Rant...

Over time, cameras, of course, have changed drastically. But how long has it actually been and can we, are we able to keep up?

Every few months-to-years, the digital camera industry updates their products, coming out with new versions of the products they just created. For example, the Nikon 3100 came out in September of 2010, just in time for Christmas. I bought mine in March of 2012, because it was the more recent version and as far as technology goes, it hadn’t been out that long. This past April, Nikon released its upgraded version of the camera, the 3200, leaving me feel like I was impatient and had purchased too soon.

Unlike the 3100, the 3200 simply has 10.5 million more pixels, comes with a remote, added seconds to the self-timer, has single point AF mode, X-Sync speed, added languages, and everything else is simply improved for making movies only. Isn’t that what video cameras are for?

It is understandable that having two-in-one makes things easier, but to upgrade and entire camera, while some of us are still reading the manual to the previously released on is a little insane. I must say that I feel a little better knowing that the price is only 50 dollars more than the 3100.

            However, you can’t say the same for the Canon Rebel T3i and T4i. Canon released the T3i March of 2011 and a year and a half later, they released the T4i early in October. The prices difference between these two is 449.01 dollars. I wonder who’s willing to pay that for Christmas.

            The mechanical difference between the two is that the T4i is able to adjust and keep focus faster, there is a touch screen and there is a manual audio level adjustment perfect for videos. Reviews on bhphotovideo.com, praise the T4i. They are all “in love”. “This camera is solid-has good weight-good features and allows me to shoot exactly how I want to.” Said Doug from Ohio. The speed and touch screen are the most favored, but the touch screen does get a little tricky at times. They all would recommend it to a friend so it must be worth it.

            Just a step outside of the photography realm, is the cell phone world. Cell phones update a little like cameras. There is always something just a little better than the one before it. They, too, constantly upgrade their products leaving people little to no time to adjust and wondering if the product is worth it.

            With the recent release of the long awaited, iPhone 5, not many people seem to care. “First of all, I just got the 4s. I’m no really missing anything.” Said Maria Miranda, a graduate student at Kean University.

            The iPhone 5 is sleeker, faster, and has better picture quality as opposed to the 4s. When comparing the 4s, which was only released a year after the 4, the only major difference was Siri. The price between each product is 100 dollars, depending on the gigabytes.

            Like Miranda, most people wait for the prices for the more recently released product to go down and then they buy. But they end up like me, wondering if they should’ve waited.

            The world today, moves quickly. Over time, we have developed a lack of patience and simplicity. We desire the finer things and have no regard for expense. Therefore, we will continue to spend money on upgrades we don’t really need just to be “cool”. We are incapable of keeping up, but it’s worth a try. 

Innocence...

Virginia Sunset...

Trend Story

While walking through the photography exhibits of a museum, you can’t help but admire the work displayed. What also crosses the minds of some is - how long did the artist starve to get there?

The term “starving artist” was given to those in pursuit of becoming established in the art world. Supplies and promotion is expensive, therefore, artists are willing to “starve” themselves or go hungry as a sacrifice. Knowing this, many young artists still choose to follow their dreams of being the next Peter Lindberg, Andy Warhol or Dorothea Lange. 

Steven Gonzalez, senior Photography major at Kean University said, “I don’t care. I love photography. It’s what I want to do and I’m gonna do it.”

In an article for Yahoo Finance by Caitlin Dewey, Photography is listed as the third worst college major for your career. “[It] is only narrowly better than the rate for high school dropouts.” Although, along with film majors, they are “the best-paid of the art majors” they still make less than the average person with a bachelor’s degree.

Professional photographer and professor, Tony Valez, encourages students to do what they love. “Photography’s gonna be around forever. Somebody’s gotta do it and who knows, one day it might be you.”

But who decides what qualifies as great photograph? Every photographers work is different. Also, with the recent craze of Instagram, everyone believes that by using a few cool graphics, they too are photographers.

“Photography makes it easy for anyone to create images without needing any artistic ability or training,” said photographer Ken Rockwell on his website. So basically, as long as you know what a camera is and what it does you can be a photographer right?

“It’s deeper than that.” Said junior photography major Alex Martin. “Everyone just takes photos and edits them in Photoshop just ‘cause they think it’s cool, But what does the picture mean? What does it do to you emotionally?” Alex said that the real artist doesn’t care about the money or the fame. Those who are willing to starve are more likely to become the great ones.

Velez says, with everything going on in the world today, if we can capture those moments students can do well as photographers. He then gave examples of Occupy Wall Street and hurricane Sandy for the younger generation and compared it to e photo of someone leaping from one of the towers during 9/11 and the iconic photograph of the Sailor and the Nurse kissing in Times Square after World War II. “Sometimes, all it takes being at the right place at the right time. You never know.”

The only way to find out if you’ll make it in the photo industry is if you go ahead and try. And if after all of that you still don’t make it, “Well, that’s what minors are for, aren’t they?” said Valez.

Sandra D.

Vacate...