Monday, February 22, 2016

HEADLINE: The Cameras That Captured Winning Shots in World Press Photo 2016

Nebraska Countryside after Snow (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1, Panasonic 14-140mm lens @ 140mm; 1/2000th sec. @ f/7.1; ISO 200
The headline above introduces a story showing which cameras took how many of the winning photographs in the World Press Photo association's annual competition.  I find the headline quite humorous.  Why?  I've read numerous "fanboys" tout that their favorite camera took this number or that number of winning images.  I also read where someone was bragging that a Fujifilm camera also took one of those winning images.  What's wrong with this?  So what!  What does it really matter?

 I looked at all of the winning images.  I believe that any professional level digital camera, most enthusiast level digital cameras and even some superzooms and point-and-shoot digital cameras are capable of making every one of these images.

 It is not the camera.  It is the photographer.  You have to have the skill, experience, vision, imagination, ability to execute successfully and be at the right place at the right time to capture these images.  Each of these winning photographers could have used a myriad of cameras and captured the same images.

 "The cameras that captured the shots...."  I think not.  It is the photographer, not the tool that is important.  When will they get that? 

 Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

  Dennis A. Mook 

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2 comments:

  1. KeithMarch 3, 2016 at 10:58 PM

    Brilliant image. Rarely have I seen an image with so much negative space yet keeps the eye so busy exploring. I really like how the compression of the 140mm makes the slope of the road nearest the viewer seem steeper than it is. Took me a bit to grasp what was going on there because lack of other reference points downplayed any compression of the overall image.

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    1. The Wandering LensmanMarch 4, 2016 at 9:33 AM

      Keith, thank you for the kind words. This was one of those scenes that appeared as I crested a hill on a back road in Nebraska. I just had to stop and make some photographs. I like the black and white version a bit better than the color version. Again, thanks for the comment and your thoughtful words.

      Dennis

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