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Get Down!

Get Down! Now I'm not referring to some old dance but your angle of view to the subject. Can't stress enough the importance of the background to a photograph and one of the best ways to clean up a background is to simply physically move (provided you're using a long focal length.

Now I've written over and over again about moving laterally left or right to improve the background. But now I want to stress getting down low, I mean low! How low, check out the current Audubon Magazine and you'll see a photo of one of my safari participants literally resting his 600f4 on the sand to get down as low as the subject. This makes a radical difference in isolating the subject, making it pop by having a clean background.

This months Tip is directly tied in with Photo of the month because there are two images on that page. One photo of the pup Red Fox was taken standing at my normal height shooting down on the pup. The other photo was taken with my tripod on the ground, the lens about six inches above the ground. You can see for yourself very quickly the difference in the photo and the background.

To accomplish getting down low, you've got to be able to do it physically. I mean both your own body as well as your tripod. You have two options, putting the lens directly on the ground, or lowering your tripod to that height. The Gitzo 1548 I use permits me to do just that which is how I captured this image. You want to capture that great image, improve your background and Get Down!

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Lens Selection

Every week I receive at least a dozen emails from folks wanting help in selecting lenses. Some folks go to great lengths to email large laundry lists with different lens combinations seeking my advice as to which is the best to buy. Believe it or not, to each email I provide the same answer. "Sorry but I can't be of much help, selecting a lens(s) is a very personal thing. The lens you select directly determines your style of photography and since I don't know you, I honestly can't be of much help."

This isn't much help which I understand, especially when we're talking a whole bunch of money. But selecting a lens or a system is a personal thing. Nikon, Canon, Tokina or any other brand produces a wide variety of focal lengths and f/stops for specific focal lengths for a very good reason, because all the lenses are not meant for every photographer! Lenses are what gather the images we see before us and transmit them magically to our film. And while sharpness may be what many think is the most important aspect of a lens, I personally feel it's how the lens does its job of communicating what I see to the film, and then to others!

You can search my website or go to my Camera Bag and see the lenses I currently use and what I used before the F5 and why, which provides you with some insight into my own lens selection. But this is in no way the

list of perfect optics that everyone should own. I have the lenses I do in my camera bag because they solve the problems I run into in the field. These lenses deliver onto film what is I see. If I don't know you or know what it is you see, how can I honestly advise you what lens you should buy?

Now I'm more than happy to tell you between which two lenses I prefer the most, or, if a particular lens is sharp IMHO, or, if a particular lens will function correctly on a certain body, but I can't help you in buying the right lens for your photography. Photography is all about communicating, the lens being the main component of that craft. You'll have to do your homework, look at other images you admire and find out what lens was used to capture that image and in that process, you'll find the right lens for you!

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Films

Selecting the right film for you and your photography really isn't that much different than selecting a 500f4 over a 600f4 lens. Lots of time and thought should go into the film you select as it's what's going to relate to the rest of the world what it is you saw and wanted to communicate.

But the process which one should use in selecting a film has not been accurately described to the film buying public IMHO. We've all seen those tests where oblique white targets and girls in bright clothes are used to test sharpness and color. But how many of us travel off to Alaska to photograph white targets or girls in bright clothes (OK, the girl example might be stretching it)? And are sharpness and color the only two measures in which we should judge a film?

I'm sure you've seen my name linked to Agfa RSX film, that's because I use it, all the time for everything. Now when I tested that film against what I at that time I was using, Fuji Provia 100, my test was rather crude to some I'm sure. It was winter, so I drove a mile up the road to a pack of coyotes I had been photographing and photographed them to test the film (shooting other films along with the Agfa). When I got the film back, I was so impressed by the Agfa's color and contrast (contrast being a very important element in film selection), I had an image enlarged to 30x40 to see if the sharpness which is really the grain structure, would hold up. That print hangs in my living room now, just to give you an idea of the my thoughts on its sharpness. And finally, I sent images out to publications to see how they would react and when Nikon made a poster of an image shot on Agfa, "I says to myself, I'm happy!"

But there is still two other elements in selecting film I must know before settling on a film, archival qualities and environmental qualities! I have Kodachromes from the early eighties now cracking from simply sitting in storage (bad processing problem). I have been told many horror stories of other films turning green two years after processing by you folks. My livelihood, kids college fund and my retirement depend on my images being around forty, fifty or more years from now. No matter what the digital world might bring, if my images from today are not around, then, then I'm in deep ...

