Month: February 2017

The Film Project Part 1

What started as a “hey can you test out this film camera I just bought” a few months ago, as turned into a new hobby/experiment in my photography venture. After putting a roll through that Olympus SLR, I was immediately drawn back in to the world that got me started. I could list pages of reasons why digital imaging is so much better than film, but there is something pure about shooting a completely manual camera, and not having the luxury of instant gratification.

This post is part 1 because it would take way too long to do this in one post. Some of this series will be just my verbal processing of what I have (re)learned, and some parts will be my thoughts on digital vs. film photography in general.

For this test shoot, I was using the Olympus OM-2. This was my first time shooting an Olympus camera, and it was like no other camera I have shot. The shutter speed, aperture, and focus were all on the lens. It was actually quite difficult to manage all three of those things on a small 50mm lens. It also forced me to mentally recollect my manual stop numbers. I will admit, that I have gotten lazy in the past few years.

I think these fundamentals are good for any photographer to know, but digital cameras make it way too easy for us to just spin dials till we get the right exposure. This aspect in itself is part of the reason that I have decided to keep shooting film. Mental sharpness behind the lens. I have told many people that if they really want to get into photography, they need to learn the basics. In fact, I personally don’t think you can call yourself a photographer and not know them. The exposure triangle, as it is known, is the very foundation for getting the proper shot. I will expound on this later. Back to the subject at hand.

It was a fun and challenging process, but I was fairly pleased with the results. I did not post process any of these shots. They are only scanned to digital. This will be be the case for every post in this series.

A Fresh Start

Well, it has been a long time coming, but it had to happen. It’s time for a fresh start.

On March 10, 2012, I purchased the domain www.sportdogphoto.com. I knew absolutely zero about websites, and was relying on the experience of a couple good friends to get me started. Being that I had no clue what I was doing, and that there was going to be a learning curve to building a website, it was decided at the time to build the site under a sub domain, and then transfer it to the primary once I had everything in place. I’m sure that some of you noticed that when you went to my site, the domain was newsite.sportdogphoto.com.

As time passed and I took longer than expected to get everything set, I began to build pretty good search ratings on the “temporary” domain. Even when I had things at a comfortable place, I wasn’t sure how to move my content over to the proper domain. Ergo 2017. 5 years is enough and it was now time to make this happen. I decided that since I was going to have to basically rebuild my site at the new domain, that I might as well give it a fresh look while I am at it.

And, here we are. I like simplicity and ease of use. I try not to over infosize(yeah, just made that up) my visitors, and let them get to the places they want to go. I hope that this new site provides the necessary content that people are looking for, while still engaging new visitors.

So, whats new? Well, not a whole lot is exactly new. I have fresh home page that while similar to the old, has a cleaner menu and allows the viewer to browse the images uninhibited by the menu or content. I am constantly building my collection of images available for stock commercial and editorial use. I have so many images on so many drives, it will take some time to go through them all and get them loaded on the server. I will also be adding new images as I go.

I am also hoping to be a little better at keeping this blog stocked with fresh content. What that will be, I haven’t quite decided yet. Leave a comment below, and let me know if there are any subjects you would like to read about. I am thinking besides covering events, I may also cover some general photography tips, thoughts, and occasional rants.

All in all, this is the right step to be taking. I hope you will continue to help make Sport Dog Photography the go to service for all your dog, hunting, and outdoor photography needs.