Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Why do I own a DSLR

So I have a Nikon D5100. I have several lenses, some of them quite nice actually. I have taken and continue to take some fairly good and well received pictures. I still find myself asking, why do I own it? I guess the answer is in the art, but if you look at these pictures to follow I will tell you that not one of them was taken with a DSLR.
I am one of those people that think I SHOULD carry my Nikon with me at all times and be ready at the drop of a hat to win a Pulitzer for photography, but do I? Of course not. I come up with all the excuses;
       1) I might do something later and don't want to leave it in the car
       2) Is there really going to be anything there to take pictures of?
       3) Someone else will have theirs
                         and of course..
       4) I just don't feel like taking it.

All of these things (and especially #4) are just the heights of laziness. I freely admit it. But as bad as I feel about not taking the gear with me, I do still always have a pretty decent camera on my body.
The other thing about it is that I can take great DSLR pics, then bring them home and jack with them in Lightroom or Photoshop and maybe get it the way I want. The images here have never touched by anything remotely as advanced (read expensive) as Adobe's toys.
Of course I am talking about my Nokia 920 phone. 8.7mp camera, Carl Zeiss glass, and "Pureview" (whatever that means). It takes some truly great pictures and when mated with the Camera360 app, effects and tinkering are a snap. 
So I feel guilty to let my Nikon sit at home and gather dust, but I have a pretty good walking around camera on me. Art is art. I've known people who shoot movies on VHS just because they like the "way it looks". Best quote I heard was "don't you hate it when you have a great shot all lined up, and someone calls your camera?"

Have fun all and get out there a take some pictures!