My test for archival qualities is very unscientific, but I don't have the testing labs to do anything else. Now I do look at what manufactures say in their literature, but I feel I get more valuable info from you folks and your experiences for most films I don't test myself. But I simply shoot a scene, a whole rolls worth and then take those processed images and spread them around the house. Some are a top my computer monitor where is gets hot. Some are in windows, light fixtures, all sorts of things and places you wouldn't normally store film. I also have a couple in the cabinets where I store all my images. I then compare all of the tortured images against those stored away to see the results. Fading shows up rather quickly if there is going to be any.

But probably one of the biggest factors behind the film I use is the environmental record of the company making the stuff. Ever thought about all the chemicals used in the process of making film, the canisters and cartons that eventually get flushed out after the product is made, down back into the environment? God awful stuff! What about the cartons and canisters themselves after we get done with them, will them decompose in those landfills some day? Telling the world we should shave our world in our photos while the actual process of making the film is part of the problem really bothers me. That's a major reason I went with Agfa, they've received awards for their efforts to protect the environment!

So the next time you see a film test or, you are testing a film on your own, ask yourself these questions and find out the answers. There is a lot more to film selection IMHO than just sharpness and color!

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Contacts

I bet a number of your clicked on the Tip of the Month because you thought Contact referred to the Movie, or, that I had a great phone number to provide ya. Well, the contact I'm referring to is neither, nor as exciting, but is important to your success as a photographer. The contact I'm talking about are the AF contacts in your camera body and lens.

On my recent trip to Alaska, I had an equipment malfunction in one of my F5s. The display in the viewfinder was blinking at me and the meter reading was off the map. I thought that I was had, and so was my F5. I went on shooting with another body and left that F5 for the hotel room for closer inspection.

Back in my room, I couldn't see anything wrong. I decided to clean the AF contacts in the body as kinda last resort type thing. When I wiped the contacts, you should have seen the black stuff come off! When I but a lens on the body, low and behold, everything worked again!

What I'm advising you here is not recommend by Nikon, nor any other camera manufacture. It's not even recommend by the maker of the cleaner I use. But what I do, is put some lens cleaner on a Q-Tip and wipe the contacts, both those on the body and on the lens. Now I normally do this about once a month, but I guess some foreign substance got from my hand to the contact of the lens and was then transferred to the F5, causing the malfunction.

Every day I use my gear, I clean it that night. It takes only minutes and by doing so, it saves me from having troubles in the field. The contacts are just a part of that cleaning that we should all take care to keep clean, so we can continue to capture those killer images!

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Slow Down

So I'm flipping through the TV channels and there's my friend Art Wolfe on the OLN's Nature's Best program. I flip to the channel just in time to hear him tell the students he is with to stop getting caught up with fast shutter speeds. Wow, I've heard myself tell folks that all the time but it doesn't seem to be getting through. So the Tip of the month and the Photo of the Month are once again tied in to each other.

Getting a tack sharp image doesn't require the exclusive use of a fast shutter speed. A steady tripod, good camera technique and an understanding of the subject goes a long ways in capturing a sharp image. The Rocky Mountain Bighorn in the Photo of the Month is a prime example of what I'm talking about.

On the cover of the next BT Journal, you'll see the image taken before this one, an inspiring image of this ram in gorgeous light. This image was taken as the ram left that beautifully lit locale and wondered off up the hill. The diffused fill light for this momentary portrait was gorgeous, the shutter speed slow. What did I have to loose blasting away a few frames at the slower shutter speed? The film is all, and what did I have to gain? The image you see on the page.

In full light, the shutter speed reading on this late afternoon, shooting Agfa RSX 100, F5, 600f4 at f8 was a slow 1/30 to start with (polarizer in use). When the ram went into the shade, the shutter speed dropped to 1/10! But as Art put it so well on the TV, the best light is sometimes the lowest!

I want to strongly suggest that you learn how to SLOW DOWN when shooting, taking advantage of great light and opportunities even when the shutter speed might be slower than you're comfortable shooting at. And if that's the case, you need to get that camera out more often and practice your camera technique so you can take advantage of the golden moments when you SLOW DOWN!

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Low Light

If I had a nickel for every time someone asked what I do in low light situations, I could retire! While the answer for me is as simple as my camera bag, much has been made of this topic. Now I'm the first to admit there are lots of correct answers to this question. But like so many things in photography, I've tended just to go my own way which 99% of the time as worked just fine for me.

