Dorothy Parker is enshrined in literary apocrypha as saying, after being asked if she liked to write, “No, but I like to have written.” It turns out that, if she ever said it at all, several lesser-known writers beat her to the punch.
Last week I got to thinking about how I’m spending my time. Three things became apparent:
I love programming computers, but, except to the brief ecstatic flush of having the program work after a long struggle (a feeling that a friend once compared to an orgasm), I draw little satisfaction from having written a program. I hate to document code, to the level that it takes me an hour or so to understand the ins and outs of something I wrote a year ago because the documentation is so lousy.
I love to discover new things about cameras and photo gear. I love to run the first test and see how thing turn out. I tolerate running a few more tests. Executing a test protocol that I’ve thoroughly debugged for the 10th time on the off chance that something interesting might result bores me to tears. It’s fun to write up a new discovery in the heat of the moment. It’s a chore to document a project after it’s over. I find many of my interactions with fellow photographers who read my stuff — and almost all those with the folks with whom I collaborate – but the frequently-received Internet attacks on my methods and conclusions are tiresome and often unpleasant.
When I was working in the street or in the landscape, I used to love the capture part of photography. In the studio, messing around with lights offers less satisfaction. I found 90% of my time spent in the darkroom completely uncreative, and something you had to go through to get to do the creative part and get the prints. Now, without the use of two fully-functional legs, I’m not doing landscape or street work (in the modern era, street photography is much more difficult and less satisfying than it used to be anyway), and I’m working increasingly in the studio. The lighting and fiddling part has not become any more enjoyable. I do like the time spent in postproduction far more than the darkroom work in the old days. When the photo is done, just like always, I feel really good about having done the work. You know how sometimes you wake up happy and don’t know why? I do that when I’m in the middle of a photographic project.
My takeaway is that I should spend more time doing the things that bring me long-term satisfaction, and less with the ones that provide mostly evanescent pleasure. No, I’m not going to stop tearing into the technical minutia of photo gear. I’ll still be writing code to simulate, analyze, and test equipment. But I’ll be making time for more real photography.
Mike Nelson Pedde says
Although you certainly have no need of my endorsement, good for you!! Follow your passions.
FredD says
I’ll second that. I think many of us spend too much time worrying about some relatively-minor increment in technical quality, and forget that it’s the esthetics of the final result that counts above all else.
I will add, though, that not everyone can afford to spend a considerable amount or churn our gear, and we stick with what we buy for a long time. Hence there is a rational interest in a) getting adequate performance for our intended use, b) getting best value for money spent, and c) hopefully avoiding purchase of equipment that has some not-immediately-obvious flaw that could be significantly problematic depending on our particular use (i.e. “star-eater”, or lossy compression).
For those reasons, the results of high-quality testing still have a place.
Lynn Allan says
Your contributions are greatly appreciated.
But I suppose the attention to detail to prepare your “The Last Word” articles can get tedious and less than satisfying.
JimK says
I like both. But I’m looking for more balance.
CraigM says
Hi,
Just found your site and fascinated by your work. Fellow retired & less mobile EE myself, and looking at ways to tune my new D850 and older & newer lenses.
Have not read through everything you’ve presented, so forgive me if this question has been answered:
In looking to wring the best performance from the D850, and top-notch lenses, is it possible to do the following:
1) find the highest performing aperture (say an f4-5.6 for a relatively fast lens)
2) tweak the focus through in-camera (Nikkor) or usb dock (Sigma, Tamron) lenses at that aperture
3) use the D850’s focus stepping on desired target
4) combine with Helicon or other stacking software
For large DOF a tripod would of course be needed. Not sure if a quick 3 or 5-shot focus-stacked set is doable hand-held, unless impromptu bracing is available, maybe monopod.
Would that provide superior resolution than your (excellent) razor tests as done, or does focus stacking degenerate the image into micromush? (At the pixel level, while improving overall DOF).
I’m wondering if focus stacking could clean up some potentially great lenses the Sigma 135/1.8 that have some center vs. edge issues.
Great work, what you’re doing is really interesting!
JimK says
You’ll need a solid tripod and a still subject for focus stacking. Focus stacking will not increase the resolution at the point of focus, but will at points near there, so, in practice, it gives you a sharper image than you could get shooting other than flat targets. And focus stacking will correct for lens field curvature.