This post may be a little difficult for me to walk away from without serious nitpicking and heinous remorse, but I am taking a huge step into the world of honest educational photography. Not that I wasn’t always honest, but…well.
Let me explain.
I went to Rockport, Massachusetts and found a lovely little nook of a place called the Camera Corner. I went inside, driven like newfallen snow, chatted up the older, knowledgeable gentleman behind the counter, and then proceeded to blow $115 on a Rodenstock Multi Coated Circular Polarizer Filter for my lens. (After taxes, it was $120)
Why did I blow that much money on a lens filter, you ask?
That’s why.
This photograph is completely untouched, exactly as I took it. The colors, the clouds, the image is in everyway, richer and cleaner (in my eyes) than that which would been taken before purchasing this filter. What this picture shows is an effect that would have taken me several minutes in the Camera Raw mode of Photoshop to achieve. I’m ready to dance the hurly burly here, people. I’m ecstatic.
And yes, often times they say you pay more at the Mom and Pops locales, but truth be told, you pay for knowledge; you pay for banter. Places like Ritz Camera are like asking a monkey to balance your checkbook. The people are there to sell you the Hummer, whether or not you asked for the Prius. So, how much more did I pay for the knowledge of this gentleman who’s been running a Camera shop for 50+ years? I paid -$8.00.
That’s right, price on Amazon, pre-taxes and shipping = $120.
So to celebrate, this entire post will be un-rawed, unedited shots taken post filter purchase.
Huzzah!
Apparently, this is the most photographed building in the world. Now, don’t take my word for it, it was the word of others, but why question? They seemed truly sure of its status. (And, upon hearing such info, I was determined to take a picture no one else had ever taken! Not sure if I achieved that, but we shall see.)
I have a soft spot for buoys. (Ha! Replace buoys with boys = jokes! Keep em to yerself!) I take pictures of them whenever I see them. Something about the sea gets me all goofy with the point and click.
Man, there are things I want to do to this shot, but I have sworn..( SWORN!).. to leave them be.
It’s already getting difficult. Please, someone hold me.
Not sure if you can tell, but notice how you can see into the water in this shot? That’s the filter’s work. The previous shot included the white reflections of light due to ripples. Polarizer people, I’m telling you. It’s like Barry White’s voice slithering all warm and foxy through your ear canal.
Now, from what I have read, having a filter doubles as a source of rampant AWESOME as well as being a lens protector. Break a nice filter, get set back a hundred bucks. Break a nice lens…yeah. Not so much.
Who knew I was so deprived before now? I did.
Who knew I was so impulsive as to drop Benjamins on a day trip to Rockport? Well, me. And the cosmos. I figure, I can afford it, so why not? Invest in my art and the things that satisfy my soul, right? Right.
Now, you do the same!
I love the sea. Goddammit! I also love sailboats…STORYTIME!
The last time I set foot on a sailboat, it was as a young teenager with my mother and her friend from work. At the time I was twelve and had completely forgotten the previous sailing expedition with my mother, when she’d capsized our boat in the middle of Forge Pond, but I digress…
We’re coasting out in the Boston Harbor, enjoying the day, when suddenly dusk approaches and the wind turns. We find ourselves searching for a gale that will combat the tide and literally spend an hour in a 20 yard area of the Harbor, doing the sailing equivalent of pacing. The lights of the city reflecting off the water as the sun disappears, us trapped at sea with little to NO real sailing knowledge, and it happens. A good gust, the right wave, and my mother pulls her famous maneuver of capsizing the boat.
At the moment I feel her shift, I launched myself up from my seat and threw my whole body into the opposite side of the boat, giving her enough of a push to steady us long enough for my shipmates to do the same. We remained upright, but just barely.
Moments later, the rental workers roll up and tow us to anchor.
The boat in the distance reminded me of that. Sorry.
Most photographed building in the world, you say?
I don’t know if I buy it.
Yet, there it is again.
Hmmm…
I’m not sure if I will ever venture to Rockport again. The traffic/parking situation was appallingly wrong and the shops were quaint and lovely, but surely less epic than expected. A few galleries on the walk caught my eye, but I am such a perfectionist with my own photography that when I see something I wouldn’t be proud of being sold for $300 on a wharf, I think, “I could take that with a disposable camera and I would say just the cost of development is STILL too expensive.” I’m a photography snob, but only when it comes to overpriced bologni!
It’s a staircase. I know, what do you want from me! I thought it was rad.
Did you know…the gray shingles commonly seen on seaside houses are not, in fact, a decor choice?
The graying of shingles takes places on houses by the seaside due to the salt in the air. Despite paint and stain, all wood shingles will turn this texture and color if left untreated. The more you know…
It is a pretty rad staircase, though.
Ok, I feel I have shared enough to walk away and feel satisfied, despite wanting to futz with these pictures even without an outlet to share them.
I could do a before and after piece, but who would benefit from that other than my inner perfectionist? No one.
Though, moral of this story/post; buy a filter for your SLR. I suggest Polarizers over UV because they give a richer effect, but buy MULTI COATED! Single coated won’t show up with Digital Cameras. Thank you Camera Corner for that nugget of info.
Good God woman, you’re an artiste! Georgeous shots.
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