Day: 01/16/2014

Camera Industry: the trend towards “good enough” is affecting enthusiasts too

/ Marilyn Armstrong / 8 Comments

See on Scoop.it – Books, Writing, and Reviews

From ATMTX PHOTO BLOG

A lot has been written about how smartphone cameras have decimated the point and shoot market. It’s actually worse than that. Most regular people, non-enthusiasts, don’t really want to use DSLRs — they’re just too big and cumbersome. I see former DSLR owners just bag it and end up using smartphones instead. But how about people like me, the crazy, passionate photo enthusiasts. What are we doing?

Well, we are falling victim to the “good enough” mantra too.

I see two distinct groups of photo friends. Some diligently continue to use DSLRs for their serious work and then flip over to an iPhone when capturing casual snaps. I got a laugh when we go on photo walks. We all have expensive, sophisticated gear and we end up taking group pictures with an iPhone. These people are the same as the masses, documenting their world on smartphones. Except, for their serious pro or hobby work, they break out the DSLR. It’s like they have two distinct modes.

The other group, which I’m a part of, have embraced mirrorless cameras or even premium point and shoots. They may still own a DSLR but use it infrequently. These people tend to use tweener cameras (between DSLRs and smartphones) for both their serious and casual work.

Which ever group you’re in, there is no right way, of course. And I’m sure there are some people who don’t fall conveniently into either camp. The point I’m trying to make is that it’s going to get even harder for camera companies. Most cameras, especially under typical conditions, are now good enough. People know this. There is no longer a pressing need to update to the next model. The camera and sensor companies have done too well. They are perfecting themselves out of business.

So what can these companies do? There are still a few under served niches. Sony is the first to the mirrorless full frame game. Perhaps some others will follow. There is the retro camera movement that Fujifilm is leading. Nikon has followed with their Df. But ultimately, as the market saturates, these companies need to be in the aspiration business.

See  the rest of the story at ATMTX PHOTO BLOG

Marilyn Armstrong‘s insight:

I can’t argue with any of this … and that worries me. Because “good enough” really isn’t the same as “good.”

See on blog.atmtxphoto.com

HOLY EXPLETIVE! I AM FRESHLY PRESSED!

/ Marilyn Armstrong / 63 Comments

Congrats, you’ve been Freshly Pressed!

That was the subject of the email and it was addressed to me. I was stunned into speechlessness and that doesn’t happen very often. What can I say except “WOW.”

I’ve written 1850 posts, gotten 120,200 hits. I have 1350 WordPress followers. But never Freshly Pressed. I figured I had pissed off the editors. I’m good at pissing people off. I do it all the time with followers, friends, family and total strangers. Why not the editors of WordPress? After a while, I gave up hoping it would happen. I stopped waiting, figured okay, it’s not so important. If there’s one thing I know, absolutely 100% I can do, it’s write. I have a body of work and a résumé. I don’t need external validation.

Mass Broadcasters 12Except, it wasn’t true. I may not need it, but … okay, I’m human. I crave recognition. Writers — all artists, really — want recognition, whether or not we are ready to admit it. Apparently the trick was to stop brooding about how come it never happened and just … write.

The piece which got the nod is GONZO GEORDI HAD AN AX, a piece of writing so different from my usual style I’m not sure how I feel about it. I know I wrote it … but it was like someone else wrote it too and I was a conduit. I hope I’m not channeling serial killers. I know I’m odd, but that’s more odd than I want to be.

Garry was disappointed when I explained Freshly Pressed doesn’t come with a statuette or even a plaque. He wanted to know if I can create one. I can try. There’s no end to what you can do with Photoshop.

Garry has awards all over the house. Plaques and statuettes abound to such a degree that the last two — from the Massachusetts’ Broadcasting Hall of Fame and Hofstra University’s radio station WRHU Broadcasting Hall of Fame — are on the fireplace mantel. There’s no room on the walls. Let me say up front that Garry deserved every one of those awards, but he feels I should have awards of my own, preferably including something tangible. I didn’t work in an industry that gives awards. If you got a regular paycheck, that was the award …. these days, even more so. I’ll think about it. Anything to make my guy happy and I suppose I wouldn’t mind either.

For my friends who are unFreshly dePressed and yearning for recognition, all I can say is — sometimes, after you stop expecting it, the thing you want happens.

