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I agree to the point that once some people get hooked on photography, they want to have fancier toys and be able to get better and better shots. I actually have some DSLRs and fancy lenses but prefer to take most of my photos with my $499 Canon that's somewhere in between a point and shoot and a DSLR. I think there are people in the Photography forum who'd agree that I take some very nice photos with that.
To enjoy photography as a retiree, you do not HAVE to invest in fancy or expensive equipment. I think some of you folks might actually be discouraging some of those retirees who may be on more of a fixed income than you rather than encouraging them to try something new and fun. Just my two cents.
It is never about the equipment. We have all kinds of stuff we did with a point and shoot.
As long as it isn't fast action or low light anything today can be molded into a decent photo.
What people miss out on is that the cost of any retiree hobby is often not the cost of the equipment but rather the cost of getting there. Gas, wear and tear on a vehicle, etc. With a simple camera a day in a local park is cheap and can be made into an adventure. Snap shots of grandchildren may not be studio quality but are great for aging eyes in a scrapbook. One other thought is that local community colleges offer photography to seniors in a lot of places. That is another thing that will work the mind. Grades in such classes don't cause stress because who cares. You learn and make friends at the same time.
It is never about the equipment. We have all kinds of stuff we did with a point and shoot.
As long as it isn't fast action or low light anything today can be molded into a decent photo.
As usual, I totally agree with you mathjak. We travel with young kids and we are always on the go so it would be difficult to travel with a bigger or expensive camera right now. Many of our photos are taken with our iphones or a point and shoot camera and some of our friends are amazed that a camera phone could take such beautiful photos.
While I do agree you can spend a fortune on expensive equipment I don't think you necessarily need to do this to enjoy photography as a hobby.
We travel 100+ days each year around the world and have tens of thousands of amazing photos all taken with simple and cheap cameras.
I also LOVE the technology these days where as soon as you take the photo it will automatically upload to your computer and ipad via Apps like Dropbox.com's excellent App! We love just snapping photos with our Iphone and not having to connect anything for it to automatically upload to our computers and ipads.
No matter what camera you use it is just going to be about getting the right exposure range,getting nice lighting and good composition and focus.
There is no magic here. It is the same as it always was since early photographers started taking pictures.
non photographer folks think it is the camera making the photo better . I can assure you it is not.
It is all based on the skill set of the photographer.
Marilyn...learned her photography skills from watching me and experimenting.
...if she could learn to use a dslr anyone stands a chance...
I purchased my first SLR in 1976, took the college class to learn the theory, built a bathroom tub darkroom, and happily took vacation and family pictures from then on. What really changed my photography skill set is the advent of digital.
Digital photography is so very inexpensive, (compared to using film). I've found that the more I shoot, and the instant feedback of reviewing what I just shot, has increased my photographic skills beyond measure.
just this week i added the remarkable little fuji x100s to my stable of cameras. it is one of the best street photography and travel cameras short of 8k for a leica and it is only 1300.00 bucks. in fact my wife wants one too now so we have to get 2.
looks like i may take the fuji around most of the time when gear on the level of the nikon d800 is not required.
marilyn and i are out almost daily as photography is a passion for both of us . we turned semi pro doing some website photography for local business's as well as sell our work on line ...
some of my work is included as examples when you buy software like HDR DARKROOM .
did these yesterday .
these were a few days ago
Last edited by mathjak107; 01-07-2016 at 04:05 PM..
marilyn and i are out almost daily as photography is a passion for both of us . we turned semi pro doing some website photography for local business's as well as sell our work on line ...
some of my work is included as examples when you buy software like HDR DARKROOM .
did these yesterday .
these were a few days ago
I especially like the CAT photo. Since I love anything about cats, I love seeing this one up so close with so much detail. Perfect.
I take mostly nature photographs, many of flowers, and some of very old New England houses. Mine aren't nearly as good as yours but then I don't enjoy fussing with settings on a camera. I enjoy composing the picture and just hoping the camera will do the rest.
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