So here it is… the new look for brianleon.com. For some time I have been musing the directions my website should be taking. It was fairly obvious that the changes from the last update were not very lasting. It was a bit ironic that as my photography really started to pick up in the shoots I was doing, in terms of subjects, locations and so much more, I ended up totally neglecting the intent of my last site refresh to provide my perspective on photography.
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In a recent issue of National Geographic, there was a cover story about the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the city of New Orleans. What made the story stood out for me was the accompanying photographs by David Burnett. Using a large format SpeedGraphic camera set at a very shallow depth of field, he created pictures that took on a fantastic quality making ordinary scenes of devastation seem surreal like a dream or a nightmare depending on your perspective. Quite compelling. This technique though is not unusual and can be accomplish through a standard tilt-shift lens. You can also duplicate the effect through Photoshop as well.
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Since I bought several years ago my Digital Rebel camera and returned to what is my favorite pastime, photography. What started out as a way to document the life of my new newborn daughter, Madeleine, at the time became something more much meaningful to me. Finally, I has the means to express myself creatively.
I started out with the basic camera kit and over time, I added lenses, a flash unit and other accessories in my attempt to improve the quality of my photography. When I walk around town with my camera hanging down my chest, a camera bag slung over my shoulder and a tripod clutched in one hand all the while framing and peering at possible shots, I look very much like someone who wants to get the most out of his photography.
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If you are a serious photographer and want to indulge your hobby or profession with the very best of equipment, it is not difficult to spend thousands of dollars doing so. With the compact point and shoot cameras, the initial purchase is pretty much it for the camera equipment part but if you are like me, using a DSLR like the Canon Digital Rebel or the Nikon D40, you will find that your camera equipment purchases never stop at the original camera body and standard lens. If you are into wildlife photography, then you have to get a telephoto lens; closeups of flowers, a macro lens; portraits will require a high quality fast prime lens and so on. The thing is though that these lens, especially the higher quality ones, are a substantial investment. For example, the 17-40 F4L lens that I purchased for my landscape photography costed well over $700 which is more than the cost of the Canon Digital Rebel camera body I have. You could go with a cheaper lens; a comparable lens of the same zoom range and maximum aperture will go for half of the Canon price but the difference in the quality in the photographs taken between the two lenses will be considerable.
But why do these lenses cost so much?
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When I picked up my hobby of photography, I had to start my collection of equipment from scratch. Starting with the Digital Rebel (EOS 300D) and its basic kit lens, I have added a portrait lens (50mm) and the zoom lens(70-200mm) and a high quality wide angle (17-40mm) to complete the initial set. Along the way, I have additional pieces like a tripod, flashgun with a diffuser and a collection of filters that fit my kit lens.
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