Have you ever hesitated to lend out something valuable to a friend, even when they once helped you in a similar situation? Join us on this episode of JP Visual Voices as we navigate Jackie’s predicament of whether to let a friend borrow his newly upgraded, high-end photography gear. Jackie’s dilemma raises important questions about balancing gratitude with the need to protect significant investments. We’ll explore the emotional and financial stakes involved, inviting you to weigh in with your own thoughts on this tricky subject.
As we continue, we dive into the subtleties of photography gear borrowing etiquette. Is it fair for Jackie to withhold his expensive equipment, even though his friend freely lent him beginner cameras in the past? We discuss the dynamics of reciprocity and gratitude within friendships, emphasizing empathy and understanding. Through this conversation, we aim to offer a nuanced perspective on the realities of sharing high-value personal items and the potential impact on relationships.
Finally, we address a fundamental question for photographers: RAW or JPEG? While JPEGs offer simplicity and ease of use, RAW files provide greater editing flexibility. I share my experiences with Adobe Lightroom and stress the importance of mastering the basics of exposure, lighting, and composition before getting bogged down by technical details. As we wrap up, we encourage your continued support—subscribe, like, and leave a five-star rating to help JP Visual Voices grow. Tune in and join the conversation!
Have you ever hesitated to lend out something valuable to a friend, even when they once helped you in a similar situation? Join us on this episode of JP Visual Voices as we navigate Jackie’s predicament of whether to let a friend borrow his newly upgraded, high-end photography gear. Jackie’s dilemma raises important questions about balancing gratitude with the need to protect significant investments. We’ll explore the emotional and financial stakes involved, inviting you to weigh in with your own thoughts on this tricky subject.
As we continue, we dive into the subtleties of photography gear borrowing etiquette. Is it fair for Jackie to withhold his expensive equipment, even though his friend freely lent him beginner cameras in the past? We discuss the dynamics of reciprocity and gratitude within friendships, emphasizing empathy and understanding. Through this conversation, we aim to offer a nuanced perspective on the realities of sharing high-value personal items and the potential impact on relationships.
Finally, we address a fundamental question for photographers: RAW or JPEG? While JPEGs offer simplicity and ease of use, RAW files provide greater editing flexibility. I share my experiences with Adobe Lightroom and stress the importance of mastering the basics of exposure, lighting, and composition before getting bogged down by technical details. As we wrap up, we encourage your continued support—subscribe, like, and leave a five-star rating to help JP Visual Voices grow. Tune in and join the conversation!
if you, like me, you rather do the things, the quote-unquote the right way, then go ahead and do you know? Go ahead and start with raw. The difference is the amount of details that you have in the raw files for you to manipulate me. I've been raw ever since I started, so you might as well start raw. What's going on, you guys? What's up? What's up?
Speaker 1:
Welcome to jp visual voices and I'm your host, weegee, and today we're gonna jump straight into our segment of the day. Am I an asshole? All right, so, yeah, so today we have a dilemma. Am I the asshole? So, like I did last time, I'll just go ahead and read it out for you guys and then I'll give you my input. And you know, you guys, at the end of, I guess, the show, you can leave your input in the comments and let's have a conversation, all right? So let's jump into the segment right now.
Speaker 1:
Am I the asshole for not letting my friend use my gears? That's the question. Hi, jp, my name is Jackie and I'm 19 years old. I started my photography business about two years ago now and I would like to know if I am the asshole in this situation. I started my own photography business and I had a friend who used to let me use his camera gears for me to shoot around, for me to shoot around and play around, which I'm very appreciative of him doing so because he didn't have to. At the same time, he had some beginner photography cameras with beginner lens and all of that like a kit lens, but he was still using it to make his own money. Every weekend, on the weekdays, that's the time he would let me borrow the the camera gears or the camera for me to go and practice fast forward. Now, two years later, I am able to afford my own gears, and the gears that I currently have are a lot more expensive than the ones that my friend has that he used to let me borrow back in the day. And it's not like I don't trust him. I'm gonna just read it the way I assume he meant. Okay, it's not that I don't trust him with my gears or anything like that. They're just very expensive and cost me a lot of money. And I do value our friendship and because of that I won't let him use my cameras, because if something was to happen to the gears, I'm afraid he would put us in a very bad situation Because I know he cannot replace them as of right now. That's what I use to make my money with, alright. Then again, he let me use his gears in the past. Now I'm really wondering what should I do, even though in the back of my mind I don't want him to use my gears like that, and that's why I'm wondering am I the asshole if I tell him, or would I be the asshole if I tell him that he can't use my gears?
