Here are two photos from 2006, the earliest date of my digital images that I could find. I started making digital photos in 2004 but when I changed my PC in 2006, I didn’t bother transferring any files across (though I did come across some old CDs which may have something on them). Both of these photos were taken with a small 5MP point & shoot Sony camera. It wasn’t bad in its day. I am posting these images as a follow-up to the last post where I wrote about my finding some lost photos which I had once thought were great only to discover that they were no longer to my standard. These two photos are a little like that too. I once thought they were great, my best even, but not so much now. I remember feeling so elated when I made these images. I’d shot a series of four (not sure where the other two went) and felt quite chuffed with myself. Now I don’t feel the same way about them. It’s not to say that they are bad. I still think they work as photographs but looking at them now, I feel that the sun is way too high in the sky which creates some inconsistency with the mood rendered by the silhouetting and the warm, sepia tones. That’s something I didn’t notice back in 2006 but which, interestingly, I find annoying now.
This makes me wonder what I will think of the photos I make today in ten or twenty years time. Hopefully I won’t like them so much, hopefully I will find something annoying about them, hopefully they will make me say “what was I thinking?”. After all I’d hate to think that there was no more room for change in perception, discernment and refinement. Such change, for better or for worse depending on who’s the judge, is one of the things that makes life interesting.
On the other hand, perhaps you’ll look at these in another 6 years and again see the beauty in them. It’s not the photographs that changed, it’s your perception of them.
That would be equally good :)
I think the second shot is very nice. My first digital camera that I used with any consistency was a 5MP Lumix (I still have it) which did pretty well for a p&s. I still use Lumix as my p&s choice, but after purchasing a Sony Nex, I’m afraid the p&s days are over.
Thanks John. I wish my old p&s was still alive and well but it died not long after I got the 700. I’ve been spending a bit more time looking at cameras lately (in case mine isn’t fixed) and I find myself coming back to the NEX cameras all the time. They certainly seem like excellent cameras. Same sensor size as my current SLR but in a body that is a fraction of the size and weight. Quite amazing.
My favorite is the first one but in six years it might be the second one and like the sepia tones. :-) And, I just found a few CDs with images from the past and loved the discovery.
My first digital camera was a DSLR while getting my G12 a year and half ago. I seldom use the G12, even though it is a great camera, preferring the D300 due to familiarity and ease of use. I would definitely like to spend some time with a 4/3rd camera with the interchangeable lenses.
Thanks Monte. I remember having my doubts about digital photography when I first got a digital camera. Not with respect to digital photography in general (I knew film was going the same way as vinyl very early on) but more with respect to my own acceptance of the medium. My concern was unfounded. I was hooked on digital photography by the time I shot the equivalent of a roll of film.