Photographing Vintage Cars Along The Road

Posted by enmanscamera on

     A year ago I wrote, “Roadside Photographers Just Get Lucky”. I said those photographers that cruise the highways and byways by vehicle looking for subjects, “must be prepared and ready at a moment’s notice to grab the camera from its bag on the back seat, roll down the window (that’s a must), take a quick exposure reading, and shoot.” I saw them as distinctive among scenic, bird, and wildlife photographers and discussed how I thought luck played an important part in their photography.

These photographers don’t always have the luxury of time to attach a tripod to the camera base, and need to quickly and accurately meter, shoot fast, and be ready for other cars that slowly pass as people try to see why the car is stopped.

Loosing composure by madly waving or yelling, “Go, go, go. Get out of my way!”  doesn’t work very well.  That car will pass and hopefully won’t ruin the shot. The light isn’t always optimal, and the perspective and angle of the shot is going to depend on the road and the placement of the vehicle in relationship to the subject to be photographed. There are those roadside shooters that only use little point and shoot cameras, but the serious roadside photographer is equipped with a DSLR, the skill to use it effectively, and experience to understand how to work with restricting conditions.

Roadside photographers don’t go out to photograph a particular subject. Much of the time, skilled multi-taskers that they are, roadside photographers will be involved in other activities like going to work, visiting friends, or making that run to the store before supper, yet still are on the lookout for any kind of subject to photograph, and are silent about how the picture they are showing was made by chance, and from behind the steering wheel of their car. It sounds so much better for viewers to think the picture was made after detailed planning or some lengthy excursion on foot.

Over the years I have described what kind of photographer I am in many different ways. I won’t bore readers with that, but these days I see myself as an opportunist when it comes to the images I capture on my camera’s sensor. Most of the pictures I am able to make on the roadside are because of my sharp-eyed wife, Linda.  I thought about this roadside, opportunistic photography as I pulled off the Trans Canada highway to stop and photograph a field filled with pre-1920 cars that Linda saw and I almost drove by.

The Antique chapter from the larger organization, Vintage Car Club of Canada www.vccc.com had picked a location just outside of Kamloops, British Columbia, to hold their meet and had been touring around the area for the past two days. We sometimes see groups of restored old cars on the highways which I suppose is not that surprising with a 23 chapter, 1200 member-strong, Canadian car club. However, spectators usually surround them and chances of getting clear shots or even talking to the owners are rare.

But in this instance the wonderful antique cars were parked in a circle in a wide-mowed field and, unlike other car shows, spectators were absent and I could take all the time I wanted composing pictures, and even talking to owners about the club and receiving personal stories about their cars.

I was lucky. I already said roadside photographers just get lucky. The cars, the lack of other people, other photographers, and because I had been working earlier in the day at another job meant that I had my 24-70mm lens and a good flash and I got to get out of my car ready for the pictures.  I was lucky.

The sky had clouded over reducing metal glare and the warm evening light was perfect, all I had to do was add some fill light with my flash to bring out the character of the vintage cars. I began by just photographing those that interested me the most, then after the initial excitement I slowed down and walked around again trying to compose my pictures to tell a story instead of just documenting cars in a field.

I like cars, and like many men view them as works of art. As a photographer the chance to wander around photographing vintage cars is just plain fun, however, truth be told, I will stop to photograph pretty much anything.

My website: www.enmanscamera.com

On the Subject of Film

Posted by enmanscamera on

When the subject of film comes up my first impulse is to flippantly say something like, “Oh, film was nice, but no serious photographer would use film.”  Well, that’s not right. And should any of us be putting a definition on what a “serious photographer” is?

In my opinion, film, and those photographers that use it have positioned themselves in a new place among image-makers. These days most photojournalists and commercial photographers employ digital technology, but I think those that are interested in pushing this medium into a creative place are increasingly becoming aware of the unique characteristics of film.

A film purist can easily set up a home lab with an enlarger and complete chemical process, but there are also those that have embraced both digital and film and the results of the technological cross breeding can be exciting. Film has, in my opinion, a tactile quality that is different than digital capture.

