It was when I had two dogs that I really started thinking that I needed more than a point and shoot camera. There were two main reasons for this idea: 1) getting close enough usually meant taking them out of whatever moment inspired me to point the camera at them and I was more likely to get a face full of dog kisses than a decent photo. If, I imagined, I had a telephoto lens, I could sit back, let them do their thing and get the character shots I wanted.
2) A completely black dog plus a completely white dog is kind of a nightmare situation. One was either over or underexposed. This photo was me taking advantage of lighting that allowed for some sort of medium exposure and a rare moment during which they were tired enough after play to allow me to move in without them altering their happy poses. The whites weren’t too blown out and the cute black face still shows a dog. I was thrilled to finally capture an image that was able to show them both.
Imagine being able to control the exposure more easily in a camera! With my point and shoot, I was always playing with ways to trick the camera into doing things that it wasn’t inclined to do on its own. I would do things as wild as change the ISO setting so that it mismatched the film actually in the camera because I understood that blacks and whites fooled the camera’s metering and I could compensate for it by making the camera think it was using a faster or slower film.
Nowadays, point and shoot cameras are more sophisticated, film is something that most kids have never heard of and ISO changes are merely a switch of a setting, but the premise is the same. If you have a camera that is limiting you but you can’t afford something else, figure out how to be creative with using it. That learned creativity will always do well by you and ANY camera is capable of taking amazing shots in the right hands — photos don’t take themselves, whatever the camera. When you ARE able and you feel that your camera is slowing you down, then upgrade to something that will allow your camera to better do your bidding.
I didn’t get my first SLR camera until years after my dogs died, but by the time I did take the plunge, I clearly knew what I wanted out of a camera. Not everyone needs a DSLR but it suits my needs. And when a couple of black cats moved into my life, I was able to adjust my exposure to compensate for my camera wanting to turn black into grey and point from a distance that didn’t disturb them from pensive thoughts.
