Patience

This past weekend was a dreary affair. The rain lasted through Sunday morning, and the sky stayed a flat, dull, overcast grey until early in the evening. Grabbed my camera bag around five o’clock and headed downtown hoping that I might catch a short window of evening light before the weekend was over.

One challenge having some background in photography is that I know what I want, but I just don’t know how to get the camera to comply. Although I opted for a camera with a traditional shutter speed dial, and lenses with an old-fashioned aperture ring which feel familiar—it’s still a digital camera. For now I’ve settled on shooting in manual mode: manual ISO, manual shutter speed, and manual aperture. That’s starting to feel natural at this point.

Focusing is another matter. Focusing through an electronic range finder (EVF) is a bit unnatural; now compounded by the fact that I wear prescription glasses. Focus peaking helps, and the visual depth-of-field in the viewfinder is a nice plus. I shoot in manual focus mode, too—but I’ve settled on using one of the buttons on the rear of the camera for “back focus” using my thumb.

Progress is an incremental process, requiring patience. Here’s a few images from the weekend: Urban Landscape III.