Thanks everyone for sticking with me. You are the best!

MISTY MORNING IN THE WOODS

/ Marilyn Armstrong / 12 Comments

It was misty this morning when I went into the kitchen to start the coffee. The dogs were dancing with delight, anticipating their first round of biscuits. You might think they never got any treats from the enthusiasm they displayed. But they are like that every morning. It’s one of the fun things about dogs — every morning is the first morning ever!

The weather for the past few days has been drippy and damp, so it was nice to wake up to a bright sky and shining sun. It wasn’t until I looked out my kitchen window that I realized how much mist was rising from the woods. If I didn’t grab a camera right now, it would be burned off in just a few minutes. So I grabbed that camera and this is one of the 19 frames I shot this Wednesday morning.

misty morning 1

ANOTHER MISERABLE YEAR

/ Marilyn Armstrong / 6 Comments

Let’s talk about funny. Like who makes us laugh. Do happy people make us laugh? Are comedians people whose lives are running smoothly, easily?

No way!

Funny people have problems. The funniest people are often depressed. Yet somehow, they can see a sparkle amidst the darkness.

Laughter is not so much a celebration of good times as a shield against despair. Humor is borne of irony, the realization that life is not merely imperfect, but frequently dreadful. So we turn our disasters into laughter because the alternative is endless weeping and wailing.

mistakesdemotivator
Another demotivational poster from one of my favorite sites, Despair.com.

The first time my world crashed and burned, I walked away from a dead marriage, gave everything to my ex and moved to another country. The joke was on me. I promptly married a guy so much worse I get dizzy thinking about it 30 years later. When that fell apart — though it lasted longer than it should have because I wouldn’t admit what a horrible mistake I’d made — I staggered — bloody, dazed and penniless back to the US.

When I finally stopped feeling like I’d gone through a wood chipper, I married Garry which I should done in the first place, except he hadn’t asked. Minor detail.

All that seemingly pointless pain and suffering was not for nothing. Stories of hideous mistakes and horrendous outcomes are the stuff of terrific after-dinner conversation. A few drinks can transform them into hilarity. Misery fuels humor. It’s a fact. Calamities, crises and disasters are high comedy.

Funny movies are not about people having fun. They’re about people in trouble, with everything going wrong, lives in ruins. The difference between a comedy and a tragedy is the ending. Tragedies usually end with a pile of corpses; comedies (usually) don’t. Otherwise, it’s just a matter of timing and style.

Funny stories weren’t funny when they happened. Now they’re funny. After I was told I had cancer in not one, but both breasts (they were having a two-for-one special at the Dana-Farber), I had them removed and replaced by silicon implants, but stopped short of adding fake nipples. Previous surgeries having left me with no naval, I now present myself as a space alien. You don’t believe me? It’s true.

I have a tee-shirt that say “Yes, they are FAKE. My real ones tried to kill me.” It’s a killer at parties and is high point of my cancer experience.

Fake breasts

When life goes to hell in the proverbial handbasket, folks who were sort of friends eye you with suspicion. Is bad luck contagious?. But there’s also a light whiff of satisfaction. They wouldn’t be rude enough to say so, but they’re overjoyed it happened to you, not them. Sorry about your life, really (furtive, smug smirk).

If you are a writer, out of the wreckage will come a book or at least a great post for your blog. See? It wasn’t for nothing!

Our personal traumas are collateral damage in a Darwinian battle of the fittest to survive. No one gets through life unscathed. Mindful of whatever tragedy lurks just over your personal horizon, why not prepare some clever repartee? You can give it a test drive at the next get together with your more successful pals. It will give you something to look forward to. And, as a bonus, you will really appreciate the irony when your friends’ lives go to pieces later on. You’ll be able to give them great advice on how to survive their personal Apocalypse! Cool!

So no matter how horrible things are right now, don’t worry. You will stop bleeding and screaming. Eventually. Black depression will ebb. You won’t always feel you can’t breathe. That crushing weight on your chest will be replaced by a permanent sense of panic and mild hysteria you will call “normal.”

Start laughing right this minute.  No tears allowed. Tragedy is hilarious. Heaven may be droll, but Hell?  Everyone is yukking it up down there.  Remember, it’s the first month of a new year. A fresh slate.  Anything could — and probably will — happen.