AboutKent Staubus Expertise I am an experienced outdoor photographer that sometimes sells photo`s on a free lance basis. My knowledge base includes 35mm, medium format, landscapes, wildlife photo`s, and rural subjects such as country churches and farmers/ranchers/ hunters.
Expert: Kent Staubus Date: 7/6/2008 Subject: Cameras
Question Sorry for yet another followup. You said with your research my camera is better for family outtings, etc? I have also been taking people photos. Particularly modeling. That isn't too specialized? It is 8 megapixels, and I feel content with most of the results. I typically prefer manual focus anyways. Especially indoors. What do you think?
Answer The camera was designed for taking photos of people is what I was getting at. I don't consider modeling all that different. "Specialized" types of photography for me are:
1. Architecture photos. Usually special tilt/shift lenses are used to prevent the distortions seen from regular lenses.
2. Low light photography, such as photo'ing in subways or city streets at night. A lens with a large aperature such as f1.4 is needed for that.
3. Very high speed photography, such as stopping motion on a bullet etc.
4. Photo'ing birds. They are small, so lenses with a lot of magnification are used. They also rarely stand still so a lens that allows a fast shutter speed is important. The "standard" lens used by serious birding people is a 600mm f4, about $7,000.
5. Macro photos, taking photos of very small things from a very short distance (inches.) Usually a macro lens and a ring light is used, as well as a very solid tripod depending on subject. Typical macro subjects are insects, flowers, small animals such as frogs.
These are just examples of "specialized" subjects that generally do best with more specialized photo gear. Taking photos of flying butterflies is almost as challenging as taking photos of flying birds. Taking photos of falling/splashing drops of water are also very specialized. Photos of non-moving water drops are less specialized but still very much macro. There is a huge difference between taking photos of a large human being either standing still or walking vs. a tiny butterfly flitting around, at least from the camera's point of view. I have seen people use several thousand dollars worth of photo gear to take photos of sitting butterflies, believe it or not. Go look for that August issue of Shutterbug Magazine I mentioned. You should find it on about any big magazine rack, including Walmart.
