POINT AND SHOOT LIKE A PRO

POINT & SHOOT LIKE A PRO - FIRST - TRANSPARENCY ALERT - I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THE OLYMPUS PEN, NOT BECAUSE IT'S NOT A GOOD CAMERA, BUT BECAUSE i HAVEN'T TESTED IT. Years ago, I knew a gentleman who was (being kind) a rather mediocre photographer. He was not interested in learning how to shoot better photographs. This was because he believed that the secret to great photography lay with the type of camera used. In his heart, he knew that if he could just get hold of a Hasselblad or a Leica, he would morph into one of the world's greatest photographers. Stupid idea? Yeah, you betcha. But you'd be surprised at how many people I run into who believe the myth. Now, I use a Canon Rebel Xsi, not a pro camera, but also not a Holga. I like a DSLR. However, I see more & more of my peers turning to high end point & shoots Why? Well, they're smaller, they're lighter, they present a lower profile. And the quality is comparable to a DSLR. A close friend of mine, Chuck Feil, operator of the TAO OF PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS, used to carry tons of equipment, much of it hauled around by assistants. Now he walks around with a high end point & shoot. The genesis for this post came from a new T.V. commercial for the newest Olympus pen, an interchangeable lens digital camera. At the end of the commercial, Olympus reveals that the commercial was shot with an - Well, actually - with a digital Olympic Pen. That's right. The commercial was filmed with a high end - Well, it ain't an SLR. The lesson, or at least one lesson, from this is that the camera does not make a picture. The photographer does. This means that, whatever camera you decide to use, the art of photography is much more about the photographer than it is about the camera. Larry Elkins - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY