4 USM... yes confusing!) several weeks after promising myself i would not get it until the end of 2008 or until i became proficient. And while i was at it i picked up another one (a prime lens). Ya so that tells you how much self-restraint I've got!

Coincidentally my old friend Kit got into the Photography thing not long after i did (although she's quite more advance that i will ever be...). I still recall the fateful conversation... "I might buy a DSLR" she said, excitedly. I got excited too! And after a few hours of camera talk and analysis, she came to a conclusion. She was buying the same exact camera! Awwww... She thought then that we might have been spending a lot of money for a Camera we might only use on ourselves. "I'm vain" she claimed. Yeah that might be true but i was confident about our budding passion. I knew, in time, if we put forth the effort and time, we could potentially become real creative and perhaps even talented. I am still struggling and becoming increasingly frustrated the more i spend time on it, while she seems to be having fun doing it. She has no difficulty in finding inspiration anywhere she goes and is capable of amazing shots seemingly every time out...

Well the intent from the beginning was not to impress, not exactly. I've always enjoyed taking pictures, though not necessarily for Photo Album purposes. Initially when i first bought a Digital Camera, i wanted to share photos of my snowboarding trips on my website. And I thought it was kind of a shame that we had no photographs to reminisce, if nothing else. In recent months, after reading about SLR's and such my quasi passion for photography took a sudden turn. I became intrigued and inspired to take on a new hobby or perhaps something i can truly call a passion. Though i struggle with blur and exposure, i enjoy the challenge. But I suppose if it were easy there wouldn't be any need for professional photographers, would there?

I like to shoot landscapes, children at play, cars, oddities, and anything under the sun and the moon that i find charming or even mundane. But most of all i seem to enjoy taking stolen portraits of people. I haven't had the chance to do this much, though. I like to think i am capturing their emotions and facial expressions as they go about their day or whatever event they may be attending. It's kind of romantic in a way, don't you think? Young children perhaps make for the best subjects because even when they know you're trying to capture a moment, they remain innocent and ambivalent. They're perfect!

Perhaps what a respected photographer said about his style describes me and what i would hope to be best, "I like to capture the moment before the moment". I love it, it's eloquently concise.

It has been quite the experience, thus far. I continue to struggle but most importantly i continue to learn...

Posted by: Marc Gabay
Monday, January 28, 2008