Rule 24: Mistakes Don’t have to be Mistakes

Mistakes don’t have to be mistakes, everything is subjective – a mistake to one person is actually a piece of art to someone elseRobert Rodriguez – 10 minute film school.

The River Wharfe
The River Wharfe at Bolton Abbey

Never really appreciated that quote until recently when I forgot to switch my lens to auto-focus. The in-focus image was rubbish, but I really like this.

Just wish I could say the same about all my mistakes 😉

Bonfire Night

Never photographed fireworks before, so this was a bit of an experiment. I like these, but I think they could be better.

fireworks
realising I needed much shorter shutter speeds, I started to add a few zoom blurs into the mix. I like the effect, but the highlights are blown out.

 

Sparklers
Always wanted to try this. Shame the top got cropped!
fireworks
A shorter shutter speed reminds you that these little fireworks are little explosions. I love the way the sparks bounce around in the frame.

A fun night, and the photography was part of the fun. can’t wait for next year.

The Hundred Greatest Cameras – sort of

A certain magazine has put together a list of the hundred greatest cameras ever made. Interestingly, the Sony NEX-7 is sitting pretty at number 78, which I find interesting since it’s not available yet. What’s that all about?

Now I may have missed them, but there were some notable cameras missing. Most notable absentees were the EOS film range. Not a 3, 5, 50E, 30 or 1 in sight. I find that truly odd as the EOS 3 was widely considered to be about the finest film auto-focus SLR ever. I would have had that in my top 100, even my top 10.

My personal favourite though will always be the Pentax MZ-5n. I loved this camera and without doubt is the best Pentax I ever owned. Pentax made some lousy auto-focus cameras, but the MZ-5n wasn’t one of them. Reliable metering, reliable (if noisy) auto-focus and a shutter speed dial all wrapped up in a lightweight and compact body. It was a joy to use and never failed to produce the goods. For me, that makes it a great camera.

Everyone has their preference and everyone will have their favourite, but the fact that so many digital cameras were in the list is quite telling. Could it be that we already have a generation of photographers who have never used film? Who have never  manually focused a prime lens? Never used a thumb wind?

So what would be your greatest camera?