My answer to shooting in low light situations? Just keep on shooting! I don't grab a faster lens, the 600f4 is as fast as they get, so that's not an option. Pushing the film, or, going to a faster ISO film? That's an answer selected by most photographers and works just fine, but that' not what I do. Rather, I just keep shooting. But with this answer always comes the question, what about sharpness?

I learned in the very beginning of my career that most of the great action can happen when you least expect it. With this being the case, there is no time to switch lenses or, switch films. I learned from the beginning that I needed to have the basics down pat for low light situations, relying on my skills rather than technology for whatever mother nature presents.

The basics are simple, proper handholding technique when shooting handheld and proper long lens technique when shooting with the big lens on a tripod. These techniques are not rocket science, not something I personally invented, just something I practice every day whether I'm shooting or not. These techniques allow me to work my equipment, providing it a rock solid platform essential for low light photography. I won't hesitate to shot a subject with a shutter speed of 1 second either handheld or, with the big lens on the tripod. If the subject moves, even if I was shooting at 1/30 of a second, the odds of a tack sharp image are slim.

The math of this is not rocket science either. I'm shooting Agfa RSX 100, rating it at 125. If I'm shooting at 1/15 of a second with my ISO 100, a ISO 200 film or pushed 100 film to 200 would only provide a shutter speed of 1/30. To me that's not that big of a gain to warrant carrying a second ISO film, or paying the expense of push film development. My method is very simple for I'm a simple minded photographer. There's nothing to write down, remember or forget, I just keep on shooting, and shooting and shooting. Whether my method is a valid one or practical, all I can do is point to my images and say that at least for me, this simplistic approach to low light works.

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First Lens

I'm constantly asked if this or that is the best "first lens" to own when starting out in wildlife photography. Now in previous tips of the month, I've said I can't recommend lenses for folk who I don't know, know their shooting style, or abilities. But let me tell you about my first lens and why I still think it's the best lens to start out with.

I started out with a Nikkor 400f5.6 EDIF AI lens. That was my baby, the lens that I used in conjunction with a TC-14b and F3 for five years. That's all I had for a long lens, nothing else. This effectively gave me a 560f8 lens which I took everywhere! And I shot this lens handheld all the time. I had at the time (now no longer available) a Kaiser gunstock which is all I used to stabilize my "long lens." And with this combo, I explored my natural world.

Why was this and still is the best focal length/fstop to start with? I had to learn to get close physically to get the size image I wanted. Optics weren't doing it, my skill was. I had to learn how to handhold even in low light as I was always shooting at f8 (effective f/stop of f5.6 for DOF, which is still may favorite f/stop). This is how I honed my skill for handholding and learned to have no fear of shooting in low light.

Some of my favorite images were taken with this combo, images I still treasure. If you have my first book, some of those images were taken with this combo, but today you see more images taken with my F5, 600f4 and TC-14e. That's because after five years with the 400f5.6/TC-14b I moved up to the 800f5.6 EDIF and then to the 600f4/TC-14e (840mm). I love this focal length and the narrow angle of view permitting complete control over the background. I learned this is what I wanted and needed by using the 400f5.6, get close physically, and learning the lessons this small lens had to teach.

Nikon doesn't make a 400f5.6 AF lens, which is why I use and love the Tokina 400f5.6. Smaller than my old Nikkor 400f5.6 EDIF, it's just as sharp, lighter in weight and still as much fun. And when I use that lens, I remember the lessons of the past, lessons I pass on to all still today, and I learn new lessons. So, when it comes to the first lens for a wildlife photographer, you might better understand why I still recommend the 400f5.6.

In the Feb '99 issue of the Journal, has a long piece on fast lens, narrow DOF and how it effects your photography. You don't want to miss it!

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The Best Investment

What do I think is the best investment photographers can make? The answer is simple, time in the field. Do you realize what treasures are occurring out in the wilds while you read this tip? Do you realize what we're missing every moment we're not out behind the camera to experience the magic? Do you realize that the person who is out in nature no matter their talent, equipment or skill has an opportunity to capture an image we don't since we're in reading this? Time, it's the best thing you can invest in to improve you photography.

