My Favorite Winter Walks, Part Two: East Hampton Village, Through the Lanes to Egypt Beach

Last week I walked with you through the Village of East Hampton to Main Beach. This week we are going to cross Main Street and walk down through the Lanes south of the highway, past the Maidstone Club and Hook Pond, to Egypt Beach on the Atlantic Ocean.

I took these photographs over the course of many years. The type of camera and the quality of the images have changed over the years, but even some of the older photos captured something very special. The precise situation and lighting can rarely be exactly replicated so it is really important to sort and archive your photographs.

And don’t you hate it when someone scrolls through their smartphone for 15 minutes to show you one shot?

I used to use Aperture to process and organize my photographs, but after I switched from Windows to Mac, and Apple came out with Photos in 2014, I embraced it for all new photographs. Photos automatically captures images from your iPhone and other Apple devices, and makes it much easier to process, store (in iCloud) and share your images. But, of course, you still have to do the work!  

I find it is easiest to sort and process my photographs as soon as possible after each session. Deleting is important! If the image is uninteresting, out of focus (unless you are looking for an artistic effect), duplicated, or you know the (human) subject will hate how they look, hit delete! Even with practically infinite storage space in the cloud, this will make your life easier in the long run. And Photos lets you search by Location as well as Date. You can even set it up to capture faces and find your friends easily.

I am not, by any means, an expert in any of this, but I keep learning in order to make my photography better and my life easier . . .

• For more on Apple’s Photos app: Photos Support
• Here is a Blog about Apple’s Photos app from Creative Blog, September 2018
• Photos app: The Ultimate Guide for iPhone and iPad from iMore, August 2018
• And The Apple Photos Book for Photographers: Building Your Digital Darkroom with Photos and Its Powerful Editing Extensions, 2nd Edition, 2018

For publishing my images to print or to upload to my website, I still use Adobe’s PhotoShop. There are other Photo Publishing software as well, but I happened to own PhotoShop before I switched to Mac. Adobe and Apple don’t play well together in the sandbox, so you might want to check out other software if you are purchasing new to use on your Mac. Check out this Photo Editing Software review from PC Magazine.

When we bought the Mill House Inn in 1999, digital photography was brand new.  My first digital camera was a Sony Mavica which used a floppy disk for digital recording. Talk about ancient history! But it sure made it easier to update my website photos and, back then, you could not use anything approaching the size image we use now online.

Now I use a Leica 240 M.  Expensive, and anything but point-and-click, but well worth it if you can afford it, don’t mind controlling just about everything manually, and really want the best.

There are many other excellent digital cameras now - so suit your budget and your style: The Best Digital Cameras for 2019 from PC Magazine.

And I still use my iPhone 6S, which is great, but . . . I can’t wait until it dies so I can justify an upgrade. It seems every new model gets a big upgrade for the camera . . . Maybe I should drop it in the duck pond?

But, technology aside, the most important rules for taking great photographs are:

• Have your camera (or your smartphone) with you at all times!
  • You can't take a photograph without a camera . . .
• Watch the light!
  • Pay attention to where it’s coming from, what it highlights, backlights…
  • Shadows are important, too, and contrast...
• Frame the photograph in your mind’s eye before you shoot!
  • Check out The Rule of Thirds from Darren Rowse
  • And check out his Digital Photography School for much morel
• And, edit, edit, edit!
  • Don’t show anyone your outtakes . . .

Even if you end up with only one great photograph in a year, and that is the only one you show people, they will proclaim you a brilliant photographer!

Enjoy the journey!

Sylvia