Panasonic DC-S5 Sigma 28 - 70mm F2.8 Lens
ISO: 2500 Focal Length: 31 mm Aperture: f/3.2
Shutter: 1/160
Around my birthday, my wife bought me a new camera. I ordered a camera package from B&H; the package came with a kit lens and they threw in an additional 85mm on the house. When I purchased my first camera back in 2016, B&H held me down with a starter pack - they threw in a free video rode mic pro an extra battery and an sd card. Back then when you purchased on B&H it was tax free. I had to stay loyal and purchase from the goats.
I will probably stay with Panasonic Lumix bodies for as long as I use a camera. In 2016, I fell in love with the ergonomics of the GH4. I have used other cameras in the past. While at university I dabbled with old school broadcast cameras, and when shooting music videos for friends I used run and gun style Canon equipment. For my style, the Canon was too rigid. From other prior experiences, the Sony is a bit too advanced with their ergonomics. Everyone's style and minds work differently, for me the GH and the S series fits my personality and my style of organization. I see a camera as an extension of my shooting style and taste in functionality and the s5 fits me perfectly.
I understand if I didn't purchase a Panasonic camera first, I wouldnt be opposed to Canon because all of my non-native lenses are EF mount lenses. I have gravitated towards the price point of Canon's ecosystem.
The past few days, I have fallen in love with my camera all over again. The last time I used my camera it was to capture moments for my son's second birthday, and some street photography downtown in my city. Aside from that, I haven't put a lot of time into the craft.
ISO: 200 Focal Length: 45mm
Aperture: f/3.5 Shutter: 1/200
What they don't tell you about getting a new camera is how much you gravitate towards your old camera, because it's what you know best. Imagine having a new Porsche Boxster in your garage but you keep driving the car you are familiar with the most.
This year, I've done my best to minimalize my creative space. I went from a big, but compact, gear bag to a cross body bag that I've rigged to carry 2-4 lenses and my camera. Adding extra velcro compartment straps made the cross body bag more versatile. As I've stated previously in my post on street photography, street is an opportunity in real world situations to become more familiar with your shooting style and environment. Yesterday, I captured some landscape shots.
While shooting with my friend David, I quickly realized a lot of my settings on my camera in M Mode were for video, and I needed to do a better job of unlocking autofocus and touch pad capabilities to be able to shoot in two to three autofocus modes at will when presented the opportunity. With my GH4, I didn't have to think about any of the settings because I already integrated a system over an eight year period.
There's something about manual focus. That's my bag. However, when shooting photography you have to keep an open mind to different shooting styles.
We discussed a few things before shooting, light meter, touch shutter... the usual. I noticed when discussing your shooting style there are clear distinctions or principles that translate better for video than for photography. For instance, when shooting videos its best to not underexpose too much because you can't bring details back in post (obviously, over exposing can be worse). When shooting photography, I have a tendency to underexpose slightly to capture certain contrast, lighting, and shadows that I want to remain present in the shot to help capture a certain tone or mood. These were tendencies I realized when shooting yesterday with my S5.
I have been gravitating towards photography as of lately. It may be due to the fact my camera can shoot full body 4k and sometimes the mbps are so high I don't know how much horsepower my 2018 Macbook Pro can handle. This reality has me working more with photography. I will say, the newest update/version of Adobe Premiere Pro 2023 has helped my workflow with videos. They fixed some kind of bug, I know it. Thank you, Adobe.
Here are some images I captured at Bonnet Springs Park in Lakeland using only my Sigma 28-70mm native (L-mount) lens. In the future, I want to take my 85mm out for spin.
What I enjoyed most about shooting at the park that day was my total shot count was only 102. I kept 73 of the 102 shots, and editing was really just raising the exposure, and changing the highlights, shadows, and s curve a bit. Majority of the time when I take shots, my total shot range is 300-400 plus. Having more intent on what I am capturing has made editing and shot selection, an easier and more enjoyable experience.
Just putting this in the ether, when I explore an unknown place and I check out videos on YouTube, some of the videos are about 30 minutes plus. There's so much fluff and so much, "Vlogging." I'm hoping creatives in the future can capture all the essence of an unknown and exciting territory in about one minute and ten seconds.
Maybe one day we can hint at visiting a unique place people are interested in, obviously in a creative way, for about as long as it takes to wait at a red light (70 seconds). Maybe one day I can pilot an episode around this problem identifier and call the web series, Unknown or Untraveled.
12.21.22
-MCMXX