Daily Inspiration #421 by Oliver Henlich

Hi Steve,

Much like Orestis describes in daily inspiration #416, I always look forward to the next post on your blog. I try to stop myself reading them on the phone before I get to work so I have something to read/look at with the first coffee at work.

I’ve always been interested in photography since I was young when my father would show me how to use his Rollei and other cameras. The first digital camera I bought myself was the original Canon Digital IXUS and I remember the feeling of freedom of just being able to take a photo whenever I felt like it without hesitating and deliberating about the cost of developing film or how many shots I had left. That little camera traveled and saw a lot.

After emigrating to New Zealand in 2006 I started looking around for a replacement for my later generation IXUS and that’s when I stumbled on and bought the Panasonic Lumix LX3 and it’s fast 2.0 lens. Again, this was fun time. Being able to take a decent photo indoors without a crappy flash and also how much I could get into the frame with the wide-angle.

Taking photography more seriously started when my son was born. I was so excited and could see so many unique moments that I wanted to capture. I started to take more care about what I was doing and taking more interest in other photography sites. Around this time a colleague who was investigating buying the Fuji X10 sent me a link to your review. What a breath of fresh air from all the strange still life and charts we’d been looking at!

Soon I started trying my hand at street photography. That was hard going at the beginning but definitely seemed to get easier the more I tried…though often I find, it’s sill not easy. I think it’s good for improving self-confidence in general.

Eventually thanks in no small part to your review I got the Olympus OMD. Again there were lots of things to be excited about. “Wow now I’m getting some shallow DOF. Ah I can see some 3Dness in my photos”.

Thanks again for the effort you’ve put in into making this site what it is and I also really appreciate your posts about making the best of things and not letting negative people drag you down. It also helps me remember what I like about photography. Learning to live mindfully and noticing and appreciating the things right in front of me rather than rushing past them.

I’ve picked a few photos from each of the cameras in my story so far.

My other photos are on http://500px.com/oliverhenlich

Cheers

Oliver

First visit to New Zealand. Old banged up IXUS

IMG_2090

Philemon – this one surprised me, I don’t think I was fully aware of the nice effect the light above would have. Lumix LX3

Luke on Queens Street. Amazing guitarist and I got to chat to him after he’d finished playing and it turns out he’s got something like six albums and a website etc. He just plays on the street at night to ‘keep it real’. An example of why street photography can be more than just about photos. Lumix LX3

Waiting for the bus. Lumix LX3.

Philemon – one of my very first shots with the Panasonic 25mm, ISO 6400. I fell in love. Olympus OMD.

Girl waiting for mum – her extra long sleeves caught my eye as she was dancing by herself. Luckily I pressed the button just in time when she noticed me. Olympus OMD. 

9 Comments

    • Yeah man. Luckily I still have mine but have not used it in ages. Two things I liked about it were 1) the OOC black and white which I still can’t replicate properly even with heaps of fiddling in aperture 2) the focus scale in manual mode which was great for fast street shooting.

  1. Nice story Oliver – it’s not about the camera but about the eye of the photographer. Great pictures!

  2. Waytago Oliver, I really enjoyed them; I’ll have a look at your other pics too, soon.

    – Peter from Montreal

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