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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twelve: Using color to express ideas > Le Recova Market, La Serena, Chile, 2003
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28-DEC-2003

Le Recova Market, La Serena, Chile, 2003

Crafts and costumes can reflect the culture of a society, and both are usually on abundant display in marketplaces. I rarely buy anything in them when I travel but I often am drawn to them because of the photographic opportunities. In South America, colors are vivid and bold, and usually found in strong primary shades. While visiting the large market in La Serena, a beach resort not far from Coquimbo in Southern Chile, I saw a bluish green hat stacked on top of a red hat, with racks of rich brown Chilean fabrics displayed behind them. I moved in on the hats to make this picture, putting the fabrics in the background into soft focus. Largely through color, this image expresses the vibrant and colorful nature of Chilean culture.

Canon PowerShot G5
1/50s f/4.0 at 12.7mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis06-Dec-2004 03:03
Hi, Shu. Good to hear from you, and thanks for the vote of confidence. Sometime I feel like a voice in the wilderness with my emphasis on content instead of technique, and my appeals to focus our efforts on the message, not the nature of the tool we happen to using to express it. I have seen all too many beginning photographers succumb to the marketing myth which extolls the DSLR as some kind of magical bullet. Such equipment may be essential for professionals who must meet the demands of their clients and have the best possible lenses available for every assignment, or for those whose work will be enlarged to huge sizes. But for the rest of us, DSLR technology can prove to be a burden rather than a blessing.

The gentleman who took me to task for using digicams in my work last January meant well, but he obviously did not take into account my purposes or my medium -- the Internet, where all images are reduced to a level playing field at 72 lines per inch. Since my response to him in January, I have upgraded all of my cameras, but still use only advanced digicams for my work, and always will.

I now carry the seven megapixel G6 for my wideangle and waist level work, a Panasonic FZ-20 for my telephoto images, a Leica Digilux 2 for fine detail, and a Canon S-400 for invisibility. Together they cost about the same a good DSLR with a several good lenses. But I find them to be much more flexible, less obtrusive, and more appropriate to my age and objectives.

I will leave the snobbery and elitism to others. Your equipment does not make you a better or worse photographer. It's the quality of your ideas, imagination and passion for expression that determines the value of your work.
Thanks, Shu for weighing in on this issue. It took eleven months, but I'm glad to see you are with me. Thank you.
Shu06-Dec-2004 02:38
Hurray for Phil Douglis! I, too, am nearing 70 and find it more difficult to tote heavy bags carrying various camera lenses, etc. I have grown so fond of the Canon 10D, however, I will continue on with the loving burden the digital SLR creates. I agree with your philosophy concerning photography. So many other things to into making an image. I was thinking today how much the photographer's mood plays into the selection of a scene and how often that scene sparkles as a result.

I love your galleries and always enjoy your new additions. I'm happy to know that not every photographer has to keep up with the "Jonses" in regard to equipment. I've noticed a certain snobbery among the masses and sometimes feel the pressure to acquire a new lens simply as a way to impress. Since I'm now semi-retired, my lack of extra funds prohibits these extravagances. Now the focus must be on quality of image, not quantity of equipment which I hope will help me to improve my technique.

Thanks for speaking up, Phil.

Shu
Phil Douglis28-Jan-2004 04:43
Thanks again, Will, for your suggestion that I move to technology producing state of the art resolution. I can appreciate where you are coming from. There are many in photography who choose to pursue technical perfection as a valid objective. I respect that goal, but I do not regard it as essential to my purposes. My own goals in photography are quite different. Meaning and expression are what I seek in my imagery. I am now 70 years old, and frankly, my days of carrying heavy, expensive equipment are behind me. Photography is a now a pleasure, no longer a chore. I use my images not as a commercial product, but as a way of helping others learn. Given these objectives, a fine prosumer camera is in my view, a perfectly adequate tool. Thanks again for your comment and suggestion, and for giving me a chance to express an alternative approach.
William Kaiser28-Jan-2004 01:20
Once again, this image shows the limitation of your equipment... It is simply stunning and contrasts markedly from more panoramic shots, which are full of noise and low resolution artifacts.. Spend some of your travel budget on a digital DSLR camera and some decent glass.. Please, show the world your beauty with the technology it deserves.

Will
Phil Douglis27-Jan-2004 01:53
The whole point of this picture, Carol, was to contrast the vivid colors of the hats in the foreground to the muted colors of the blankets behind them, as well as to contrast the sharply focused foreground to the softly focused background. I'm glad it works for you as well as for me.
Carol E Sandgren26-Jan-2004 21:08
The color is brilliant in the hats, but I also love the design in the blankets of the backdrop. There is still enough clarity in that part of your image, although softened, to provide more interest...at least to me!
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