GAS-free Executive Lounge

stillshunter

Super Moderator Emeritus
Location
Down Under
Name
Mark
Being an ex-smoker I now have the benefit of 'new eyes'. It is curious now looking into the smaller and smaller boxes created for smokers to allow them their expensive pleasure in public. There is a guilty voyeurism about watching them huddled together within the bounds of the yellow line - "no less than 30 metres from entrance". It is all a little sad really, but I must admit that witnessing the social pariahs vindicates my resolve to never smoke again.

And so I'd hope to offer myself, and others, a similar place to look on to GAS. I realise visiting SC can sometimes offer you this fix…watching as the throng follows that shiny thing from rumour to release to review to …."eww there's now an "R" version".

Call it curious, frustrating or simply fun to watch, but why not watch in comfort? Welcome to the Executive Lounge.

Come in, sit down, relax, I'll pour you a drink. Take that weight off and share a story, a personal anecdote or even pass around an article related to GAS-free.
Come steel your resolve!
 
Ah hello. Yeah sure sit wherever you like. Just there's fine. Crazy out there isn't it?

Sure, a brandy?

Meanwhile have you read this little piece by Dan K? I'll let you read it and then maybe share your thoughts. I think his first paragraph sets the scene perfectly…
"I have often admitted that I am a camera collector first and foremost and a photographer second. My photography was initially a way to justify the purchasing of lovely shiny things. Later it became a way of recording memories that would otherwise be lost. Recently, I have started to take my photography a little more seriously, to treat it as a serous art form and a way of self-expression through a visual medium."
 
On to reading - will stop in later for that drink, and hope you're still awake.;)
Oh my, BB. :friends:
Sure let me pour you a drink - by the looks maybe a Long Island Ice Tea? Oh don't be silly this one's on the house….
BTW: Sun's not long been up over here - 8:07am in the morn as I type..
 
I used to enjoy threads about GAS....sometimes because I had just given in to it.....other times because I had kept it at bay for the time being. I now think I've read about it enough to say I'm over it. That's not to say I won't buy another camera sooner than I may need one. But maybe by giving it a funny name and constantly fretting over it, we allow it to control us, instead of us controlling it.

I'm not sure if I'm making any sense, so barkeep.... pour me a bourbon.....neat, with a few drops of branch water.

You wanna hear anything on the jukebox?
 
Well, I'll belly up to the bar. This seems like a friendly place. A couple of fingers of red-eye, if you please. . . it's been a long, cold snowy day.

D550_snow_001_Medium_.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)


As to the article on the limited role of equipment and technique, I love it!

A couple of quick reactions:

"People are led to believe that they can buy a certain camera and SHAZAM! suddenly they’ll be transformed into an artist with the vision and talent. It is true that certain cameras and lenses render in unique ways, but vision and talent are not included in the package."

You mean they are not? That's sooooo disappointing.

"The other day, one of my friends turned up to a gathering with a T-shirt that proudly exclaimed in great bold letters “I SHOOT RAW”. Really? I don’t care if you drew your picture with a broken crayon. If it makes me feel something, it’s done its job."

This resonates with me because lately I've been trying to shoot more with my eye and my heart, and trying not to be in my head so much.

As to the gas-free executive lounge, I'm all for keeping it open!

Cheers, Jock
 
I used to enjoy threads about GAS....sometimes because I had just given in to it.....other times because I had kept it at bay for the time being. I now think I've read about it enough to say I'm over it. That's not to say I won't buy another camera sooner than I may need one. But maybe by giving it a funny name and constantly fretting over it, we allow it to control us, instead of us controlling it.

I'm not sure if I'm making any sense, so barkeep.... pour me a bourbon.....neat, with a few drops of branch water.

You wanna hear anything on the jukebox?

I hear ya brother but I got to say that….oh sorry here ya go 'you said sour mash neat' didn't you?….but, yeah, I know a bit's been written about GAS and getting over it but affirmations now and again can help. Were you ever a smoker Luke? Oh wait, yeah tunes, something long and low that melts into the background maybe some Mogwai or Galaxie 500…or I could really go some Spiritualized now that I think about it….where was I? Yeah I think it's healthy to refocus on the real Why of your photography sometimes. Mate let's look at your signature block, that says it pretty well...
I buy camera gear in a wrong-headed attempt to make up for my lacking photography skills. Maybe I should just use a lousy old camera and then I can blame it all on the camera.
Can sometimes be enlightening to cruise through your Lightroom catalog chronologically. Sad thing is last time I did it you see the same old road travelled down. Test shot, test shot, test shot - eeewwww wide open look at that bokeh, small break in time then shots of the camera and/or lens from every angle…then, oddly, the EXIF betrays no other shots from that combination and then close after comes a procession of what looks like sample shots, eeewwww wide open look at that bokeh,….I wonder what was happening in my life around then - 'what was I doing when I owned the GF1 with P20? Jeez….
 
