Photographic to-do.
On this year's list of things to do for, or add to, my photographic arsenal:
- Actual, important things:
- More work with enhanced dynamic range images. Yeah, yeah, digital sucks, blah blah medium format is great blah blah - but I'm no fan of gelatin, and I don't currently have the resources to devote to medium format. Or large. Anyway, digital's got one distinct dynamic range advantage, and it just requires a bit of darkroom gymnastics. I did a few of these last year, with good results. Luminous Landscape's got a writeup of the technique I used here. Turns out that Photoshop CS2 has a new HDR blending action that... completely removes the work from the process. I kinda see where film folks say that digital makes things "too easy" now - HDR compositing used to be an art, and now with CS2 it's become an easy science, to a degree. Used to require a bit of skill and eye - now it just requires a mouse (and $650 in software) for the same results. I think this is largely a good thing, though, if photography is really about art; it frees the photographer to record and communicate what he sees instead of being blocked by the inability to translate it to sensor, film or paper. Technology's forward march serves those who may not have the talent but do have the vision. Even if it's just the vision of a warm burrito, the microwave, freezer and burrito packaging machine allow most anyone to achieve it. I digress, and move sadly toward...
- More experience. More photos. I think I exposed under 1,000 film images. My CP950 had an exposure count in the low thousands - 3,500 or so, perhaps? Now this poor D70 has just under 15,000 exposures on it, and I've finally felt some growth, some progress. I know what I want before I take the photo - that's not necessarily new - but now I know what "Gotcha!"s there are before I commit, spend the frame and record the mistakes. Well, some of them. I now spend time correcting mistakes before I make them (see earlier "D70 getting in my way" comment) and every now and then there's a result that I don't necessarily want to part with. So 15,000 more this year, perhaps, if I can find the time to make quality efforts.
- At least one dedicated "I'm going shooting" trip each month. I'm still not a fan of shooting when I don't have something I'd like to see come out.
- Make a list of desired photos.
- A portfolio of sorts. I should probably start keeping those few keepers I have.
- Support. More folks that like to do what I do, and spend their time doing it. Need to connect with a few of those. Partner up sometimes. Mentor up others.
- Get some prints out into the community. Just a few hanging here and there would be nice.
- Get to the point where, at this point next year, I'm proud of what I've done.
- Things that go "Beep" in the night:
- Replace my notebook. Desktop's too slow and limited in the places in which it can exist. Great monitor, though. I'm seriously going nuts - and I'm not being hyperbolic here - without my darkroom. And calendar. And address book. But that's another post.
- Aperture. I foolishly played with it - now I'm hooked. If I'm ever going to shoot another event, Aperture's going to be the tool that pushes me past procrastination.
- Photoshop CS2. Sigh.
- Glass, steel and plastic:
- D200. No, I'm not linking. I have a hard enough time admitting that the price of admission on this one may will be worth it. I'm the first to say that your equipment doesn't matter - but I qualify that with an "Until it gets in your way." The D200 stays out of my way in ways that my current D70 just can't. Fine by me. I'll obviously make do in the meantime.
- A wide, fast prime. Nikon's 35mm ƒ/2 and Sigma's 30mm ƒ/1.4 look like likely choices on the "fast" and "prime" part, but they're not so wide. That leaves me with Nikon's ridiculously expensive (and correspondingly wonderful) 28mm ƒ/1.4 (at 2x the cost of my first digital body) for a 2mm decrease in focal length or the noisy, enormous, somewhat soft(?) and reasonably inexpensive Sigma 20/24/28mm ƒ/1.8. These, of course, are not carried locally. Anywhere. Sigh.
- The Nikkor 12-24mm ƒ/4 or the Sigma 10-20mm ƒ/4-5.6. Wish the latter had the aperture of the former. Or the former the range of the latter.
- Something that fits in my pocket. Pocket digitals have depth of field that is unmatchable by 35mm SLRs, and this fits in with my plans just fine. Also would allow me to have something with me everywhere I go, which ... hasn't been TOO much of a problem, but I know having one in my pocket/bag/car would mean I keep the mindset, the situational awareness, the focus that this pursuit requires with greater ease and consistency. I wish Casio's point'n'shoots had a closer focusing distance. Due to that one sad fact, I'm conflicted as to my selection in this arena.