I snapped this picture of the main temple at the Diwali festival—I didn’t think much about it. Then, afterward, I realized a few things. Since I last visited in 2019, they’ve added elaborate color-changing LEDs that lit up the structure. My architectural photos have become more precise. Finally, the image quality is noticeably better with my latest kit.

In 2019, I did an image quality comparison between my Olympus PEN-F and Fujifilm X-T10. I was transitioning from Micro 4/3 to the APS-C Fuji and was in testing mode. I used a 50mm equivalent lens for both, which matches the 50mm I used for the 2024 version with the Sony.

Not surprisingly, the full-frame Sony image quality blows away both the Olympus and Fujifilm. More importantly, my newest picture is framed better and more precisely. I’m also perspective-correcting the image. The net effect is a well-executed and beautiful night photograph of this temple. I might not have captured the perfect “kid with sparkler” photo I talked about yesterday, but at least my architecture is looking better.

Being the festival of light, Diwali had a joyful fireworks display. Fireworks are best shot on a tripod since they require a long shutter. However, I wondered what I could create by handholding the camera. I managed a 1/3 second shutter at f1.4, allowing ISO 100 – 125 photo. Rather than it being a pure fireworks image, I wanted to capture the crowd watching the fireworks. The f1.4 aperture makes the people stand out.

In 2017, I created a fantasy photo of the fireworks over the temple. I thought it was more dramatic than what really happened. For practical purposes, launching fireworks in an open field is less risky, so image blending in post was my only option.

I put in a lot of effort to create that image, and it was fun and creative. I wonder if I’m getting lazy by not carrying a tripod or pushing boundaries these days. Is my photography getting too boring or safe? I may be guilty of throwing technology and fancier gear at a problem when all that is required is some more creative effort.

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