It never ceases to amaze me all the emails I get when a new piece of equipment comes out, asking "should I buy.," "is it better.," "what can it do for my photography?" I know from these questions one thing to be true, the askers of these questions have limited time in the field. Experience is the best teacher, whoever said that knew what they were talking about. All the tips and recommendations I am able to pass along come from experience, experience derived from being out in the field, shooting!

Yes, I've heard many a tale about not having time to be out in the field to learn, that's why folks ask me questions. One of the main reasons I have this extensive website is so folks don't have to reinvent the wheel, but can learn from my successes and failures. But all of that comes from spending time in the field, shooting.

Currently the hot topic is understandably the F5/F100 and 80-200 AFS. Knowing myself, my shooting style and where I want to take my photography, I have the answers, for myself, in regards to these latest Nikon temptations. This doesn't mean I know the answer for you. I only know the answers for myself because of time spent in the field, the problems I've faced and looking for an answer to those problems. I still don't understand how folks can buy gear when, they really don't know what they want to shoot, and the problems inherent with that. It comes back to time!

If you want to make the best investment you can towards improving your photography, spend time in the field. Take a camera, take binoculars, just take yourself on a walk but get out and experience what it is that winds your clock! I've always said, and will continue to say, instead for spending all the money for one extra stop on a fast lens, get a slower lens and use the money you saved on film and time in the field! The weakest link in photography is not the camera, but the person behind the camera. Improve that, and you will improve your photography!

If you want to see the thought process I went through on deciding about the F5 / F100 question, or the 80-200f2.8 AFS, you'll need to subscribe to the BT Journal . You'll find in Feb '99 issue this and much more!

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Old Haunts, New Techniques

Whether you're just starting out or an "old pro," at some point in time, those treasured locales where you love to shoot become old. Old in the since of, "been there, done that." This mental state shows up in your photography which is to be expected, since we're all human. But getting in a car and driving to Yellowstone or jumping on a plane and going to Alaska might not be possible. It also might not help. So, you've got to find pazaz back into those old haunts.

One technique to play with at that old haunt is Depth-of-field. DOF is a simple thing to play with and can be quite an eye opener. If you normally shot with a narrow DOF like myself, start exploring shooting closed down. This increase in DOF means a decrease in shutter speed, which means you might start needing fill flash.

Flash Fill is a viable technique that many photographers aren't sure how to employ. Playing around with it is one of the best teachers of learning it that I know of. If you're increasing your DOF which means you've closed down you aperture causing you to slow down your shutter speed, you more than likely might want the freezing action as well as light from fill flash. And with this combination, you're more than likely going to have to be a better student of backgrounds.

Backgrounds are essential in being effective at communicating photographically. First and foremost, backgrounds make the subject pop! Hitting the viewer of your image right between the eyes with the subject is one of the most effective ways of communicating. But with the increased DOF, background selection is even more important, eliminating has much junk from the background as possible while making the subject pop. Flash fill can also aid in this pursuit, depending especially on the time of day.

Time of day can bring a whole new life to old haunts and new techniques. Lets say you always visit a certain locale early in the morning because of life or light, start trying it in the late afternoon, or vise a versa. Just the change in direction of the shadows because of a time can change radically alter the appearance and your photographs of an old haunt. You'll find the wildlife will change as well with the time of day.

The biology of the locale is on a clock, ticking much the same day in and day out. Going after new biology and recording is on film can radically change your perception and rewards from an old haunt. And if you add in that above ideas along with this, you might find that old haunt is now spanking brand new!

I know, none of these are new techniques, been around since day one. But all to often, we fall into a grove which I was always told is really a grave with the ends knocked out. To get yourself up and out, simply seeing one old thing in a new way paves the way for a flood of new ideas and opportunities. The imagination just needs the slightest jump start before it overwhelms and drives your passion into action. In reality, visiting old haunts with new techniques is what wildlife photography is all about, getting out and capturing the wonders we see on film!

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Film Rewind

In the normal course of shooting, rewinding film is just part of the process. Shooting a scenic, family event or just putzing around, film rewind is just a procedure that takes no thought or has a time requirement. But when the action is flying and the film with it, film rewind is a make or break procedure!

Whether you're shooting with an F5 or F100, when you have a four second rewind or a twelve second rewind, there are things you can do to speed up the process. I'm not talking about some sort of programming with Photo Secretary, but with the photographer.

