A camera, handled correctly, is a passport to wonderful places and experience. You’ve noticed that I put ‘handled correctly’ in italics, and there’s a good reason for that.
I teach an online class with the BPSOP, and I also conduct workshops everywhere in the world. It’s the workshops that I want to talk about because it’s there where I find the biggest problems.
Case in point. During my workshop in Prague, we were shooting sunrise at a famous cathedral know for being one of the first to use a Flying Buttress in it’s architecture. Right at sunrise a woman came up to me with her new Leica (with lens was $60,000) and asked me if I knew how to use it.
Apparently, she had bought this system right before the workshop and had no idea how to use it….boggles the mind!!!
I said that I had no idea and asked her if she had practiced with it and read the manual before coming. I also said that there’s lots of instructions you could find on YouTube.
She responded with a strange kind of look and then said that she had never thought about it. She thought that there would be people in the workshop that could help her.
I can’t tell you how important it is to try out new equipment before going anywhere. Whether it be a new body, a lens, or switching to a brand new system…especially a new system. Sit down with the camera and manual and go through each and every page so you’ll have a complete working knowledge and
be in a position to come back with photos of a lifetime.
The second most important thing I strongly suggests to all my fellow photographers and students is to learn how to shoot on manual. Make your own decisions as far as the camera settings, and not let the camera (a machine) make them for you. I can guarantee you that you’ll become a far stronger shooter.
Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.
JoeB
