After becoming more familiar with the Canon G10 and making a few Black & White photos, it was time to switch to color. The G10 is capable of 15 megabyte files and also has the capability to photograph in the RAW mode. The beauty of the RAW mode is that there is much more control in playing with the file than if it was photographed in JPG. For me it is almost like going back to the darkroom. For anyone serious about trying to get the best photograph possible and having more control in after image processing, RAW is the way to go.
Not having made a photograph with intent for many years, I don’t know what I will be photographing. Everything is open to me now and I can explore what Gary Winogrand once said when asked why he made photographs. “I photograph to see what things look like photographed”.
I had been reading about the Canon G10 and thought it would be a good starter camera for me. With a price of around $400 and 15 million pixel resolution, along with the ability to record in the Raw format, it made the whole process more like doing my old Darkroom work.
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Why am I (and Mari) in Sarasota Florida? There is a long story and a short one. I will give the short one here. It is all about money. Both Mari and I are deep in debt and can no longer afford to live in our studio in Waltham. The crashing economy has drastically affected my SmilePix business. It is also time for a change. I have lived in my studio for over 30 years and have stagnated the last five years or so. Nothing creative going on for me except playing my Xaphoon (a bamboo saxophone).
Sam Laundon is looking to redefine himself and this site is a window into that process. Time for change. Shake up old routines. Get back to times of internal and external exploration. Face fears and embrace joys.
I believe that we all go through various versions of ourselves just like in software there are versions 1, 2, 3 (3.2) and on. If I accept what life offers me, then there are many opportunities to morph into different versions of myself and expand the sphere of me.
On earth we have a stage of experiences as Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts”.
Being now 64, sometime has passed since the last version change. Circumstances have forced me into a whole new environment. What once had been comfortable had become uncomfortable.