Speaker 1:
Thanks in advance, looking forward to hear your advice on the pod. Well, appreciate it. Appreciate. Let us know that you are actually listening or watching the pie.
Speaker 1:
So let's do a quick recap from what I'm understanding from, you know from the statement we just read. So basically, two ago he was using his friend's camera, which he's saying that he has beginner cameras, like beginner lens. I don't know why it would be a beginner camera, but you know I can make a few guess. All right, something budget, I guess. And then he used to practice in that even though his friends on the weekend used to use that same gear to make money off of. And then now, long story short, two years later he got his own photography gears and they probably cost two, three times the amount of money that his friend gears cost back in the day. Now he's afraid that you know, if you let his friend gears cost back in the day. Now he's afraid that you know, if you let his friend borrow the gears, something might happen to it. And then you know, because of how expensive it is, they may stop being friends all of a sudden. You know, and then basically he need our help to figure it out is it being an asshole for not letting his friend borrow the camera or not? So again, for the people that's been starting with us this is episode six we appreciate you, welcome back. And for the people that's just now joining us today, whether you find us on wherever tiktok, youtube, you know, instagram welcome back, welcome back. So again, first of all, thank you very much for listening to the pod. I definitely appreciate it all.
Speaker 1:
Right now let's get to your question are you the asshole? Long story short, yes, you are, you know. I say yes you are because you clearly said in the past you didn't have no gears. He let you borrow his gears to practice to shoot around. I don't know what you was practicing with, but practice is practice, it don't matter. So you know you spend time practicing on his own gears and to you those are beginner gears. To him that is professional gear, because you clearly said that on the weekends he go outside, he go out and do his gigs with the same gears that you're practicing with. Now, all of a sudden, you can afford to get your own gears and then you know you calling you, calling it his gears, beginner gears, even though that's what you used to use in the past. You see what I'm saying. So, yes, that makes you an asshole, because back then it used to be fine. And then now, all of a sudden you calling it beginner gears, even if it is or if it's not, but at the moment you was using, you was using it. Excuse me, you didn't think about it that way. All right.
Speaker 1:
And the second reason why you're asshole? Because, again, he let you use it with no questions asked. You was doing your thing. You don't know how much he bought them for at the time that he bought them, all right. And he never had. As far as you know, he never said no. As far as we know, he he never said no to you to use the gears. He was fine. Whenever he's not using it, you can come and, you know, do your thing with it. So now, because yours costs more all right, I'm assuming two, three times, four times more than what he's currently using you're afraid that you know he may break it, even though you know I'm just going by logic, you didn't mention that he ever broke any cameras in the past or anything like that. You, just because of the money you know he can't replace it, you're afraid to let him use it all right now.
Speaker 1:
There's a part that I do understand, because I'm not necessarily have been there myself, but I can understand it. If you work your ass off and you save as much as you can right to to be able to afford your gears, now you especially you using it for professional gigs or whatnot, and, like you said, it costs a lot of money. I don't know which gigs you have me. I currently have a 7-4 which at the moment when I bought it was like $2,500 plus tax. So I can't necessarily just let anybody just play around with that because it's $2,500 that I don't have. It's not easy to come up with 2,500, so I get that.
Speaker 1:
But the only reason I cannot say you're not an asshole is because he lets you use his own gears back then when you didn't have nothing. You didn't have nothing at all and you know that was everything to you back then and all of a sudden now is no longer a thing, and then only part. I don't understand. You say he used those same gears back then to do gigs on the weekends, or those gigs are like free gigs or paid gigs. How come now all of a sudden you're saying that he can't afford to replace your own gears? Is he not making enough money from what he's charging and all of that? Or like, what's the reason why you're saying that he can't replace your gears? So I need a little bit more context to that. If you would, you know, send us a new text or email or something like that. You know, to give us a little bit more details, because there's a few things that's not clicking for me, all right. Tags or email or something like that. You know, to give us a little bit more details because there's a few things that's not clicking for me, all right.
Speaker 1:
So only reason I cannot fully be on your side, even though I understand, is because in the past he let you use his gifts, man. He spent his own money. You, you don't know his struggle like that, you don't know how he ended up. I mean, we don't know. I don't know because you never explained how he got it. But I'm gonna just go again. Let's say you don't know how, you know he got those gears, those are his babies, like right now, the gears you have right now worth the same amount that is is is, you know, it costs you to him, not same number, but the same value. You get what I'm saying. So you know you, you definitely, I definitely not on your side, jake, I can't. He lets you use his own gears, man. Like that's crazy to me. He let you use his own gears, man. Like that's crazy to me.
Speaker 1:
If you would think that you're not an asshole because he helped you out. Now you got to a point where you have enough practice that you can have your own and go by yourself and do your own thing, and then all of a sudden you think come on bro, come on bro, now. This is a suggestion, this is my suggestion to you. Now, this is a suggestion. This is my suggestion to you.
Speaker 1:
If one, is he trying to borrow your cameras to go doing a gig? Is his cameras not working anymore? Is he just trying to play around, like you know, figure it out what he's trying to do, because if he's trying to get a few gigs on the side, like he used to do, like two, three years ago, and you know, you really not trying to help this man get his money, you're not even a good friend. That's not even a thing that you know. Like you said, as a homeboy, a friend would do, because you should, he looked out for you. You're not looking out now. Now is he trying to get your gears again to trying to like, go outside and play around, which he don't sound like he would try to get your gears to go play around.
Speaker 1:
You know, figure out why he's trying to borrow your gears, because you didn't tell us why, so I can't know exactly why. But once you have an answer, you know again, let me know and then maybe I may not do a whole nother video about it, but maybe I might go up there and then, you know, reply back and let you know hey, this is this is why. All right, anyways, guys, this is my own opinion, this is my mentality, my own opinion. You know, leave your own opinion in the comments. You know, like I said, I try. It all depends on how many, but I'm trying to go through each one of them and see, you know, see how everybody thinks, because I know I think differently, but some people's mentality might be more common than others. So, let me know, let me, you know, give Jake some advice. He came out here, you know, looking for our help, so let's help him out, guys. And then again, this is a community, let's help each other out one time. All right, you guys? So this is the icebreaker. Right, you guys? So this is the icebreaker.
Speaker 1:
I'm trying to open it up with different segments from now on, to break the ice a little bit. For right now is all photography related again, but eventually, you know, it will be diverse, a little bit more diverse, because the people that's following this pod right now, they they mainly or mostly, photographers. And yes, this is a podcast for beginner photographers, but you know it's for everybody, anybody who likes a good talk or hearing, or listening. All right, so again, welcome back to the show. I appreciate you being here, welcome, welcome to the show if that's your first time.
Speaker 1:
Again, guys, we're trying to build something nice, you know, but in a few months the idea will change, you know I'm gonna call it something big, but right now I'm trying to build something nice and then I need y'all help. I need y'all help to give us a good rating. If you listening, you can relate to anything in here or you want more, because there's a lot more. Give us a good rating if you listening to any audio podcasts, you know, give us a five star preferably, but you know I'm not gonna fight with you. You know, leave your boys something nice and then, if you are on youtube, give us, you know, a good review, a like make sure you subscribe, because that's how youtube know hey, this guy right here is. You know, saying something good, saying something nice, is helping the community. So you know, you know how that shit work, man, don't? You know? I don't need to keep pushing that thing on you like everybody else does, but I will most definitely appreciate it. We're trying to build our community subscriber numbers, our listeners, you know all of that. And then again we will have a patreon page coming up in a few months. We're still setting things up, but I will have a lot of perks once we're getting closer. I will break it down in better details to what exactly we will have on the patreon page. But as of right now, I appreciate y'all keep listening, keep following us, all right. All right, cool.
Speaker 1:
So let's get back to the title of this podcast today. Not even the title, the subject you already purchased a camera. Now I'm talking to you right for the you know main reason. You here, you already got your camera. We already talked about the exposure triangle. We talked about should you shoot in manual or automatic? Everything on your camera once you got your first gears, right before you actually go out and shoot.
Speaker 1:
Today we will have a debate, or the conversation, about shooting raw and jpeg. All right, this is a conversation that. It's an old conversation that's been here. If you go on youtube, you'll see so many videos about raw or jpeg. You know vice versa and all of that. It's crazy. But I'm here today to give you my opinion on you know which one you should pick and why, and also to let you know this is the one that you know I'm shooting with. All right. So, raw or jpeg? Now, as a beginner photographer, I wouldn't worry about that too much, because you just need to get out there to take your photos. Right In the last episode, we really break down the exposure triangle and shooting automatic versus manual.