Let’s not get into the boring discussion of film vs digital. That’s become wearisome. Film is different than digital. I think it depends on how one wants to show a subject to viewers. And as I wrote, I think the technological cross breeding of film and digital is exciting and rewarding.

The dialogue now may be about computers, monitors, and software. With film we wanted the best enlargers, and enlarger light sources. What lens was mounted on the enlarger was as important as the lens on our cameras. I had a cabinet filled with many different kinds of enlarging papers from around the world, and another stacked with a wide assortment of developing chemicals for both film processing and printing. All this is still available if one is willing to take the time searching out suppliers.

Serious digital photographers are faced with expensive computers and Photoshop’s steep learning curve. Those serious practitioners of film photography will still be dealing with lots of learning. However, quality film cameras, and quality film processing equipment is cheap and the required processing and printing equipment can easily be found languishing at garage sales. I think one needs to search out the best film equipment in the same way as the best digital hardware.

I don’t use, or even think about, film much, but in the last two weeks I have had several conversations with different young photographers that are making images with film cameras and starting to accumulate the equipment to process film and print pictures.  I will admit I enjoy talking about all that. I liked film cameras and same as with today’s photographers, I thought about and researched those cameras in my quest for what would fit my needs the best.

On the subject of using film photography and digital photography, this week has also found me reproducing a client’s very old photographs. (some easily over 100 years old) I photographed each image, loaded them into my computer, then using PhotoShop corrected the fading and discoloration, added contrast, retouched cracks, and finally sharpened and saved them on a CD.  Most photographs were over 40 years old will start to fade soon, if they haven’t already. And those boxes of family history may be lost as people move them to damp basements or garages when additional space is needed.

Making a quality digital image from the negatives or slides of those wonderful old family photographs and saving it on a space saving CD is ideal.  As I mentioned these two mediums work just fine together and a matching print can be made it the future.

I welcome the chance to exchange thoughts with those photographers who are using film in this day of digital technology. Many see it as a “retro” kind of thing, but maybe it’s not that at all. Including film in the creative and artistic process of photography is just one more factor in the continuing evolution of this exciting medium.

My website is at www.enmanscamera.com

This photographer’s thoughts on photography as art.

Posted by enmanscamera on

I didn’t include an image this time because I couldn’t think of what would fit with my philosophical   musing.

Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia states that, “Fine art photography refers to photographs that are created to fulfill the creative vision of the artist. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism and commercial photography. Photojournalistic photography can be defined as photography that provides visual support for stories, mainly in the print media. Commercial photography’s main focus is to sell a product or service”.

Photography as art has changed over the years since the beginnings of photography in the mid 1800s, and in my opinion, with the dramatic escalation in photography and the making of photographs since digital technology became the mainstay, photography as art interests more and more people.

By the middle of the nineteenth century photographers felt their art should be held in the same exalted status that painters claimed for theirs. Their contention was that it was the photographer, not the camera that made the picture. The goal was, and still may be, to convince not only the art community, but also the community-at-large that photography should be treated as art. Then, as now, the discussion was about whether the different aspects of photography, commercial, photojournalistic, or those created only as personal creative vision should be considered art.

Presently, that art may be nothing more than a screensaver on one’s computer display. Some photographers do go further and it is not unusual to see a personal photograph, or that of a friend’s, framed and hanging on the walls of one’s home.

I have always been interested in art photography and over the years studied the history of when photography started being included as art in major exhibitions as well as what is currently being accepted as art in the medium of photography.  The Wikipedia definition is interesting because it separates what it declares as fine art photography from photojournalism and commercial photography.

The question photographers can ask is, whether their photographs only work as “visual support”, are produced to “sell a product” or as a creative vision?  Do many photographers wander around documenting the world around them and hope to be lucky enough to have final images that fit into one of those categories? I often wonder about that. However, I personally have come to think that definitions as to categories have changed. Maybe it is the way modern viewers see and use photography.  That quickly-snapped portrait of a favorite pet displayed in the owner’s home is cherished enough to be included as art along with the rest of the owner’s sometimes expensive art collection even though some scholars of the arts may disagree.