First thing one can do to speed up the rewind process starts before the film needs to be rewound. Have your unshot film and shot film organized in such a way that you can grab a fresh roll without looking and dispensing with it. While this sounds silly, but practicing this when you're not shooting will assist you when the action is hot and heavy. It also helps if you keep track of the film counter, knowing that you'll need to change film mentally prepares you for when it is time to change film.

Probably the most important part of speeding up film changing occurs when you push the film rewind button. The vast majority of the photographers I've watched changing film, don't start actually get out a fresh roll of film until the camera has finished. When the action is happening and the next image is important, you need to start grabbing for a fresh roll of film as soon as you hit the rewind button. I personally have my unshot and shot film on the right side of my vest as I'm right handed just for this reason.

Ever seen that outdated film at the camera store film counter? You know, the stuff that is a buck a roll and a brand of film you would never normally shoot. Buying a couple of those rolls of film and a film retriever can help you speed up your film changing. Shooting through a roll of film by just blasting away at anything, and then rewinding as if you are really shooting and practicing changing can make a difference. You the film leader retriever to reuse the same roll of film over and over again practicing saves you money while practicing.

While these seemingly stupid little things sounds trivial, when the shooting is hot and heavy and the photography so exciting that making mistakes is all apart of being human, having some processes of the shooting experience, such as rewinding film a mental thing, can make the difference in getting the next image or not.

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BT Journal Images on Our Website

Ever since the first posting of images on our website, we became aware of folks grabbing our images and using them in various ways. Particularly hard hit were our images of the San Joaquin Kit Fox, an endangered species. In the beginning, we could contact the offender and simply ask them to remove our image or pay for its use and that would be that. Many of the offenders were college students working on projects, which just required us to contact them, enlighten them about copyright and request them to post our copyright notice with the use of our image. They were never charged for their use. It has always amazed me that elementary school kids who have wanted to use our images for projects have always written and asked for permission to do so, which we granted when we could.

Then about a year ago, some big time problems arose with illegal use of our images. Without boring you with the details, the bottom line is I had to consume valuable time to deal with these folks. Time is precious, which I want to use with my family or out in the wilds shooting, not in an office dealing with folks taking something that isn't theirs. It finally came to a head for me in April when in one week, three photographers emailed us, saying how much they enjoyed seeing our images on their computer all the time as they make gorgeous screen savers and wallpaper.

There are lots of arguments in regards to this. One side says I should take this as a compliment that someone wants to have my images as a screensaver. Another says I'm just mad about it because I'm not making any money on the deal (an argument that offends me to no end). Many suggested that I post the email addresses of the offenders so others could write them and tell them how disgusting stealing images is. Another said I was naive to think this didn't go on and just to go after those who could pay and forget the "little stuff." Well, if you haven't figured it out yet about me, I'm a black and white kinda guy. Right is right, wrong is wrong and the stealing of images no matter the source, grabbing them form a website or scanning them from a book or whatever, is wrong. I couldn't keep posting my images on the website, knowing someone could grab them without permission.

So the first thing I did in reaction to those three emails was remove all FIF (Fractal images) from our site, since those were the images most often grabbed. Next, I sent out an email via Moose News telling folks that until I found a solution, I wouldn't be posting any more BT Journal images. I knew that the Bald Eagle images in this issue would be hot property for folks to grab. The reaction to my email from Moose News readers was incredible!

The overwhelming support for my stance on this issue brought me to tears to which I thank all that wrote. It also brought me to tears because of the disappointment many expressed about not being able to enjoy new Journal images on the web. I immediately started to make calls and write emails; there had to be an answer to what seemed like an old problem to me. Thank goodness Gary Davis emailed because he had the answer, a software program called ImageSafe.

This complicated but simple program converts an image into a Java Applet, which is tagged onto a website rather than a JPEG or GIF file. This applet "blocks" the vast majority from right clicking, print screen or grabbing an image from your internet browser's cache off one's hard drive. Is it perfect protection? I already know it's not as I've had a hacker friend work over an image. But it took hours of laborious work to make an image from the applet and it didn't really look all that great. (You can find out more about this software for your own application at ImageSafe.)

The drawback to this technology is that it prevents some folks from seeing anything. Mac users, you're out of luck, as your platform doesn't support the Java script required to view the images. For that I'm sorry. PC users, you must have Netscape 4.06 or Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher to view the images. This is not a perfect fix and I apologize for any inconvenience this causes anyone. But my options were slim.

