Category: Photography

I use SLR, DSLR, P&S DC and P&S film cameras. All sorts of camera, but I reckon what matter is not what camera I use, but what photograph I take. And that’s why I really don’t understand why some “experts” believe you need the newest and greatest camera to take great pictures.

People keep talking about how many mega-pixels their cameras have, how good is their flashes, how many frames can take in one second … I mean, is it really matter ?

People ask, can a P&S DC shoot like a pro ? Let me tell you, a pro is a pro because of his / her skill, not the camera. And the proof is here … photos by Alex Majoli. He takes all his photo with P&S DCs. Amazing, isn’t it ?

Lesson Learnt: Spend more time to take photos, instead of comparing specifications.

I still don’t know how it’s done.

Last year I was in New York and wandering around the Ground Zero. I headed up and saw something really new to me … I saw some tiny clouds were created on-the-fly …

These clouds slowly “printed” a letter, then a word, then a sentence just like an aged old dot-matrix printer. What puzzled me was I could not find a plane, a kite or any device !! So here is the photo …

Lesson Learnt: Look up.

What’s the perfect Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera ?

The answer is actually really really simple – it has to work as good as an old-fashioned SLR. Period.

So, what’s that really mean ? To me ?

The DSLR has to be easy to use, with button layouts similar to a SLR. You should be able to print the photos straight away, with excellent colors, without computer post-processing. The camera shall equip with good all-purpose lens (i.e. 28mm to ~100mm) without several expensive ones. There shall be no dust in the sensor …

And there are only two cameras in the market can do all these – Olympus E-1 and E-300. And I got both 😎

Lesson Learnt: Forget about the pixel counts, brand names, number of lens in the market etc. etc.. Cameras following FourThirds standard are the best, so far.

Although I own a few cameras, I don’t think expensive equipment is the key factor to take good photos. I never own a Nikon and Canon SLR cameras (except the Canon DC), so brand name is also not important. But what’s the most important gear for travel photography ?

Get a wide-angle lens for your camera – as wide as possible to cover the whole lake, mountain or building. A 28mm lens just don’t cut it – get a 24mm or 21mm lens.

Also, get a sunset filter with you, my preference is Cokin System but I’m sure there are a lot of good filters around. It will be useful if the day is cloudy – no blue sky and lovely white clouds. You then can take the photo with the filter to pretend you’re taking the photo during sunset !