russellmcneil's photostream  

Personal trainer, writer and photographer.

As far as photography goes I've been experimenting for 20 years. I started with a collection of used SLRs and a collection of used lenses but migrated to digital in 2002. I have four digital cameras and continue to use all four. Three are P&S, my LUMIX DMC-LC40 with its amazing Leica lens, and its sister, a LUMIX Panasonic DMC-FZ10, a camera I used on several field trips to Italy, Scotland, and the Czech Republic. My third P&S is the powerful and versatile Canon Powershot SX30 IS. I also of course have a Sony DSLR-A200 and a series of old threaded M42 lenses with adaptors for manual use.

I have not - and don't plan to - retire any of these cameras. I am a bicycle commuter and carry the trusty LUMIX LC40 everywhere and am constantly amazed with its image quality. All four cameras serve me well and when I go on a dedicated photo-shoot I will generally carry all four, and use all four.

Philosophically I try to let the camera do all the work but, since discovering GIMP (on UBUNTU Linux) I find image processing hard to resist. I also love shooting purely in B&W.

Photography is an art form and I believe that 95% of the art is in the eye of the photographer - it does not matter all that much what sort of box you are carrying. I resist falling for super-expensive equipment. i can't afford it and I've discovered - painfully - that becoming mired in the technology - or process - of any technologically dependent art form can kill the aesthetic experience. One should be able to take a great picture with a Kodak Brownie. Alas, I have no Brownie and have abandoned film.