Camera Cube

It was quite a snow today. Despite the snowfall being very massive, I still managed to snag some nice pictures. Click on the thumbnail to the left to view Flickr set of Snow In New York images.

As you can see – I didn’t use any professional photo equipment. Canon PowerShot A720 IS 8.0 Megapixel Compact Digital Camera was all I had at the moment, so that’s what I have used. It’s relatively inexpensive (if you follow the affiliate link above you’ll see the whole kit for a nifty less-then-$300 price), yet provides amazing results. In addition to 8 mega pixels (which I don’t really care about at all) you get image stabilization, which is much more important, especially when shooting with such a small camera.

One good thing about today’s so-called “snow photo shoot” is that there weren’t too many people. So I could take my time and wait for a good moment to push the button. I often notice that people tend to look weird at you when you take pictures. Obviously, you can disregard that, just make sure you are not shooting someone else’s private property.

I wasn’t always successful in avoiding snowflakes hitting camera lens. That’s why I always carry a cloth to wipe camera lens if they get soiled by accidental touch of hand, snow or rain. If you own a SLR camera it’s almost mandatory to protect lens with UV-filter. Owners of small digital cameras can avoid this small but yet additional cost to their equipment.

If you have made pictures during today’s snowstorm – get in touch.

People often think that the better camera they get, the better pictures will come out. They are often mistaken. While I can’t deny that the better camera produces better images then the cheap one given circumstances are same, the one thing almost any photography teaching book got 100% right is that it’s not the camera that takes the picture. It’s the person who holds the camera.

So if I take good pictures – my pictures will be extremely good even if I take them with cheap single-use camera.

If my images are lousy – they will remain lousy even if I buy the most expensive camera on the market today. The lousiness will, however, be visible much better since it would be produced by a better camera.

So one you understand that single issue that haunts amateur photographers since the inception of the photography – you will understand that no matter how much money you spend on the cameras and equipment – your pictures will not be any better. That is – if you will stop learning how to take better pictures. If you inclined to spend money on this hobby – spend on something beneficial, like photography courses, light technique workshops or just find a local photographer who might need help and assist for free.

For example – let’s say you have one of the Canon’s best pocket digital camera – Canon PowerShot A570IS 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom. The camera itself isn’t a marvel, although I do like this series. However, try to approach taking pictures with this camera just as you would approach taking pictures with prosumer DSLR, like Nikon D40.

Think image composition, not the buttons on the camera – and let me know if it helped!