Menoggling Via The Fudge

As many of you will know, a couple of weeks back, Dory held a Q&A about photography. Her mama is a bit of a wiz with the imagery! (Check out her photoblog.) We were asked to comment about what camera we are using at present. I answered the question in the comments as requested, but realised this was a prompt for another chapter in Mac History. The following is the basic outline from MY TAKE 'tools' page.

WE HAVE HISTORY
Photography has been a part of my life since childhood. From the Kodak Instamatic to the Minolta SLR and sharing dad's darkroom. Oh the magic of light, paper and chemicals!

When the SLR 'died' film photography was already being considered antiquarian, but I resisted digital for quite some time, replacing the wieldy SLR equipment with a 'handycam' film unit - still Minolta. It traveled the world with me and proved itself worthy of its name - though the processing of the film stock was not only becoming prohibitively expensive, it was also clear that some of it had been on the shelf well beyond its use-by... Eventually that camera died, though, and I bought my first digicam - Minolta again. &*>

Next was the Uniden 7.1mp which survived 6 years of almost constant use and nearly endless travel.  The beauty of that one was I won it!!!  The Uniden proved itself a very worthwhile instrument and I came to love digital work with that little gem. However, once we got to India, Uni and I had a bit of a struggle. Me loving the climate; Uni, not so much. I also had a nasty habit of pointing it at the sun....

In November 2012, along came the Nikon ('Nik') L810. Top end of its market at the time, but still essentially a point and shoot.

It died barely two years into the running. Mind you it took some punishment and travelled the world in that time. ... and have you noticed my penchant for pointing it at the bright thing in the sky???

Now it is the Fujifilm S9200; a bigger and more meaningful beast and the closest yet in returning to SLR standards. A true 'bridge' camera, with lots of bells and whistles. It is called The Fudge...

ADVENTURES IN CREATIVITY

Always have had an artistic streak in me - real art, mind; paints, brushes, canvases stuff. Or pens and pencils as the case may be. 

Photography, done with analog film and fiddling with developing equipment, felt like a proper extension of art. I admit to being a bit of a photography snob at an earlier stage in life. Have managed to leave that behind now though. One of the joys of digital photography, you see, is the ability to manipulate the images so very much more than dad and I ever did in the dark room.  That was fun. This is heaven. it can still take an hour or two to get just the right effects on the images one wishes to 'tizzy up'. At this point I would emphasize that the majority of the images used both here and on TAKE blog are 'out of camera', with only the slightest adjustments where exposure has failed me or to trim away that loose hair... 

For a while I did note all the basic tech specs of the images as one always used to, but - apart from being tedious - I am now firmly of the opinion that, in the digital age, such figures have become somewhat irrelevant. Certainly when using images for technical works and publishing, that stuff is handy to know. Really though - do you the viewer want to have the beauty of the image before you brought into the mundane by such things? Any one really wants to know it, they can find it out no bother.

No - Even with the 'straight' shots, I wish you the viewer to take it on its visual merits, its appeal to you and the impression it leaves you with. Even if that is a shudder. Sometimes there is a story. Sometimes not.

A BIT OF THE MENOCLE
One must be honest. As good as it is, the Fudge has not quite got my heart the way the simpler and lighter Nik did. Yes, there are all the SLR functions there and I do play around with them from time to time... but the plain fact is, Nik had most of them too and I used them regularly, but somehow with Fudge, I don't. After nearly 18 months, it could almost be said that it's still not paying its way. Mind you, it could be me, the old eyes not being up to scratch, vision not as sharp as it was, a lag in focus, sometimes not 'switched on'.

Subliminally, I am thinking I could have done better. Poor Fudge. A little bit unloved, a tad uncared for. Of late, I have noticed that the shots taken are just not as sharp as one would hope; there is quite a lag in focusing; it sometimes doesn't respond at all; and that was before I dropped it. 

Oh the guilt. As I was packing the Ren to come back from Edinburgh recently; too much hurry not enough awareness. BANG to the floor. A concrete floor, at that.

Sigh.

Just a little bit longer, dear Fudge. At least until the 5000th image. Please.