Daily Inspiration #355 by Ryan Wilkinson

September 17, 2012 Daily Inspiration 39

Steve,

Let me first begin by saying that you are a huge inspiration to me in the photography world. You have really enabled me to just love taking pictures again, just by following your examples, both in pictures, and how easily it is to see your love for photography come through your words. The fact that you keep your views/opinion true at all times is refreshing. Thank you. (THANK YOU for reading Ryan…this site exists only because of readers like YOU..and with all of your help)

My adventures with photography really started back in 1998 at art school with film. Fast forward ten years, and after a ten-year break from photography, I found myself back in it with my old 1974 Pentax handed down to me from my father. Fast forward to 2012 and my adventures took me to the Olympus OM-D. My love for aged scenery, and anything with a peaceful view, grew even more with the OM-D. After much research, and particularly your review, I settled, happily with the Olympus OM-D. It’s a camera that easily lets me take pictures, for the love of taking pictures. It has contributed in bringing my love for photography back after years removed.

I am not into photography for the technical side, photo jargon, gossip, and hype of the next best gadget. Nor, do I aspire to be a professional since my experience is very small, but I take pictures for me, simply because I love to capture the beauty all around me. In an age where the next best thing is only minutes away, I have found peace with this camera, and the connection I have to what I can capture visually.

Attached are a few pictures, simply from a friend’s yard around the house, both black & white, and colour…my eyes love both, and I could not decide what I like best. I hope that others will follow in your lead, not only to just take pictures for the love of photography, but to take those pictures that really speak to our own, unique, inspired soul, and nothing else.

Regards,

Ryan Wilkinson

Ontario, Canada

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39 Comments

  2. Ryan, enjoy yourself and don’t care what anybody else says….it’s the way you see the world.

  3. I enjoyed looking at these Ryan, thanks..and I too particularly liked the first two. Keep it up mate.

  4. Hi Ryan, great pics.

    Personally I really like the second one; I think b&w really suits the subject, the old shed with all that great texture, the fence and the clouds. The tonal range is well exposed with details in the shadows and highlights and plenty of dramatic contrast, nice shot!

    Re. those post-processing art filters – enjoy experimenting, go to town with them and have fun, that’s the most important thing and that’s what you’re doing! They work really effectively on some subjects, and horribly on others!! Dramatic tone and Grainy B&W are effective and you can always use the feature that applies all the different filters to the same shot so you can see what they all do, in camera. Trial and error!

    My feelings on the OM-D are the same. 2 years of buying and selling diffent digital cameras that I didn’t connect with for one reason or another… then this arrives and right away it’s fun, small and light and capable of producing incredible images. Great that you like it so much – it’s a keeper for me too and has all but completely stopped me looking at that next-best-thing.

    Keep up the good work!

    James

    • Hi James,

      Thanks for the comments, I really appreciate it. Glad you connected with the camera also.

      All the best,

      Ryan

  5. The application of “Art filters” IS post processing as we understand the term. The image is given (by the camera in this case) a preset treatment, giving the image an appearance differing from the default output.

    So yes, postprocessing. Not that it matters.

    • Good to know, thanks. I guess my definition of pp is different. Nothing was touched/altered/cropped etc. after the fact, but hey, that’s why I am here, to learn, to share and appreciate.

      • As I said Ryan, it’s not a big thing. I’d stay away from the scholastic feuds on pp or not. It’s the appreciation of the images that matter, and I like them, even though I might not have done them that way.

        My own “pp” in LR4 (D700 with a string of primes) is limited to, from RAW, finetuning white balance, exposure and leveling straight lines as appropriate. No sharpening, no noise reduction from LR’s presets. That is of course just my approach; as minimalistic as possible. If more is required to get an acceptable image I usually bin it, because it was a failure in the first place.

        Enjoy that OM-D; it’s fine camera and the lenses are excellent! Maybe try it in RAW for a change and find out what that gives you.

        Cheers,

        Michiel

  6. Beautiful images! Less is in this case definitely more and you got an great eye for composition. Reading through the comments and learing that you didn’t PP any of the pictures makes me doubt if I should buy an OM-D myself:-).

    Please keep on shooting and sharing!

  10. Well done Ryan…..it is easy to see what moves you! Curious where in Ontario these were taken…I use

    to live in Muskoka.

    Bruce from BC

    • Hi Bruce, thanks so much. These were taken in Ashton…just near Ottawa. Muskoka is beautiful, and hope BC is treating you well.

    • Thats neat Ryan……many years ago I used to go to high school out near Richmond….I know Ashton!

  13. 2nd is more appealing and natural for me: nature and house with door opened. Nice to read you found peace with a camera, and the connection around you.

  14. what’s going on in the first pic? Those dark shadowns/smudges in the sky look very unnatural to me… Too much postprocessing perhaps?

    • Hi…zero post-processing. I actually have never post-processed any photo I have taken. I really believe in photography in it’s natural capture. Thanks for the comments all!

      • I found it hilarious when photographers say I don’t do post processing my pictures are natural. Natural pictures don’t exist if you don’t do the processing the camera is doing it for you, which is even worst since you don’t have a control over it. And in this case it clearly looks as some kind of camera filter. It’s not bad, but don’t fall for the no post processing natural picture thing…..

        • I am quite new to the digital world. Every camera in the digital world ‘post-processes’ with it’s different shades of colour, tone, etc. to a degree, so really, we are all doing it. In this case, the dramatic tone pulled the sun through, which is what I was going for.

          Again, I am learning here, not claiming to be a professional by any means. I find it hilarious when people are so caught up in words/technical aspects, and not just appreciating photography for what it is, and what it should be.

          • Sorry didn’t mean to sound so harsh, you are right shooting should be about the fun! It’s that sometimes I get sentimental with the whole editing issue. I been criticize as well for over editing my picts, (if that even exists) and saying that they shoot natural, with no ps. When all the picts that come from the camera are edited as well. Unless we are making a living of photography as with other passion or hobby the only important thing is to have fun!

          • No worries at all. I wasn’t clear on what I meant, and that was that I didn’t do any pp after the fact. I meant natural as in what the camera is doing. Sorry about that.

            Again, I really enjoyed going through your pictures, and a photographer’s each unique, artistic picture is a part of them and how they see the world. Pretty cool stuff. Would be quite boring if we all saw and did the same thing, in my opinion.

            And yes, should always be about the fun. I have much to learn in the world of photography!

            All the best,

            Ryan

      • Dramatic tone to be exact. Natural capture of the camera/tools available and our eye is what I meant. Was a lot of fun taking these, and I really appreciate any and all feedback to learn from. Thanks again Steve for posting this, it was the highlight of my day!

        • So what you meant is you don’t do any post-processing yourself – you let your camera do it. I don’t really get what’s supposed to be more natural or real about that, but the applied filter in the first shot really ruins it. I like the other two, though.

          • Again, natural capture of what the camera is pulling through, real time. I can appreciate your comment. Glad you like the other two, thanks.

  15. I love those shots Ryan; the first two particularly – they have a wonderful ‘feel’ about them and I would go so far as to say they have soul. So well done!

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