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Oopz, typo ....
Can almost HEAR them !

Photo by: Bridges

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CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

No one ever created a great image while admiring their cameras on the shelf.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

I like your water drops and the old bottles. Using a cell phone would be acceptable as long as you keep it at one magnification. On the phone I use there is a range of -.5 to + 5 magnification. Using multiple magnifications would be no different than using a zoom lens and not keeping it on a single magnification setting.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Fear of failure is the greatest motivator to not even try.

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

Thanks Fredrick. I like this image. Thanks for sharing it.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I did not participate in Bill's thread, not because it is not interesting- it's always good to see what other successful photographers are doing even if it is differet, off-beat, or opposite from waht you do or what YOU like. It's LEARNING- it's ideas, it waht to do or what not to do depending on your perception, taste, and style. You look at it you can emulate it, use a litt of it, agree within, disagree, or forget about it- it's all at your option! All good!

The reason I no longer comment on these kinds of posts is they usually bring on a lot of disdain for professional photograhers, with unnecessarily harsh criticisms, and inferences that many professionals are not to truly professional standards and a litany of folks trying to define professionals as hacks who are just fortunate enough to get paid for their work.

Photography is not licensed by professionals like doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, etc. We don't deal in life, death, safety, or our client's finances or well-being. We provide a service and a product in many diverse areas. Even in the licensed professions, there are the good, the bad, and the ugly- there are hacks and quacks but hopefully, they are in the minority and are disqualified when they are found out.

I have been in the photography business all my work life and yes, there are some bad apples, hacks, and flashes in the pan that gain some novel notoriety and then crash. There are a lot of pros who "made a big time" and deservedly so, remain at the top for a long time. There are many hard-working (working stiffs) who do incredibly excellent work in small communities or behind the scenes in the advertising business but they exceed improve, sustain, and carry on becse their work is consistent, of the highest quality, and they are honest and reliable. The hacks and charlatans, eventually go by the wayside- they do not last very long in the business.

This silliness of professionals doing major assignments or highly paid work with low-grade gear is all hypothetical and hyperbolic. In all my years I have never seen a serious pro work with inferior or inappropriate equipment. I have seen them work with extremely stripped-down and simple but reliable equipment and come up with great stuff without all the gadgetry.

In many circles, the client is paying for waht it is in the photographer's heart, head, and mind, not mainly for what is in his or her camera bag. Hopefully, they will go by your reputation, good word of mouth, and your portfolio, not your inventory list that you supply to your insurance company.

William Loc: Mississippi

defines candid@

William Loc: Mississippi

one of the best I've seen@
congratulations outstanding

William Loc: Mississippi

so near Rockwell

imagextrordinair Loc: Halden, Norway

Mixed message perhaps...

Composition based on physical distance constrained by a prime lens has nothing to do with the image quality or composition comparisons of a "point and shoot" camera credited to "grey matter" trumping a high end "professional" camera.

Most "point and shoot" also have zoom lenses...

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

When I saw that video of the lady using what I believe it was a Panasonic camera, I posted my thoughts about using a simple camera for a majority of our photography. That simple camera in my case is the Olympus Pen EP-5 with an old Zuiko 17mm f2.8 or a Panasonic 50mm f1.7.
Remember when cameras came with a 50mm lens? Today the manufacturers sell their cameras with a kit lens and the kit lens happens to be a zoom

Remember when cameras only had interchangeable fixed focal length lenses? We were living then with mostly mechanical cameras, all manual and with hand held exposure meters. Remember when nobody wanted a zoom because of their poor optical quality? I am mentioning all this because it is history but that was the time of basic photography when one needed to know what was doing to be a photographer. Cameras were popular then only with professionals and advanced amateur photographers, they were too complicated for those starting in photography.

The majority of the street photography done at the time was using a 50mm lens and usually a Leica rangefinder camera. A Gossen or a Weston Master exposure meter were our best friends when it came to taking an exposure. Pentax introduced a spot exposure meter that became very popular especially with photographers like Ansel Adams whose majority of his work was black and white. All history.

Now we have digital and excellent zooms along Photoshop. I see more photographers with zooms than those using a single focal length lens. I still keep a 1963 Nikon F that I bought while studying in Spain. That camera came with a 50mm f1.4 lens and I used it almost exclusively because I did not have the money to buy Nikon lenses at the time. I had a Konica camera before that but the Nikon impressed me with the quality of its images.

The exercise of using a single focal length is a practice I do often. The street scene in Puerto Rico that I posted yesterday was made with the 50mm Nikon lens. If anyone here wants to really enjoy this journey try a single focal length with a hand held meter and if the lens is like mine, a manual lens which apertures need to be set by the operator then the experience is much better. It teaches discipline.

vince1942 Loc: Black Mountain. NC

When Ansel Adams was asked what was the most important part of his photo process - the film, lens, camera, darkroom, printing, etc. - his response was "the 12 inches behind the viewfinder". The man knew what he was talking about!

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

Very nicely captured Thomas!

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

I’ve challenged myself with the one lens outing. Although I’m carrying a DSLR, I’ll add to the challenge by imagining that I only have a roll of 24 ASA 400 loaded.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Sooo, mirror less cameras have NOTHING to do with anything ! ?? .....