A picture speaks a thousand words

They say that a picture says a thousand words.. and it does... really.. One picture can save a thousand words of descriptive text which at the end of the text can leave many different images in our mind because we all relate a written description to our own unique imagination and interpret it differently. If we in turn look at an image there is nothing that can be misconstrued or misrepresented... or is there?

Well summer has finally arrived and so off I went and got my Porshe Boxster out from storage. Now you must understand.. men and their cars.. well, that's a story all on it's own. I love this car and have been the proud owner for several years now. I will even let you into a little secret.. the mileage is exceptionally low and the insurance premiums even lower...

I posted this image on some photo groups on Facebook and got some comments like "I'm jealous" and "wow"... 

BUT... is everything what we really see the truth? Do I own a Porsche Boxster? Hell no! Would I like to? Of course!! So where did I get this Porsche from? I cannot tell a lie, directly from my showcase. What? you might say, you keep a Porsche in your showcase? Well actually I do. 

Now this is where the "trickery" comes in. This photograph was not manipulated or "Photoshopped" as many would put it. It is very much as I shot it. I will admit I had to slightly change the colour of the grass under the Porsche because I didn't have the patience to match it up with the grass in the background when I shot the image. Other than that, it is exactly as I shot it.. 

 Aha.... well there you go. The secret is out the bag! I don't own a real Porsche but indeed do own a scale model replica of one. So by using a photographic technique called "Forced Perspective" I was able to achieve an out the camera real image of what seems to be my Porsche in my front garden. This technique has been around since just about the advent of photography and I'm sure has been used many many times to fool the viewer!

So does a photograph speak a thousand words? Yes of course it does.... but seeing isn't always believing is it?

 

Monte Casino with the Sony NEX F3 Mirrorless camera

In today's day and age of everything smaller and better than days gone by, camera technology is changing at an alarming rate. The days of small "point and shoot" Cybershot cameras are nearly gone with every cell phone now having a camera on board. Most people read the amount of pixels as the quality of the images but little do they know that on those tiny sensors more pixels generally means worse quality. So where do we really go if we want a compact camera but we want quality? We know that quality generally comes from sensor size and good lenses amongst other things like good digital processing by the camera and the ability for the camera to perform in all sort of light conditions. Luckily Sony has come up with the answer with the introduction of their small mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras. These are small and compact but pack punch and quality. The sensor size is exactly the same as their DSLR big brothers and there is an array of lenses for just about every situation available.

To me, being the typical South African male, a camera has not been a camera unless I have this big heavy chunky traditional camera in my hands. I have however recently being toying with the NEX cameras and find myself using them more and more in everyday situations. They are lighter, smaller, easier to carry and conceal in this crime ridden country of ours but deliver the quality that I require. They can be shot in the normal auto and semi auto modes as well as in my favourite  fully manual mode. They also allow for RAW image capture which is something I would not sacrifice at any cost. (yes, I am a control freak and want full control of my images).

Well it was with this history and the little baby of the range, the NEX-F3 that I found myself driving past Monte Casino yesterday and with a few minutes to spare, I thought why the hell not. Now I know that cameras are not allowed and I have heard of many of my photographer friends being tossed out with their cameras. 

The NEX is small and I held it in my hand with my phone as I was searched by security on the entrance to the venue. They were none the wiser. I first shot a couple of images in the bright sunshine outside and then proceeded into the dark abyss. If you have entered Monte Casino you will know exactly what I am talking about. Here the camera would really be put to the test. I only had the small 18-55 kit lens and nothing special extra. No flash was an obvious so the camera's low light capability was going to be put to the test. I set the aperture on F5.6 to get a little depth of field and to get a shutter speed of 1/40, I had to push the ISO to between 1600 and 3200 to obtain a correctly exposed image.

Looking at the results when I returned to the studio, I must confess that I was suitably impressed. The images were clear and of the standard I expect. Noise was very limited considering the higher ISO's. Colours and the dynamic range is very acceptable with nice detail throughout range. The little NEX will be becoming my little traveling companion from now on!

We even had a blue moon!

Radio Jacaranda's studio gave a wonderful colour splash.

Even police seemed to be off for the day. :)

A did a little processing on this image to give it a more antique look.

Loved the colours, contrasts and textures here