Option one was to remove all images from the site, which was an option I personally couldn't live with. Option two was to create a password system, which would mean more time for me to maintain such a thing and let's be honest, someone would give their password to a friend and then that idea would be blown. Option three, suggested by many, was to just post low res images. I did that with our kit fox photos, which didn't stop a soul since some still grabbed them, enlarged them and used them. They looked like heck, but then if those folks had high photographic standards, they wouldn't have illegally used the images in the first place. Option four was to use a watermark. Hey, we went through a few of those programs and all that did was help us find those folks easier who were illegally using our images; it didn't stop a thing. Option five was to use ImageSafe.

An image, no matter who captured it and how bad or good it is, deserves to be enjoyed by all that want to view it. The same image while being enjoyed by all belongs to whoever created it and remains as such until that person says someone else can use it. Anything short of this is simply wrong and anyone who has poured their soul into creating a single creation and has had that trust violated, feels just like someone who has had their house broken into. As a community of photographers, as a community of humans, we need to understand and respect this claim as well as all ethical boundaries governing wildlife photography. We need to take a stand and say when right is right and wrong is wrong. It takes very little research to view societies where art, culture and beliefs have been lost or taken away to see how naked life would become without the simple treasures we enjoy. We hope that one and all continue to enjoy the images we feel pleasure in bringing to you and that all your trusts go rewarded!

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. - Proverbs 27:17

99.04.26 I received some pretty nasty emails from some Mac users when we went to the ImageSafe method of protecting our website images. Robert Nicholson wrote that he understood our problem and wanted to help. So, he did some homework and found out how Mac users can view our images with ImageSafe. He forwards the following:

Netscape on the Mac supports LDK 1.0.2 only. There is a plug-in available for Netscape 4.5 (at mozilla.org) which lets you use Aplle's MRJ as the Java VM in the same way the Java Plug-In works on windows (i.e. not using the applet tag). Netscape 5 on the Mac will use Apple's MRJ as its Java VM. This means it will support JDK 1.1.8 MSIE 4.5 onthe Mac uses MRJ as its Java VM which, in its latest version 2.1.1, supports JDK 1.1.8 Earlier versions of MSIE 4 on the Mac could use either MRJ or Microsoft's own really bad VM which was mostly JDK 1.1 compliant. MSIE 3's Microsoft VM was so bad that one should always recommend that a user use Aplle's MRJ instead. While I don't understand any part of this, Mac users should and it should make it possible for you to view our images. While ImageSafe has dramatically cut down folks grabbing our images, only found one in the last three weeks, some folks have sent 8x10 prints of this months photo of the month to prove they can beat the system. So the images from our upcoming BT Journal which will be mailed out next week, will not appear on our website in color.


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For What It's Worth,
Here's My Two Cents Worth

For The last thirty days or so, I've been receiving an email a day or more, asking about the optical quality of the 28-70f2.8 AFS lens. There seems to be some website reviews out in cyber land saying this lens has a problem at the 35mm range. Now I've not been to these sites, don't know who wrote these things. And to be frank with you, I don't give a damm either. And I'm not really sure why so many others are as well. And as far as that goes, I'm not sure why folks hang on every word I have to say either when it comes to lenses. While my evaluations have proven over time to be accurate, it's still just one person's opinion.
Now I took time just because I knew I was going to write this, to contact 41 follow photographers who's opinion I trust who own or have shot with the 28-70, none reported a single flaw. In fact many, including myself, believe it's one of Nikon finest ever made. So what's the point?
I can't say it enough, you need to select a lens that delivers the problem solving features you require to get what you see on film! This IMHO waste of time on what's better, this has a problem, etc. is simply bull. Even the worst optics in talented hands can take better images then the best optics in untalented hands. You want to prove you know something, damm, take an image that will blow the socks off us all! That the kind of reviews I seek on the web! When I see a great image, the last thing I think is, "what brand of lens was it taken with?"
Instead, I look at the light, drama, emotion and soak up what's being communicated to me. It's so easy to say something negative about a piece of gear, it's a no brainier and it sure does get one a whole lot of attention. It's a lot tougher though to create a great image that gets everyone's attention!
Yes, I wrote a book with my two cents worth on the Nikon line, but that's all it's worth; it's just a guide, not gospel! I truly don't spend my days testing everything to the hilt, I spend my days shooting! And I strongly suggest photographers get off this "what's best" kick and get to creating images.
For what it's worth.

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