Cool

Cooler:

Coolest:

Q: What's an SLR?

I was at War Games Con 2010. I had lots of fun. Probably the most fun was tinkering with a point-and-shoot camera. But I found my fingers twitching to twiddle an SLR (Single Lens Reflex) Camera. One would think that “point-and-shoot” would be faster than a more complex camera and that is true if you want just a snap shot (though most digital SLR’s these days do come with automated “point-and-shoot” features in addition to manual controls). However, I encountered many artful armies at WGC 2010 and very much wanted artful records of them: composed photographs that captured the beauty brought by the hobbyist. And even beyond this, I personally believe that a good photographer, with nothing more than perspective, style, and skill can create beauty out of ugliness.

With a compact camera, the range of possible photos is less, and so I had to take multiple shots, learning that of which the camera was capable. With an SLR, I could have taken twice as many photos that would have been at least twice as good. So am I complaining? Not at all. If I had had a tool equal to my skill and/or interest level, I could not have in good conscience left off photographing all the great material I saw at WGC 2010. I could easily have spent 3 days straight viewing the Con through the lens of a good camera. However, I spent more time drinking beer than photographing, and I enjoyed that immensely. And honestly, you have to have priorities, or this hobby will consume your life. I mean, I might go too far with alcohol, but I'll always have AA if I need help; what is there for the obsessive hobbyist?

On a related topic, wouldn't it be cool if some tournaments introduced a hobby-themed photography contest? What you see in GW publications is advertising. I'd like to see some artful photos that add story to the minis: A Seer Council enwreathed in star trails; An Ork horde six feet deep and compressed into a single mob by a telephoto lens; miniature faking the Con ballroom and then shooping in your army as participants above the table rather than just on them. (As above, so below.)


These pictures you see are NOT miniatures. They are actual, full-sized structure that have been made to look like miniatures by creating an extremely narrow depth of field. This can be done in the camera when the photo is taken or (more easily) by manipulating the photograph digitally. Since I don't have a good camera right now, I would like to mess around with this digitally--once I get my desktop computer set back up. For now it is in pieces until such time as I can find the nuts and bolts needed to reassemble my desk. 2010--worst move ever!

See how even people can be reduced to miniatures? Wouldn't it look cool to see Space Marines towering over us in the photograph, looking every bit as "real" as we look? To see our surroundings suddenly take on the dreamlike appearance of our tabletop games? To blur the line between what is real and what is fantasy?




My kingdom for an SLR!