Remember, even in this technology charged time when making photographs is more popular than I think any other pastime, photographers are still contending with critics that hold that only painting and sculpture are real art.  For me the lines have become blurred, and I see photography as an artistic medium equal to others, although I am not altogether comfortable in categorizing any photographer’s work.  The camera is a tool that helps photographers be creative and photographers only need to decide on their own particular style, and what, as Wikipedia states, is “created to fulfill the creative vision of the artist”.

In my opinion, what that “creative vision” is should be entirely up to the photographer and the audience for whom the image is produced.

My website is at www.enmanscamera.com

Photography in the Garden on a Rainy Day

Posted by enmanscamera on

     

Two weekends in a row have seen me climbing up steep, loose, shale-covered cliffs to photograph eagles where they live high above a long, green, lake-filled, British Columbia valley.  However, this last week the weather has been cool, pretty wet, and certainly not good conditions for climbing or wildlife photography.  Oh, well, I had intended to stay away from those eagles until the chick was ready to fly later in the summer anyway, and I expect the interior of this province was getting a bit dry so the rain is welcome.

As I drank my morning coffee to a forecast of another day of rain I forgot about those birds and instead decided to go out into my wife’s garden to do some photography of her very wet plants. Hmm… I seem to make a lot of decisions over that first cup of coffee.  Just after a good rain is a favorite time to do garden photography and the dripping, spring morning was perfect.  When I mentioned I was going out, my wife, Linda, grabbed her camera and rubber boots and joined me.

Linda placed a ring flash on front of her 70-180mm macro lens and I used a 200mm macro and included a stand-mounted, off-camera flash. Adding light on the overcast day gave our images contrast and “pop” in the otherwise flat and limited lighting conditions of the rainy day. We both used monopods to steady our cameras as we moved around in the wet landscape.

When photographing plants I meter much the same as I would if I were doing an out of doors portraiture of a person. Selecting the camera’s manual exposure mode, I meter for the proper ambient, or existing, light exposure of my subject, and stop down to reduce the overall exposure. Then I add light. If the flash is set to TTL, then I use its exposure compensation feature to increase or decrease the power. If the flash is set to manual I move the flash closer or further away from the subject (in this case, the flower) until I get the illumination I want.

We enjoyed our photography in spite of the steady drizzle and I’ll mention that it is a good idea to keep wiping the slowly accumulating water off one’s flash. I don’t worry about my camera because it’s weather sealed, but the electrically charged flash is another matter. I know many photographers would opt for the dry comfort of home on a day like this, but sometimes we need to make our own photographic opportunities and even though this isn’t as exciting as hanging off a high ledge photographing eagles, I personally can’t think of any kind of photography I find more enjoyably relaxing than ambling through a garden capturing interesting light on interesting shapes, and the addition of rain drops on leaves and flower petals makes everything all the more creative.

We don’t have to go far to find something interesting to photograph. For my wife and me that location is just outside our front door and on that rainy day we would walk back to the cover of the porch to view and discuss the images on our camera’s LCD, and then we would step back into the garden and continue. There were no camera bags to be packed, trip planning, or driving of a car to a distant destination.

I am sure that is why I got interested in garden photography in the first place. It isn’t so much that I am fascinated with flowers, however, as a photographer, I am interested in colours, shapes, shadows and how easy it is to access all that. When I first started venturing into my wife’s garden, I would do it as a way to relax after a day of work.  Now it’s just fun photography that I recommend to any photographer wanting to be active with their camera.

Be sure to click the “follow” button.

Or, at least, select the “like” button.

See my personal website at www.enmanscamera.com

Leibster Blog award Nomination

Posted by enmanscamera on

I will thank Humbled Pie, http://humbledpie.wordpress.com for the Leibster blog award nomination. I had to look it up and will apologise that its origins are still unclear to me. However. I am delighted that someone appreciates my words about, what to me is, the exciting world of photography.