Speaker 1:
So the biggest thing I would focus on, especially for anybody getting started, is focus on getting the shot that you want, the shot that you need, the lighting, the, the composition, all of that. Focus on that first before you start to focus on should you shoot raw or jpeg. Because the difference between raw and jpeg is is the amount of details that you have in the raw files for you to manipulate. Once you start doing your editing, once you take your pictures, you put it on, you know whatever editing software that you're using. You know the amount of range you have between the two, unless you want to be tech savvy or software very savvy and heavy and all of that. Listen, a lot of these names don't even make sense, a lot of these names that we're hearing in photography. I'm not saying they're not important, but, to be honest with you, you just need to know how to use the camera and knowing a lot of these other names that may not do anything for you is irrelevant.
Speaker 1:
So should you shoot raw jpeg again, shoot jpeg as a very if you just getting started, you just now again, you just got your gear, you're fresh, you're fresh out in the market. I'm not going to tell you to shoot raw, because raw could be a bit complicated. You feel me. You're just now in the market, so I said go with JPEG, start shooting with JPEG Experiment. The biggest thing you need to get is your exposure triangle. You get the photo that you want and need. It doesn't matter if it's raw jpeg. Get the pictures that makes you happy, first in camera.
Speaker 1:
Now where the jpeg and the raw is going to make a difference again is when you start to do your edits and then you're looking to see how does it look, editing it in a jpeg and a raw file. So it's gonna get to a point where you shoot it in the dark. Now you wish you were shooting raw because you might have more details, you may have more leeway to put the shadows a little bit higher to you know, your exposure a little bit higher, without introducing too much or too many grains into your frame. The picture that you just took, right, I know we will talk about shadows, exposures, all of that once we get to this, to the editing part of this. You know, podcast. Right now we're still into the just getting started, just the beginning, just the beginning. So shoot jpg experiment around.
Speaker 1:
Listen, you might hear me keep on saying light room, light room, light room. And I have nothing against any other editing software out there, and adobe haven't given me a dime for me to talk about them. Yet you get it. Yet if adobe if you're listening, you know it's a talk to your boy. But yeah, so I haven't got any money, any type of compensation, from any of that. But yes, I haven't got any type of compensation from adobe. But it just happened to be. That's the app that I started with and that's the app that I'm still rocking with till this day.
Speaker 1:
Five, six years. I like to say five, six years because I don't remember exactly when I started. I'm about to be six years in. Yeah, I'm about to be six years in in November. So in my five years plus experience I have been using one editing app. I don't know nothing else. I don't know any other app. So you know, excuse me, but I'm sure whatever I'm saying now it applies to whatever other editing softwares that you guys are using. So there's nothing specific. Whatever you're using, I'm not saying for you to switch to go to Adobe. That's not what I'm saying at all. Just that's what I use. So that's what I keep mentioning every time.
Speaker 1:
So, yeah, so back to what I was saying when you shoot JPEG, a lot of times as a beginner, you're not gonna start editing your photos yet, because you're just gonna take them and print and, you know, post and that straight out of camera. So I wouldn't worry about the raw files, because the raw files doesn't have as much saturation and all of that in there, because it's capturing the photo like the sensor sees it in real time, all right. And then with the jpeg, what you can do on the settings on the camera, you can pre-apply or apply let's just call it filters. You can pre-apply filters to your photos to where you want. You know you you can put your shadows up or down a little bit, you can put the saturation, you know, a little bit up or down, and all that which you can't do, it doesn't apply when you're shooting raw. So if you're trying to print a raw file, it's gonna look slightly faded. If you're trying to print a jpeg file, it's gonna be more saturated, with more colors, because the colors, everything is already engraved into your frame. Hopefully that's making sense. And yeah, I say it engraved, it's already into your file.
Speaker 1:
So, yeah, I didn't start shooting jpeg because, again, when I started I didn't know too many people that was doing actual like podcast. Explain why you should do this. You should do that. Except there's there was one person that I used to follow on youtube. Follow him on youtube, listen and watch all his stuff, you know. And then, ever since I started, I started listening to him.