Here you go bartender.... as per your request, here's a little Galaxie 500

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vsfvdGjL4Yo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Can sometimes be enlightening to cruise through your Lightroom catalog chronologically.

and this hits a little too close to home for me to feel comfortable about. I was scanning through my shots on flickr to see what kind of year I had. Apparently it was a VERY good year to photograph cameras for classified listings.
 
@Jock - welcome buddy. Yeah eyes are red but this lounge don't close. Has one of them Worldwide licences….you know the US wipes the bar and then Aussies come in and start pouring, then they wipe and the Brits are switching the hoses from lager to ale….

You pick out two pertinent bits indeed. The second really resonates with me, especially as I also like my film. Puritans there can frustrate you much the same. "Buy Film not Megapixels"…is the credo…and hey I agree to an extent but I'd not define photography or its validity by the format. I like film a lot, but I've seen some shots that can stir me the same - and dare I say 'more' - that have been burned in silicon….. It's all about the light really not how you necessarily caught it….

and this hits a little too close to home for me to feel comfortable about. I was scanning through my shots on flickr to see what kind of year I had. Apparently it was a VERY good year to photograph cameras for classified listings.
I know mate, I know! The other day I even looked at a classifieds shot and liked the rendering off the image…and lamented the camera I took the shot with! :doh:
 
I have to tell you that I am laughing as I read through this thread.

What can I say except that for myself, I don't think it matters which camera I have except that even I will admit that my X100 gets a more beautiful image quality than my iPhone, and yet I am very proud of and happy with many of my iPhone-o-graphic pictures.

I shall continue to strive to be content with that which I have...and contemplate, instead, finding a climate that is not as cold as the one I'm in to perhaps move to in a few years.:tongue:

P.S. I'd like a beer but not a lager, please.:drinks:
 
It's getting late, I haven't been sleeping well, indeed I barely slept at all last night, so I've copied the article to peruse tomorrow. If you lot are still propping the bar up then my late night drink of choice used to be gin and lime, however I'm not sure that the body can take that any more, I'll have to put it to the test. If the rain would stop falling and the wind would ease I could put something else to the test, but that's another story.

Keep up the resolve guys, I'm with you.

Barrie
 
So ... let's see ... you start a non-GAS thread and the first link you put up is to JapanCameraHunter ... it's a bit like turning up at a NA meeting with the 'phone number of a crack dealer emblazoned on your tee-shirt, mate ...
Yeah it's curious - especially with Dan K being a regular contributor. The "I Shoot RAW" observation struck me as a back-handed dig at Bellamy Hunt - host of the site and originator of the "Buy Film not Megapixels" mantra. Having said that this betrays the maturity of a site - much like my starting this on Serious Compacts ;)
 
It's getting late, I haven't been sleeping well, indeed I barely slept at all last night, so I've copied the article to peruse tomorrow. If you lot are still propping the bar up then my late night drink of choice used to be gin and lime, however I'm not sure that the body can take that any more, I'll have to put it to the test. If the rain would stop falling and the wind would ease I could put something else to the test, but that's another story.

Keep up the resolve guys, I'm with you.

Barrie
Barrie, you head off to bed my good friend - good luck netting some quality sleep and dreams. There'll be a cider waiting for you on your return…and once the bell tolls on a sensible drinking hour of course.
 
I'm in the midst of a prolonged spending spree, acquiring all kinds of gear including cameras (one of which has already met its successer today... poor thing!). Got one camera left on my list (a cheap, probably used, waterproof camera), but I think I can justify all of them - 3 out of 4 with conviction, because they all play a role I feel to be vital, and the fourth with some hesitation, because it's a great allrounder. Once I've bought the gear that's on my list, I'll be travelling and making lots and lots of use of it :)

I do strive to generally live without too many unnecessary luxuries, and I'm trying to sell and / or give away all of my posessions that don't have any use or emotional value.

Regarding that drink, I'll have a jack & coke please - or a mojito.
 
Fun thread, I tend to have the opposite problem. Perhaps I’m just a cheapskate, but even when I see kit that I think can improve my photography I have a very difficult time putting the money on the line. But I do waste a significant amount of time doing research; reading every review and pixel peeping images from equipment I want.

I really, really want a Sigma DP Merrill, as I spend a lot of time shooting outdoor landscapes and the Foveon sensor just seems perfect for the genre. Before Christmas a number of the major retailers were offering them for $699, but I couldn’t commit and now they are back at $899 and I could kick myself in the butt, but after seeing them at the lower price I refuse to pay the higher price so here I sit without one, crying in my beer.

At least I can still take pictures with the other seven cameras.
 
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