 

I enjoy reading and looking at pictures – so in my mind perusing the vastness of the Internet for Bloggers that are also consumed with photography is educational, inspiring and fun.

 

That Southern Living and Photography Blogger, HumblePie, http://humbledpie.wordpress.com instructs me to:

 

 

1.Add a photo for the award you received to a blog post.

 

2. Link back to your nominating blogger in your post.

 

3. Tell us some random stuff about yourself that might not be evident by following your blog.

 

4. Nominate some worthy bloggers for the same award you received and leave them a note linking them back to your award post.

Hmmm.. Some random things about me:

 

I am “sort of” retired.

 

When it comes to choosing subjects to photograph I am opportunistic.

 

Although readers already have found it apparent, I really do enjoy almost everything about photography.  And can be drawn into any conversation that touches on the subject of photography.

 

My nominations of those (other than Humble Pie) that I do find the time to read and appreciate are:

 

http://insearchofstyle.wordpress.com/

 

http://javashotsblog.wordpress.com/

 

http://igomy.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

 

 

Photographing Eagle’s Nest – An Adventure

Posted by enmanscamera on

    

Generally, when looking for eagles viewers are peering upwards, and most photographs of eagles are of eagles flying high or perched overhead. So, thinking of all that, it was with excitement that my friend, Walter, and I began a somewhat hazardous climb up a steep, loose, shale-covered hill that would allow us to photograph an eagle’s nest from above.  He had found and climbed to this nest late in the spring about four years ago, but that time he only made a couple of photographic climbs because he thought he might be bothering the eagles.  I was able to photograph it only once and what a great day that was.

Last week Walter and I made the half-hour climb again and we found a position on a ledge where we could watch and photograph the eagles from a distance slightly further away than where we were four years ago.  This year there was one fluffy chick in the nest and although I am sure they were very aware of our presence, with the added distance between them and us, they didn’t seem to be bothered.

Walter brought his Sigma120-400mm and I had my wife’s 150-500mm. Both are big and heavy lenses, but because we followed the old photographers adage, “always select a shutter speed number that matches the focal length” neither of us had a problem handholding our hefty lenses. I know fixed-focal length lenses tend to focus faster and are usually sharper, but for this excursion we both wanted the versatility of multi-focal length (zoom) lenses.

The only difficulty we had was the climb. The shale was loose and we caused small avalanches as we crossed and slipped over the face of the hill. I stepped wide and constantly leaned into the hill and had to watch where I placed my feet seeking stable footing. And looking about, or straightening up, only increased the probability that one would end up bruised some distance down the steep hill with damaged equipment.

When we finally reached our photography perches we sat quietly for a while as our trip up was noisy and we expected we might have agitated the eagles.  After a time we moved to where we each could see the family of eagles, then pressing our eyes against our viewfinders we both began photographing them.

The day was clear and bright, so a sky shot, although dramatic, was always a silhouette. I wanted to show the eagles on the nest, to include parents and the chick, so most of my shots were level or angled downwards. The eagles would sit at the nest for long periods, and then seemingly take turns flying off to perform acrobatics high in the windy sky. Too high to photograph, but amazing to watch all the same and when they did zoom back to the nest I would start releasing the shutter all the time wondering if any of my captures would be usable.

Bird Forum, www.birdforum.net, claims to be the largest birding community, dedicated to wild birds and birding. The advice on photographing birds, by one of the moderators is, “A bird will pretty much let you know if they feel threatened by you so you should let them be your guide… The birds come first. Sometimes your close proximity to a nest can cause the parents to abandon the nest,… close proximity to a nest will only invite other predators to the nest… The best way to photograph birds is to make yourself stationary rather than chase them down. Stay put, you would be amazed at just how close the birds will come to you once they are comfortable”.

It was a great day for both of us; outdoors, fresh air, sun, wildlife, and great pictures to help us remember.  The eagle chick should be full grown by nine weeks, and now that we know we aren’t bothering them we’ll plan another visit shortly.

