OK. I must admit I've been on a bit of a crying jag lately about the way Canon treats their customers. Big company Canon is. Successful company Canon is. Lot's of customers, Canon has but in terms of customer service and satisfaction they leave more than a little to be desired.

            Before I start serving cheese with my whine though, I'd much rather focus on the positive so this is NOT about Canon. Many years ago, when I was wearing 34 waist jeans and was still combing my hair frequently, I was raising a family while working many hours and didn't have lots of scratch for new lenses. When the time came to purchase a new lens I was looking at the 'thrift" brands.  Among those, at the top of my list was Sigma. You see, Sigma made a bunch of lenses in a bunch of focal lengths at prices that were even affordable to photographers like myself that were a bit financially challenged. In those days the quality of those bargain lenses was not as good as the expensive designer brands but the results were good enough to be good enough.

            Well many years later my bank book grew along with my waistline and I started purchasing those designer brands. The quality was outstanding and the impact to my savings was also outstanding (not in a good way). Seems as though I have moved up in the world. So it may seem odd that I've migrated back to Sigma lenses. All I can say is " they're not your fathers Sigma"!

             First about the company. They are family owned and managed. They actually have a terrific attitude about their employees and their customers. Seems they realize that you build a business one customer at a time (and the same is true for going out of business). Recently the new CEO Kazuto Yamaki who took the reigns after the death of founder Michihiro Yamaki, announced the companies move to "World Vision" in which they broke their lenses up into three categories: Art, Contemporary and Sport. They also announced they would retrofit any of these lenses to a new mount in case you decided to move to a different platform (hmmmmm). But the biggest change, in my opinion, was their decision to take on the big guys glass to glass. 

           I recently had the pleasure of hearing Sigma Pro Roman Kurywczak speak about the lenses and their abilities. I had already purchased the 150-600MM Sports lens to replace a 100-400 L which had become a liability because of a broken lock with a prohibitive repair cost. I knew, from my own experience that the quality of these lenses had been raised to the level both in build and image quality to compete successfully with the big manufacturers so it didn't take Roman very long into his talk to influence me to purchase the 180 macro. I have not been disappointed. These lenses are awesome. I won't go into any technical double talk but the proof is in the results and the results are terrific. The fact is, I love these lenses and they have become my go to lens company.

          Just sayin'.

         

OK so it isn't quite this colorful yet but it will be VERY soon! The busy months of Summer with weddings, senior portraits and the like are almost over and I'm looking forward to getting serious about capturing some of the Autumn glory that is coming our way! If you are thinking of dusting off the digital and setting out into the wild to grab some images but still haven't quite managed to master all those controls and all those icons appearing on your camera, now is a terrific time for some lessons......in the great outdoors! Light Bandit Photography is offering outdoor, hands on classes this year. A full day (8 hr) class is just $100 which includes lunch! Contact me for more information......wouldn't it be great to have a coffee table book of images you made this year? 

Summertime. There is a certain feel or emotion attached to this season for most of us. Whether it is memories of lazy Summer days spent at the shore or "ice cream and pretzels and beer" as the song says, almost everyone is in favor of those warm, green days; too short a season in the northeast. I've started a gallery by the name Summer because as I drive around the countryside I seem to find scenes from my youth almost everywhere I turn. Maybe Summer is the season of youth! 

I must admit that at this time of year my heart beats a little faster and my camera battery needs to be charged much more frequently. 

I spend obsessive amounts of time wandering the woods at the Conesus Lake Inlet looking for even the slightest signs of change; coltsfoot blooming, periwinkle flowers slowly unfolding, the croaks and chirps of amphibians and of course, the lovely sounds of the birds migrating back north. 

Along with all this excitement I also rediscover the passion I have for good weather photography. I also "remember" that my camera is an instrument and needs care and a certain degree of all too soon forgotten adjustment to make the images I want to keep and remember. I always tell my 4H photography club members that learning the capabilities and features of their cameras will help them to enhance their vision as seen through the viewfinder (OK LCD kids). 

I find Spring a great time of year to exercise that light capturing device and review, relearn and sharpen my image crafting!!

I really get cabin fever this time of year. The cold, wet weather really takes it's toll on my creative juices! Sometimes, I have to force myself to pick up the camera and go outside and make some images. When I finally do, I am reminded of how lovely the Winter can be with the wonderful contrasts the snow creates. About the time I'm really getting into winter photography, it's Spring again and then I can lament the end of Winter (well, sort of).

With the holiday season upon us I'm sure there will be lots of new cameras around come the end of December. I've found, over the years, that many folks get confused and frustrated by their new equipment. The newest generation of cameras are, not surprisingly, the most sophisticated and powerful yet. 

Lessons on how to get the most from the simplest (well, not that simple) point and shoot to the pro model SLR's will enhance the students experience with the camera and remove that "technophobia" so really great results can be had.

Here in the Finger Lakes Region, Light Bandit Photography offers 2, 4 and 6 hour courses for both beginner and intermediate photographers. Contact us for more information!