Speaker 1:
He's saying to shoot raw, but he didn't really break down to the benefits of shooting raw. He was just saying you know, just shoot raw. But again, if you don't have any editing softwares yet, I wouldn't suggest shooting raw Now if you already have a little bit of experience under your belt. You just still had that question in your brain and then you wanted an answer yeah, go raw all day. You get it. Not like that, though, not like that. But photography, go raw all day. Man Don't even ask no question about that. So, yeah, so, shoot raw and then play around with your settings and all of that and you'll edit in softwares and then bring the picture to life how you want it to look like. But yeah, so if you fresh, fresh, fresh, I guess that's my ultimate decision, right, if you fresh, exactly how you know I've been saying in the podcast. You just now learning about these little things that I've been, the settings that I've been saying about camera go jpeg, don't. Don't go raw, don't go raw. You, you need the experience first, just like in real life, don't go raw. Just like in real life, don't go raw. You know what I'm saying put put protection on, put protection on. But if you got enough experience and then now you can start shooting raw, and then, you know, get some more under your belt.
Speaker 1:
Me, I've been shooting raw ever since I started. Every now and then I have tried jpeg because I'm like I want to be lazy and shoot jpeg. When I shoot jpeg, I don't really like the way it looks, because I'm so used to shooting raw so it just looks weird to me. So I I started an event now that I remember, and I did an event. I started shooting jpeg. And then I'm looking, you know, in the back of the camera it looks good, because when you the the picture, the frame that you see in the back of your camera is a jpeg version of the raw file anyways. So I'm looking, I'm like, okay, this look good, this look good when I go back and put that in light room and for me to play around and for me to start editing.
Speaker 1:
I was like I'm having a hard time. It's so grainy, the saturation is so janky that everything that I touch was just whack to me. I was like, oh, I hate shooting jpeg. And then I have my good friend, he's a photographer, and then he should jpeg everything, and then he's fine with that. I can't do it. I really can't do it, even though I'm suggesting it. I have reasoning for it, but I can't do it.
Speaker 1:
And then, if you like me, you rather do the things, things, the quote unquote the right way. Then go ahead and do you know? Go ahead and start with raw, because you're going to switch up Once you start to get more experience under your belt. You're going to switch up anyways to shooting raw. So you might as well start raw. But again, you have. If you have the love for this craft, that's not a problem. But if you don't have that type of love for photography, that's adding more on top of what you do.
Speaker 1:
When you charge a client X amount of money for an hour or two hours, really you're charging X amount of money for four, five, six hours, six hours, because there's another two, three hours, four hours for you to to go home and edit and to get these pictures to look. You know how you want it to look like. But when you shoot jpeg, you can literally go home and not even do anything. You know and then give it to the client, which I don't suggest doing. You have, if you're professional, you have to edit the files to your liking first, that's my suggestion, but again, you know, to each their own. All right.
Speaker 1:
So recap for this. New for this. Well, yeah, for this episode is jpeg or raw. So, all right, you guys, this, I feel like this was a short one today. I don't know, I feel like this wasn't too long. It was nice and sweet, straight to the point. And again, I don't have a specific time per episode. Maybe one day it'll be, you know, specific, but it is not.
Speaker 1:
So again, you guys, now this is where I come and you know, ask for your help again, you know, eventually y'all won't hear from me, not, y'all won't hear from me, but you know I will stop begging, I will stop asking like that. You feel me, but right now that's the only way for me to grow. All right, if you know, eventually I'm paying all these bills. I need a little. You know a little something, something from you guys, and you know, anything can help. You know, I got this, this nice little setup for you guys, for some of you guys. Some of you don't care about that, you know help. You know, help a brother out, and it is not taking anything out of your day, out of your time, especially as you're already listening.
Speaker 1:
All you have to do is just drop a five star or just, you know, subscribe or leave a comment. Like the video, at least subscribe and like. You may not leave a comment if you don't want to, because that's, you know, required for you to think and do all of that and drop a few words here and there. But hitting the five star button, man, it's easy. Just one click. Subscribing, one click Liking the video, just scroll up. One click, it's that easy, and then you go about your day. You wait, you know, especially if you have the notification bell on YouTube, you know when the next one is dropping. You know what I'm saying and, yeah, that's it guys, that's it. I got nothing else to say, I got nothing else to do. Yeah, so this camera, that camera, we out, we out today.