Be sure to press the “Follow” button.

my website www.enmanscamera.com

Photographers that have pets have something special.

Posted by enmanscamera on

In my opinion photographers that have pets have something special. I’m not just writing about the companionship, or the devotion one receives.  That relationship is special and important, however, what I am referring to is that pets are perfect models for our portrait photography.

Photographers point their cameras at just about everything in their lives. Spouses and children patiently put up with constantly having their picture being taken, but eventually even they need to go on about their lives without being constantly photographed, and when that happens, if you are like me, you go looking for the family pet.

Got a new camera or lens? Want to try out that studio lighting technique? Or just bored and want someone ever ready and able to pose for a photograph? Call the dog, or coax the cat. I can’t even begin to count the pictures I have taken of the horses, dogs, cats, parakeets, hamsters, chickens, fish, and frogs I have taken in my life.

Those pets never complained when the pictures didn’t work out and even waited for another blast of the flash without blinking.  I admit the goldfish aren’t very good posers, and Chuck, the rooster that guards the hens, doesn’t seem too interested in standing still for his portrait, but Peaches, the cat, seems more than ok with posing for long periods of time.

Peaches became a resident years ago in the barn, as cats do from time to time. I have no idea her origin, or how old she is, but after a bad run-in with either a wandering coyote or the neighbor’s dog and the follow up convalescence in our home, she somehow moved from the barn to sleeping on my wife’s lap.

The name Peaches came from when I was feeding three strays one winter. My wife asked me what their names were, but, heck, I just didn’t want them starving in the cold weather and hadn’t bonded enough to exchange names. I explained, “ the black one is named Furry, the spotted one is Furry, and the yellow one is called Furry”.  Linda named them Furry, Trixie, and Peaches, respectively. So after Furry got old and died, and Trixie was adopted by a neighbor down the road, Peaches came inside for first aid, a warm place to live, and has become a constant object of my photography.

I will admit that cats are great posers. They will sit without moving for long periods of time, giving photographers lots of time to test out lenses, learn flash techniques, and get creative with a camera. Peaches ignores me most of the time, except when she wants food. So I can take all the pictures I want pretty much any time without any interference. She just sits and waits.

I have never been one of those picture takers that take cute or silly pictures of the animals with which I share my home. I like portraits, so my pet photographs are usually planned and not much different than a formal portraiture of a person. Actually, that cat is a lot easier than most people because she just sits motionless staring at some spot in space for long periods of time. Other than sleeping and eating, Peaches the cat doesn’t seem to think much else matters, thus she is the perfect poser.

“One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. Which road do I take? she asked. Where do you want to go? was his response. I don’t know, Alice answered. Then, said the cat, it doesn’t matter.”  That quote from “Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll reminds me of my cat, Peaches.

I am not suggesting that photographers should rush out and adopt a cat or any other pet only because they need a model, but if one already inhabits the home then put them to work as an artist’s model. And if any of the pictures are good, then add some words like Merry Christmas or Happy Birthday in PhotoShop and make some cards for your friends and relatives.

Don’t forget to press the “Follow button” . and I am also at www.enmanscamera.com

A photographer asked me, “What is a Good Photograph?”

Posted by enmanscamera on

A photographer asked , “What is a good photograph, and how do I take it?”  That was two good questions I received from a young photographer in my shop last week. The “how to” part was the easiest answer and I talked about taking some classes. However, the response to the first question wasn’t as simple an answer.  I suggested that a good photograph includes proper composition, exposure, and an interesting perspective, but that was, again all “how to” stuff. That question and the discussion that followed was so very much like what I wrote about in  post I made in September of last year, I wrote the following at that time and hope I won’t  bore those that already read it.

A good photograph is one that makes us have a connection with, or think about, the subject.  Or, it could help us understand what the photographer feels about that subject; and can, if successful, evoke some kind of mood, whether good or bad.

