About Chuck Bennett, and the Real Camera Coach
When I was about thirteen years old, my dad showed me how to develop film and prints in a darkroom. It was in a fruit cellar in our basement. With the lights out and the door shut, it was “dark enough” to get the job done. I remember the first time I witnessed the magic of a piece of plain white print paper, floating in the develop tray, slowly metamorphizing into an image, with varied tones and shades, right before my eyes. I had taken some pictures at a party in my neighbor’s “rec room” with my Kodak Star Flash camera. The party was long over, but now, all the dancers and smiling kids were brought back, off this roll of perforated, silver-coated plastic onto glossy paper prints.
Since that time, technology in photography has profoundly transformed the process of creating images. Now we see the results of our shots immediately, on the screen on the back of our camera or phone. Software gives us unlimited creative license to “make” our picture instead of “take” our picture.
One thing that has not changed is the magic of preserving a precise instant in time, giving us the ability to review, revise, or revere the depiction of that instant, long after the moment has gone.
I believe that most camera enthusiasts want to make pictures that add their own creative vision to the resulting photograph. While it’s true that modern cameras make very good “properly exposed” images utilizing “auto” mode, I think that the real magic starts to happen when the picture taker uses the controls and features of the camera to craft his or her vision into the final capture.
The purpose of the Real Camera Coach, is to help camera owners learn about, and understand how the components of their camera work, and how they can use those features to achieve photos that make them say – “Wow!”
If you would like to receive tips, tricks, and techniques about how to use the features of your camera and components to make better photos, each week in your email, please sign up below for the Real Camera Coach Bulletin.