Square to be hip (and a slight sight update)

I'm updating my page with a new category called "squared." For the past few years, I've been deliberately shooting my personal photos in square mode, on both my iPhone and my cameras. It's incredibly freeing and challenging at the same time.

By making square mode my default setting, I'm forced to focus on the subject and work the scene. I won’t let me just take one shot and be done with it. I have to think about how to best capture the moment in a square frame.

I've also made myself use a single focal length for the same reasons. This forces me to get creative with my compositions. I can't just zoom in or out to get the shot I want. I have to work with what I have.

I encourage you to try shooting in square mode. You might be surprised at what you can create.

How much is that gear in the window? (Or starting in photography on the semi-cheap)

Getting started in photography, not just taking snapshots, is not a particularly cheap endeavor. It’s not very easy to walk into. "What do I get, what do I want to shoot, what tripod, bag, lens, cleaning kit, UV Filters yes or no (no), etc, etc, etc.

Let's start by defining what I mean. I want to take pictures and up my game from smartphone snapshots. Do I then buy a brand new Canon, Nikon, or Sony camera with a full frame sensor where the bodies alone can cost a couple of thousand dollars? If I am continuing to do this as a hobby, do I need biggest and baddest or latest and greatest? Am I doing this to pursue a very crowded field of photographers, while meanwhile publications are shedding photographers (See the Chicago Sun who use reporters on their smart phones because they fired the photo staff) faster than a long haired dog sheds fur?

I say no.

I also say you can do a lot with used gear, or if you're not comfortable with used, then consider buying previous generation gear.  

Shot with an used Olympus EP-5 Pen camera with a used Olympus 70-300mm ƒ/4-5.6 Zuiko ED Zoom Lens with a new Olympus MMF-3 Four Thirds to Micro Fourth Thirds Mount Adapter. 

For example, one of the cameras I currently shoot with is a Olympus OMD E-M5 which was released in 2013 but after the OMD E-M1 was released the E-M5 price dropped so I bought it. I have an Olympus EP-5 that I just picked up for $350, a camera also released in 2013. A previous generation EPL-6 that I paid $300 new for and all the lenses I picked up used or on sale.

Aside from trying to look at the EXIF data, could you tell? No, you can't and that's the point of this. You don't need a large outlay of cash to get started if you want to shoot for yourself, be it street or any other type of photography. 

Inside the D.C. Metro  Shot with a previous generation Olympus EPL-6 with a used M.Zuiko 17mm ƒ2.8. 

The best part about using older equipment is if it gets damaged, its not as devastating breaking a $300 or less camera than it is a $1000+ one (and I've done both so I know). So the moral of this story is, while not dirt cheap, photography is more accessible than you might think at whatever budget you have.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and get started!

My tools of the trade

I know that most of the web pages I've gone to, there's always a tool of the trade section. I'd thought I'd get mine in now. 

I shoot exclusively with Olympus Micro 4/3 (or m4/3) gear. As a former Canon shooter, I found that my style of shooting needed something lighter than the heavy, and quite frankly, obtrusive cameras I lugged around. One day I picked up an Olympus waterproof point and shoot to carry around at all times, in the pre-iPhone era. I liked using it so much that when I became so frustrated with the Canon lens selection (I was shooting an APC camera, but what if I wanted to one day shoot full frame? Sometimes I felt like I had to buy a lens for a camera I didn't have.) when I saw an Olympus E-620 kit on sale, I bought it and never looked back. 

 Watch maker at work

Currently I use an Olympus OMD-EM5 Mark I, an Olympus Pen E-PL6, and an Olympus Pen E-PM1. I have a purpose for each camerawith the EM5 being my "pro" camera. I generally use the E-PL6 as my walk around street shooter, On this camera I usually have a prime lens on it. My E-PM1 just fits in my pocket with the lens and EVF off.  

Speaking of lenses, I normally have the Olympus 17mm ƒ2.8 with me or the Panasonic 20mm ƒ1.7. This goes on my E-PL6. I tend to use the 17mm more as it's a much faster focusing lens. Other lenses I have are the Olympus 25mm ƒ1.8, the Olympus 45mm and the Olympus 12-40mm ƒ2.8, the best walk around lens ever in my opinion. 

Ramona

I still have a 70-300mm lens from the older 4/3 system. Not a very quick focusing lens, but sometimes I need the length when I take shots of birds. The last lens I use is the legacy 4/3 30mm Macro ƒ3.5. I don't do a lot of macro work, but this lens is enough for what I do come across.

At some point I'll post speaking to how I shoot and why, but for now, that's all folks and thanks for reading!