When I see a photograph that I like, because of my nature and because I have been studying photography and other photographers for years, I begin dissecting it and try to figure out how the photographer made it.  When the photograph is good I am aware that the photographer had an understanding of the equipment and the subject he or she used to make the picture.  However, I sometimes have to stop myself from doing all of that and just enjoy the photograph.

As I mused about the question of a good photograph I thought it might be of interest to include quotes from some of the great photographers.  On the subject of a great photograph Ansel Adams said, “A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.”  He continues,  “There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.”  And then he says, “Simply look with perceptive eyes at the world about you, and trust to your own reactions and convictions.  Ask yourself: “Does this subject move me to feel, think and dream? Can I visualize a print – my own personal statement of what I feel and want to convey – from the subject before me?” “

I also like his short quips,  “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”  And “A good photograph is knowing where to stand.”  Then he reminds us, “There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.”

The famous photographer, Elliott Porter, maker of spectacular scenic colour images, commented, “You learn to see by practice.  It’s just like playing tennis; you get better the more you play. The more you look around at things, the more you see.  The more you photograph, the more you realize what can be photographed and what can’t be photographed.  You just have to keep doing it.”

Irving Penn, known for his editorial photographs in Vogue magazine, stated, “A good photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it.  It is, in a word, effective” and in a lighter mood he said, “Photographing a cake can be art.”

I read the words of these famous photographers and think how each one has inspired me to work harder at making photographs that go beyond just a documentary of a particular subject.  I do extend my knowledge with continual viewing of other photographer’s images, and by reading, taking classes and practice.

Modifying light and keeping photograph’s exposure believable.

Posted by enmanscamera on

A few weeks ago I wrote about modifying light instead of using the direct light from a camera mounted flash.  This is a topic I have discussed many times in my years writing for different publications as I strive to persuade photographers to add flash to their portrait photography.

It seems my comments are having some success because since my blog of May 5thth I have had more than one photographer tell me they had started using light modifiers like “shoot through” and reflector umbrellas. That is a good thing, however, I’m now receiving questions like, “Now that I’m bouncing and softening the light, how come the background doesn’t look right?”

Like any photograph, inside or outside, a photographer needs to take into account how all elements in the image are exposed. That’s the reason I prefer using the manual mode on my camera. It makes it easy to set the exposure where I want to make that subject look like it fits into the environment.

Here is an example that might help readers.  A week ago I photographed a couple in a wide field alongside the South Thompson River. They wanted the white, silt cliffs that jutted up from the grassy flatlands to be visible behind them. The sun (when it poked through the clouds) was bright and cast unflattering shadows on their faces.

My goal was to have the correct exposure for the cliffs, the sky, and, of course, my subjects.  It was slightly breezy; therefore, my wife held onto a stand with a 33” umbrella and wireless flash I used to provide a fill light that would get rid of unsightly shadows on my subjects.

Indoors or out, I always start with the shutter speed. If I need it to be faster I bump up the ISO. Usually I try for 100 ISO, but sometimes I need a higher shutter speed and a wider aperture and that’s when I adjust my ISO.

I first decided what exposure would give me a nice sky and scenic white cliffs. In this instance I metered the exposure and then underexposed by two stops to give me a bit of a darker appearing landscape. Then as my subjects were positioning themselves I fired the wireless flash from different positions until I saw that the light on their faces appeared in the way I wanted it.

My exposure and flash modes were both set to manual. Using manual exposure gave me consistent control over the ambient light. To find the proper exposure for the flash I just moved it closer till I was satisfied with what I saw in my camera’s LCD.   I had balanced the light. There was a nice dark sky, the white cliffs were shining and had defining shadows. My subjects were separated from the slightly darker ambient light without any shadows at all on their faces.

The ambient light kept changing quickly as clouds moved in and a storm approached so I switched from manual flash to TTL flash, and because of troubling wind removed the umbrella from the stand, and instead used a small diffuser cup on the flash to modify its light.

