detail is fine, but what about soul?

I've never been big on camera and lens reviews.  And while I  do make tech based videos for my channel I'm far happier sharing images and life's experiences on my YouTube channel.

And from memory, I don't think I've ever reviewed any product in these pages.

Sadly though it's the technical videos that get the views, and while I don't necessarily chase views on my channel, it's nice to know that sometimes someone is watching the fruits of my labours!

Anyway, I recently reviewed my newest lens over on that there YouTube (and if you like you can watch it by clicking right on the link below) and while it is undeniably excellent at reproducing macro images, I found it to be too good - if there can be such a thing.

You see, all that excellence and detail comes at the cost (to my eye at least) of the soul of the image.

I worked hard over last summer to improve my macro photography and to move away from just documenting a scene preferring instead to tell a story with my images.  And I found that in my old Nikkor lens and Nikon camera I had a very willing partner in my quest.

The images they produced may not well have been the sharpest or most detailed.  But they had… something.  An indefinable "look" that more modern and clinical equipment just can't match.

Take the above picture for example.  I shot this by accident while struggling to get to my feet after photographing the red clover.  The image is soft and technically a disaster.  But it now resides in my "best of the best" folder on my hard drive.

I don't know.  It may be just me and you prefer the more detailed look?  And don't get me wrong, that has its place in photography - particularly in scientific or archival image making.

For me though, I prefer to look past the pixels and into the image at a deeper level.  Ha!!  Listen to me - pretentious, moi?!?!

Right then, I'm going to take a short break from posting (and making videos) for a couple of weeks to re-charge my batteries.  But fear not, I shall return at the start of July with yet more of this nonsense!