" My Teacher Told Me..." Shoot Workshops

During a sales consultation yesterday a client corrected me about a number of things - in particular the relative merits of two brands of lenses versus a third brand. We had the items in hand on the counter and I had examples of images taken with the lenses printed on A4 sheets of paper - they were images that had been taken by me and selected as good examples of the points of view and resolution that the lenses produced.

We looked at the images under a clear light and to me, they looked fine. However, the client mentioned that her photography teacher in another country was not pleased with two of the lens brands and judged them to be no better than "old clothes". It seemed a very powerful way of ....of...well, of not telling the truth at all. We were looking at the truth, but as it did not accord with the teacher's advice....

Does this sometimes happen with the advice that people get from internet pundits? Are all the reviews from great and small to be distrusted, as opposed to what we can discover in our own time using our own hands and eyes? Is there a happy medium between reinventing the entire photographic process ourselves and blithely following "Fried Bread" or "Mr. Snxxx" on an internet forum?

Yes. I would suggest to anyone who wants to find out what to do, why to do it, and how to do it that they contact Simon or Dana at Shoot Photography Workshops. They are right next door to our shop at 232 Stirling Street - you can send an email to them at

enquiries@shootworkshops.com.au

or give them a bell on 08 9228-8232

I did a course with them last year on a computer-related subject and found it excellent value for money - and incorporated the information received into my own workflow with success. The joy of it is the information is real, not just glib phraseology, and the reality of what they say can be backed up by reference to the actual equipment here in the shop. We are happy when clients bring in cameras to test lenses, or lenses to test cameras, or memory cards to test the whole shebang - then you can see for yourself.

And if you want to, you can wear old clothes while you do...

PS: Do you like the photo of Melbourne at the top of the page? The chap on the internet assured me it was Melbourne and he should know because he's on the internet.