phsc.ca

editing a photo with macOS 11 (Big Sur)

Toronto. When photography first burst forth in 1839, lenses were made by opticians and cameras by them or others. As time progressed, optical houses began to make both cameras and lenses. Some like Zeiss also made lenses for others.

By the time film came on the scene, the media manufacturers like Kodak, Ansco, Agfa, etc. began making and selling cameras and lenses too. Later last century, electronic companies like Sony and Panasonic got in the act.

In this century, we seem to ignore the camera makers (other than the professionals and advanced amateurs who choose Leica, Canon, Sony, Nikon, etc.). We seem more interested in the make of our smartphones which always includes a camera and lens assembly. Their electronics in this age of digital technology can imitate depth of field, bokeh, etc. and always assure a technically perfect result (sometimes blurry or grainy from shaky fingers or poor lighting).

Where once one spent hundreds of dollars on photo adjustment software like Photoshop, today many such tools are included in the smartphone and computer at no added cost. Only collectors and some professionals enthuse over camera models and lenses. The rest of us just use our smartphones and the “free” editing software. The time has come …

This post’s name is a line from the whimsical 1860s poem by the reverend Charles  Dodgson (better known by his pen name of Lewis Carroll) called, “The Walrus and the Carpenter“. The first full length book I can remember reading was “Through the Looking Glass” – that and books like Black Beauty, Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates, etc.