Chasing dream locales..

Nature photographer Dan Baumbac advices photographers to 'be yourself' in his NPN article, which makes me ponder on his thoughts. He urges photographers to look for that special picture not in exotic and well known locales but behind our own backyard. He says -

Where's the artistry in standing with everyone else at Valley View in Yosemite and waiting for the sun to go down to put a golden glow on El Capitan, and taking a bunch of pictures. Maybe your neighbors will be impressed, but you'll know there's no particular skill in it, particularly with today's digital cameras where you can keep shooting until you see you got your shot.

And he continues to say -

So, does the world need another photograph of Schwabacher's Landing, or does it need your vision of your back yard? I think it needs to see your vision of your world.

It is difficult to say no to his call, which is profound, while the traveller in me urges me to keep running in search of the amazements that nature has to offer. This winter, I intend to reserve a part of my time allocation for photography to be spent in the vicinity of my city.

Which is my next camera?

I have now decided - my next camera upgrade will happen only when Canon launches a new base model - upgrade for 400D, with a full frame sensor. And I see that coming in next 2-3 years.

My first digital camera is also the only digital camera I have ever bought - Canon EOS 350D DSLR. I never bought a consumer digital camera though I drooled on them in my pre-DSLR days.

Canon 350D and Nikon D70 were the first digital SLRs that had an image quality that satisfied amateur, and even profession photographers. Earlier cameras were part of the evolution process and were quickly succeeded by next generation cameras that provided more megapixels, better image quality(low noise) and lesser shutter lag. We now have enough megapixels, image quality was as good as transparencies and shutter lag was reduced to near zero. The DSLRs that were launched after these two were minor improvements or feature variations and did not offer anything remarkable that called for a mandatory upgrade. EOS 5D and Canon's pro cameras were an exception which offered 35mm sensors - a feature that was worth drooling. But these cameras were too expensive. Now Nikon has also launched cameras with full frame sensors, prices of 5D may start falling. Besides this, we may start seeing full frame becoming a norm in DSLRs at all levels in the next 2-3 years. And I shall hold on to my current camera until that happens!

November 2007 Desktop Calendar Wallpaper

November 2007 Calendar is an image from Lahaul and Spiti region in the Indian Himalayas. This was shot from Batal village on the bank of Chandra river, where I spent a night in July-07.

Click on the image to get 1024x768 version.