From the Collaboratory

Consider this: We have, here in etsy's poe team, some amazing seasoned photographers. The rest of us fall somewhere between their lofty status and the just-getting-started who have a good eye and lots of heart.

I've been shooting the natural world for decades. But it's only in the last year or so that I started to take the whole thing seriously, to feel like it might be worthwhile to learn more about the science and craft that make an image Fine Art. My hope is that you will collaborate with me on an educational photo tour, jumping in with your own comments, questions and experiences behind the lens.

The basics of photography - ISO, f-stops and shutter speed - are well-covered elsewhere on the site, so allow me to reach out into left field and grab ... The Investment Question: Body v. Lens

Where should we focus our money: on a high-end camera body or a high-end lens? Here's my answer:

The crisp detail and clarity NaturesCall achieves in this and his other work comes, in large part, from his use of high-quality lenses. This shot above was made with a Canon 20D and Canon 100-400 mm L-series lens, the best the company makes. Keith said he also used an off-camera flash as the egret was in a dark area of the pond and it was late in the day.


Here are a couple more gems from NaturesCall.

Baby Burrowing Owl

Limpkin with Shell

Keith also noted that lenses tend to hold their value far better than camera bodies do. A Canon 28-70 mm 2.8L lens he purchased about 16 years ago still retains about 60% of its value in the "used" market, but a 4-year-old 20D body is worth about 20% of the original cost. High quality lenses are built better, last longer and, most importantly, produce better images than less expensive ones.

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Nakedeye17 (Su) thinks of photography as a wake-up call: "Hey, everybody! Are you seeing this?" She loves to capture humor, too, and anything wondrous strange. Find Nakedeye17's shop here