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Six Great Swapping Ideas
With only ten days left to our Something New - A photography Project, I wanted to share 6 ideas for swapping equipment. Swapping equipment provides a great chance to check both new equipment but more importantly to boot your creativity by trying something new and unfamiliar, forcing you to give attention to what you do. Once you've swapped and wrote a review you get to enter our prize winning contest - a camera, lens or combo two weeks rental courtesy of BorrowLenses.com.
1. Swap Yellow and Red - If you are a Canon shooter, this is the time to try one of them Nikon Cameras. If you are Yellow, Try a cool Canon. You'll get a kick out of zooming out instead of zooming in.
2. Swap DSLR and P&S - If you are a high end DSLR shooter, you'll get a chance to watch the world though a non L non ED glass. Challenge yourself make your creativity count. If you usually shoot with a point and shoot, get exited with that addicting shutter sound.
3. Swap digital and film - Remember that great feeling that you had when you got to the camera store and they handed you a freshly developed film and a stack of images? You can go back. If you are shooting film, this is your chance to check out the easy-fast-fix that digital users experience.
4. Have a swapping party - do you go on a regular photowalk? Have a regular shooting party? Try mixing it up a bit. Swap your gear all over, so no one is left with their original gear.
5. Swap prime and zoom - If you are shooting zoom, let your legs work a bit, get closer to your subjects. If you usually use prime, enjoy the ease of moving your fingers instead of your entire body.
6. Swap wide and tele - If you like shooting from a distance, try not being shy, get closer with a wide lens. If you are a wide person, try taking candids or long photos across the street.
Deadline is on December 20th, and you can enter by blogging, posting a flickr image or a forum thread. Share your passion.
Come December 20th, Brian Auer and Jim Talkinton will review the entries and decide on two winners. The third winner will be decided by you - DIYP readers.
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Comments
True....
shouldn't that be GOLD and red ;-)
Ryan
www.ryanhollowayphotography.com
You should even go further
You should even go further and say: "Dare to leave the Canikon world and try a different system altogether: Pentax (the greatest), Olympus, Sony, etc."
Woodspeople? ;)
I think this project is a good idea :) Biggest problem for me is that I live practically in the woods. Well, in a small village in the woods anyway. I have only one photobuddy nearby, and she was not so keen on lending me here newest camera gear ;)
I managed to get her to lend me a Yashica rangefinder, a softbox and a reflectorscreen. I lend here my fantastic Yashinon-lens (then she went and bought one of her own btw) :)
I will try to see if she'll take a photowalk with me some day. With development and all (christmastime and echonomic crisis, need to find new clients) I am not sure I can make it to the deadline though. If I don't I'll still try to write something and post.
re: woodspeople and some more
@Ryan- How about Gold and Crimson, this way everybody feels royal ;)
@Pablo - you are so right, As a Nikon user myself I am a captive to the hegemony of the great duopol. However, there are many other systems to try, all offer great quality, and top-end features. Pentax, Olympus and Sony which you have mentioned, and Sumsung, Fuji and others.
@Mattias - It is a pleasant surprise to learn that even in am isolated location you can find a photo buddy - where do you live?. As for your swap it sound like a great deal for both ends. You trying out some studio equipment and your friend trying out a lens which she fell in love with. If you have already gotten some experience with the gear, you can post before the photowalk.
woods or city, what's the difference?
Mattias: it's not just the woods. I live in a crowded suburban area and work in the middle of our region's biggest city, and I have totally failed to find a partner for this challenge. I guess my New Years' resolution will be to meet more photo folks in my local area instead of just chatting with them online!
--sdc
P.S. I'm in Atlanta and its north-west suburbs, just in case this message reaches any interested parties!
Another way to swap: invert
Another possible way to swap (similar to point 6): invert your lenses. Just take your usual lenses and try to invert it with your hand to explore macro world.
Swapping
I've also only got one "photobuddy", so to speak, and she uses a Canon EOS 350D, with an 18-55 mm Canon kit lens and a 55-200 mm Sigma lens. The only problem with me swapping with her, is that I use a Nikon D40x, with 18-55 mm and 55-200 mm Nikkor lenses. Almost exactly the same equipment, apart from the brands.
The both cameras are actually really comparable too, so the one who would gain the most from that swap is her, considering my stack of wireless strobes and my DIY-striplight ;) On the other hand, I think I'm more used to shooting Canon than she is shooting Nikon, but I would miss my strobes really much.
re: swapping
@Udri -Inverting rocks. Here is a great tutorial for it by Yanik. While technically it is not using a new piece of gear, it is innovative enough to enter the contest.
@Pestbarn -I think this is a great opportunity to make a decent swap and revisit our natural (and sometimes irrational) inherited bias towards one system or another. I am looking forward to your submission.
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