This bird photo was shot with a 300 mm lens. I was standing on our hotel balcony looking into treetops and could not get as close as I would have liked, so I cropped the original shot to frame it in a stronger way. This is about 3/4 of the original image, and still with enough resolution (pixels) to make a print from 15 to as much as 30 inches wide. Since this reproduction was for screen use I reduced the resolution to about a quarter of what was available even after the crop.

(A brief tutorial, for anyone less versed in the lingo: Resolution is simply pixel count. A pixel, picture element, represents a single tone/color, the most basic information in a digital image. A digital photograph is essentially Impressionism. Resolution may be presented in one of three ways–1) total pixel count, like my camera being 40.2 megapixels, 2) width and height proportions, such as the 7728×5152 pixel dimensions of my sensor, or 3) pixel density, for instance the traditional ask for printing a digital photo was to have 360 pixels per inch {ppi} for best quality, by which criteria an 8×10 print would want 2880×3600 pixel dimensions, and my sensor would produce a 21.4″x14.3″ print. Screen viewing needs far less resolution; a 4K screen would need half of my sensor’s native resolution.)

A question that came up regularly at the beginning stages of digital camera development, when new features and capabilities were coming rapidly was, “Should I get the highest resolution camera?” The answer then, and now, was/is, “Maybe.” My answer to all photographic questions is, “It depends.”

It’s a lot more complicated question: what are you going to do with the photos (screen or print), more pixels mean smaller pixels which increases noise (graininess) in the image, higher resolution reveals poor camera handling more quickly, what’s your budget, etc. You have to balance those things based on your real life conditions and needs, but “resolution,” (horsepower) was the easiest marketing spec, which needed the least amount of explanation, so that’s what the ads and promotional materials highlighted.

If you are only going to look at photos on a screen, or make small prints (like most people) a camera in the 10-12 megapixel range is more than enough resolution. The nominal reason for having more pixels is to make really big prints. Yet, although I seldom make prints, and very seldom make large prints, I’m now using a 40 MP camera, for two other ways to utilize horsepower:

Better detail–a sensor with more pixels has the potential for recording more tonal and color variation in a given space; and,

Cropping–retaining enough resolution to still be usable for whatever output I need or want.

For more of Bill’s photographs, go to https://www.billdurrence.com/index.

We were walking through a large food market–some brick and mortar buildings, some tented stalls–and someone was photographing this man in the doorway of his shop. As that photographer finished and turned away, I asked if I could also take his picture. He said no and turned to go, hesitated, and then said OK. A couple of quick frames, “Thank you,” and I walked on.

There is often something magical in the way a quick grab of a composition can turn out to be very formal, and clean. In this shot I like that he is “framed” by the doorway, and again by the glass door, opening to the spotlit wine bottles. And all the repeated rectangles. And his relaxed comfort because I did not give him time to think about posing. It all happens too fast to preview the three dimensional aspects and layers of the composition, and I sometimes wonder how much of my response comes from some subconscious “seeing” and how much from dumb luck.

For more of Bill’s photographs, go to https://www.billdurrence.com/index.

The first photograph of a Marine Iguana I remember seeing was in a book published in 1971. “The Creation” by Ernst Haas, is a visual telling of the Genesis origin story. I wanted to see such a prehistoric-seeming creature. I finally did, this year. Fascinated by the book’s pictures, I absorbed much more about composition, visual story-telling, and seeing beyond the literal than I realized back then. Some things need a long maturation period.

Haas is a name anyone serious about photography should recognize. Several elite level photographers and their work have served as role models, heroes, and inspiration to me, although they would not generally be known to the world outside our industry. Haas was one of the most important.

He was one of the first photographers to work seriously, rather than dabble, in color, but with technical limitations which might be impossible for most smart phone and digital camera users today to appreciate. Haas’ film choice was Kodachrome, first with an ASA (ISO now) of 10, and then 25. With those slow emulsion speeds, anything moving in less than very bright light was going to be blurred. You just could not get a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the subject. So…”when God gives you lemons….”

He would photograph rapidly moving subjects at intentionally slow shutter speeds, creating stunning, story-telling images of blur and color (rodeos, bull fights, rushing animals) that expressed so much more than a traditional rendering. They have an energy and mystery most photographs never achieve. (https://ernst-haas.com/)

To see more of Bill’s photographs, go to https://www.billdurrence.com/index

I was visiting some friends at their Vermont summer house in late July, and they very graciously included me in their busy social calendar. It’s an area with a lot of summer performing arts showcases, and my friends were active supporters. There was an up and coming young tenor they were helping host and I was invited along to a garden dinner party for him.

There has been something of a vagabond character to much of my life which has led to such a wonderful variety of experiences like this scene, and memories of brief, luminous moments, separate from anything before or after, eternal in their perfect stillness.

To see more of Bill’s photographs, go to https://www.billdurrence.com/index.