Hi William,
On Fri, 23 Jun 2000 WJDuprey@xxxxxx wrote:
> OK Lympus Lusters...
>
> Ive taken the OM-PC into the shop for service,re-calibration,new seals,
> etc....I get it back next week. I didn't know that camera shops, the good
> ones, had 3-4 week wait time on service. So heres the package I have: OM-PC,
> 50 mm/1.8 Zuiko, 70-210 mm/4 Sears Zoom w/' Macro, Vivitar 550 FD flash and
> CPC 2X tele-converter.
>
Nice. The OM40 is the only OM-body I've never had, other than the kinda
expensive OM3. Should at some point try and get my hands on one (as
in: borrow from a friend who has one) just for the heck of it ;)
> I have faithfully been reading Hedegoe and others as suggested by many of you
> here. So...I get the camera back...now what?...I know .. I know...go
> practice right? OK I say...but do I follow the advice of the books? or do any
> of you have suggestions? (what a dumb question huh?...you guys...have
> opinions...lol) Seriously though...200 speed, 400 speed, brand of film,
> black/white...color...shoot with 50 mm at various f-stops, shutter
> speeds....pitfalls...stay away from the zoom for a while...don't forget the
> middle range of the zoom...
>
Well..I am a mostly black-and-white photographer myself, and thus of
course I would go with that. Seriously, if you have a darkroom yourself,
using black and white film will be the better solution: you can shoot more
frames with different settings, make contact sheets and judge quite
something from that alone and save money on not printing (all those) not
so good frames. Ohh, and developing the pictures is part of the fun
(in both b/w and color, but b/w is significantly cheaper).
So load your camera with an Ilford Delta 100 or FP4 (both are fairly
tolerant and cheap, the delta100 being the most fine-grained one) and go
hunting.
As for the lens etc....I'd suggest that you - for learning purposes at
leat - take just one fixed focal length lens on your body and go explore
its capabilities. That way you will probably find it easier to focus on
the exposure and composition (and learning the power of going one step to
the side to get rid of annoyances, rather than "crop" the picture with a
zoom) of the picture and not so much on the "which lens should I
use" issue. An usefull side effect is, that as you use the same lens
all the time, it will be easier for you to observe the effects of stopping
up/down etc.
> I know this is an open ended question so perhaps your top 3 points...guys
> like Lex, Gary. etc...(don't wanna leave anyone out)...probably have
> war/horror stories to share with a newbie like me.
Ok, I am no Lex or Gary, but the "top three points" for peons like me
would be:
1: Go simple - one body, one lens, one filmtype. The purpose is to learn
what your gear can - and can not - do. (Knowing in particular what it
can not do will help you identify which extra gear you will need to
acquire). You will find it amazing how much a 50/f1.8 can really be
used for.
2: Use "lots" of film - consider a bad frame as the costs of
experiences. Don't be afraid to try different settings - but remember
to write them down (or do as I: use a dictaphone) such that you will
know what is what when you get home and develop the film.
3: Think about a few simple rules for composing the picture. Decide upon
what your "center of attention" is, and make the lines and curves guide
the viewers eye to this. Remove as much "clutter" as possible - the
best pictures (imho) are often those with few, but well selected,
elements (i.e. step to the side to get rid of that lamppost and the
parked car). Finally: get in close, unless you explicitly want
otherwise. Someone said something like that if your picture isn't good,
it's because you were not close enough (I do not remember whom, though,
but it is kinda true).
>
> Thanks again all...by the way...does posting to the list often have an impact
> on anyone's marriage?
Yep, but a positive one - ok, I am not legally married, that may be why ;)
> I keep getting hit in the head by flying debris from
> my wife telling me to get off the computer...any suggestions on head
> protection?
>
Well, I agree with your wife: get off the computer. If I was your wife
(ok, that sounded really wierd), I'd also be upset if I saw you spend good
money on nice photo-gear, and you just sat in front of the computer rather
than be out there taking pictures... ;)
--thomas
> Best,
>
> William Duprey
> Ann Arbor, Michigan
>
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