With the camera in manual mode, the shutter, aperture, ISO, distance of the light to the subject, and power of our light source, all controls flash exposure. Things change with the incorporation of TTL flash.  Used together, the TTL camera and flash controls and calculates the flash exposure, and adjusts the power of the flash to deliver and determine the correct flash exposure regardless of the photographer’s choice of shutter, aperture, ISO, and subject distance.

How a portrait looks does have a lot to do with how the subject(s) are posed, but I think light and how it is applied is just as important. Using flash, on or off camera, to modify light gives a photographer more control than just using the sun, or relying on a high ISO. In addition photographers must also experiment and learn how to balance the background, or ambient light, with that flash.

The location really does not matter, whether inside or out, as long as there is enough ambient light to expose the subject. Pose the subject in front of a window or on the lawn. Then add enough light from another source to achieve the final goal of having the background, the foreground, and the subject exposures all together appear to be balanced and not looking artificial.

http://www.enmanscamera.com

 

 

 

 

The Vancouver Camera Swap Meet for Photographers

Posted by enmanscamera on

Every year at this time I attend one of my favorite events, the Vancouver Camera Show and Swap Meet. It was held again this past weekend and the Vancouver Camera Swap meet welcomed both vendors and buyers for a very enjoyable day.  Put on by the Western Canada Photographic Historic Association, and organized by Siggi and Brigitte Rohde, this long-running show has now reached its 36th year and makes the claim of being the largest (and maybe the best) in Canada with well over 1,000 people walking through the doors of the Cameron Recreation Centre (adjacent to Lougheed mall) where it was held.

A large photography and sale like the Vancouver Swap meet brings out an amazing diversity of photographers and what could be better then spending a day surrounded by a vast array of cameras, photography equipment, and talking with other photographers? I’ve been attending over 20 years and for me it’s a great place to sell photography equipment, and it’s a fun day of meeting old friends and making new acquaintances.

My wife and I drove from Kamloops the day before and stayed overnight so I would be fresh for an early start the next day.  As I entered, there is a buzz from other vendors busy setting up, talking, buying, and selling to each other.  I greeted lots of people I have known for years, and then prepared my table to be ready for the swap meets’ early bird shoppers who pay a premium to shop exclusively starting at 9am.  By 10am with the regular admission I was busy showing, demonstrating, explaining, and, of course, bargaining with photographers looking for whatever desirous item they had spotted and hoping for a deal that was just as sweet.

Every year I go wondering what the latest trends are, or what is popular with photographers I will meet there. This year I noticed a change in those I am accustomed to seeing. Many long time sellers and attendees I have known from previous years were absent and were replaced by a much younger crowd. The easy answer might be, like me, they are growing older. But I think it also might have to do with photography’s changing times, and for those that want to hang on to the “good old days”, so that modern technology and how young photographers are using it might be quite unnerving. In previous years I could expect to be accosted by aging “experts” that shuffled up to my table. They usually weren’t there to buy anything, and mostly were only there to show sellers and buyers how much they know, and how much experience they had. This year most of those I have become familiar with over the years were noticeably absent and, in spite of how exasperating some were, I missed them.

Young photographers stopping by my table introduced (for me anyway) a new way of doing photography. I had brought many older, manual-focusing lenses expecting there might be some individuals keen about “retro” equipment and interested in using older cameras from the 1970s and early 1980s, but that didn’t seem to be so this year. This year photographer’s would lay adaptors for different lenses on the table and try different manual lenses with each. They were using modern digital SLR cameras and the adapters allowed them to use the old lenses. And where I would have chosen a focal-length lens like 70mm or longer and stood back to take a portrait, these innovative photographers were selecting 28mm and 50mm lenses, and then moving in very close for portraits of each other when they tested out the lenses.  Photography is certainly not a static medium and is constantly changing.

In my opinion, an occasion like the Vancouver Swap is a perfect place to meet other photographers, learn what others are doing, and of course find excellent deals on many kinds of photographic equipment. Whether buying, selling, or just having a good time with other photographers, other than actually taking pictures, I couldn’t recommend a better way to spend one’s time.

www.enmanscamera.com

Follow me by selecting the “follow” button at top left.