the camera is just another tool for an artist

me: I can't believe I'm cameraless now!
tall one: you have a camera, your film one.
me: oh...yeah. hmm.

I hear all the time that it's not the camera, it's the photographer. On the eve of spending the most I've ever spent on a hobby (ok...passion) it's the last thing I want to dwell on, but I can't help it.

daisies and radials
"daisies and radials"

After my hike last weekend my knee has really been bothering me. Tuesday I tried to do the stairs at the water tower at Volunteer Park and I really knocked it out of wack. On the way back home I was trying to take my mind off the pain by thinking about the shots I would take when I finally got my new camera. I came across the scene above and swore I would be back to capture it. But as the tall one reminded me, I do have a camera, and I also have an iPhone with lots of fun applications on it!

1+3=5
"1+3=5"

I brought my holga along with me and used my iPhone as a sort of light meter and viewfinder. It's a crap shoot with a Holga, the viewfinder is not attached to the lens and doesn't even show the field of view that the lens has, it's fun like that. I found myself really enjoying the simplicity of the shots and as another photographer passed by me, wondering what I was doing on the ground shooting a tire, I didn't miss having my SLR at all. It was freeing, in a way. It reminded me why I really got into Lomography in the first place. It's simple, interesting, spur of the moment, and you have absolutely no control over the outcome except your own eye.

It's my instrument.

and when my story ends it's gonna end with him, heaven or...
"and when my story ends it's gonna end with him, heaven or..."

When I sit Casey in front of the piano or hand him a guitar, he can play me the most melodic and beautiful sounds. I feel like an artist behind the lens of a camera is the same thing. You can give anyone a camera and they can take a picture, but it takes a real eye to create something thought provoking and interesting. However, that being said I do think there is something to the camera that you are using. I also think a healthy working knowledge of the technical aspects of photography is very important, but I see too many people getting wrapped up in it.

Sometimes the best shots come by accident, when you aren't even thinking about it.

Kind of like love...

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