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Anonymous
THE WANDERING MUSINGS OF SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN DOING THIS FOR A LONG TIME 2016-11-21 09:56:40 Post No. 2969024
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THE WANDERING MUSINGS OF SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN DOING THIS FOR A LONG TIME 2016-11-21 09:56:40 Post No. 2969024
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THE WANDERING MUSINGS OF SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN DOING THIS FOR A LONG TIME
Anonymous
2016-11-21 09:56:40
Post No. 2969024
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Here are some incontrovertible absolute truths i've picked up in my 20 or so years of photography. They are not ordered in any specific order.
1. You really should stick with one focal length for long periods of time. This isn't just a meme. You should use one focal length so often that you learn to see the way it sees, and for so long that you become so accustomed to seeing the way the lens sees that when you switch to a different focal length. it has a very jarring effect on you. Zooms are for photojournalists. Unless you're a photojournalist, shoot primes.
2. Only shooting (or processing for) black and white will make you a much better visual photographer. It will not enhance the ethical/storytelling/narrative/philosophical part of your photography, which is purely up to you.
3. The ethical part of your photography is by far the most important. Some of the greatest photos in history have some glaring aesthetic faults, while there are countless technically perfect photos produced every day that say nothing and amount to even less. Fuck aesthetics.
4. The most important part of a portrait is the silhouette. Always, always compose for the silhouette first and everything else second.
5. Shooting film does not make you a better or more careful photographer, especially if you're holding back because of expense. No one got to be a better photographer by not shooting photos.
6. Shooting a lot of photos makes you a better and more careful photographer. Operating your camera should be the last thing you're thinking about when taking a photo, and that only comes with practice.
7. Conversely, being patient and contemplative will also make you a better photographer. You will make the best photo you've made all year if you sit down and really observe your surroundings for an hour.
8. If all of your photos are being shot from eye level, you're fucking up. Kneel, crouch, lie on the floor. Climb on roofs. Get on top of your car. Find new perspectives.
cont'd later
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>>2969024
nice photos faggot.
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>>2969030
thanks
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>>2969024
Continue
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Are you Thomas Struth?
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>>2969024
>stick with one focal length
This is debatable, but I'm definitely all for the less is more approach. Have enough lenses to be versatile but not so many that you can't be consistent.
>some of the greatest photos in history have glaring technical faults
You mean most memorable. Great implies technical excellence, and there are plenty of great photos that are also emotionally compelling and memorable. But you shouldn't necessarily shoot for glory or to seem important; it's perfectly fine to shoot for yourself.
>no one got better at photography by not shooting photos
This is the part of your post I agree with the most. Actually I agree a lot with 5 6 7 and 8.
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>>2969138
>Great implies technical excellence
Disagree. OP is right.
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>>2969159
Please post examples of powerful images with "glaring technical faults".
It should be tricky, because those photos are usually deleted in camera/never bother getting printed.
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>>2969167
Daido
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>>2969167
I was going to pull some examples... but if you disagree there's nothing I can show you that wont be irrelevant to you anyway. You just won't get it because your definition of good is defined differently.
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>>2969172
Go ahead and post 'em up anon, it'll help the discussion. Maybe OP can chime in and elaborate on what "some of the greatest photos in history" are as well.
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>>2969024
What do you mean by silouhette and composing for one?
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Posting in a potentially good thread for once.
Continue OP
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Settle it once and for all, seasoned pro:
>>2969265
>>2969296
Is this poster talented or a loser?
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>>2972184
He's shit, even for /p/
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>stick with a prime
I agree it's a nice challenge.
>BW for visual
erm, no. the hard part in photography lies in removing the complexity of real life to have a clean/clear message. Ignoring color is taking the easy way, a well-composed photograph that takes its palette in consideration can say much more. BW is an improvement over "shoot anything and don't care" (which takes colors as a side effect but without thinking about it), but it's not the pinnacle.
>ethics, not aesthetics
totally true. pretty pictures with no message are noise.
>silhouette in portraits.
the concept is already well-known in drawings/paintings. Dynamic poses are much more interesting.
>film does not make you better
agreed. that "counting your shots makes you better" thing they believe, is bullshit, but spray shooting with digital is not any better. Problem IMO with praising film is when it's basically considering the tool you use defines you as a photographer.
>shoot a lot and practice
makes sense, but I've seen great pictures from people who don't have much grasps of the technical side. I think it's better to be proficient at what you're doing, but it's not as crucial as people think.
>contemplation
often goes with finding
>new perspectives
getting to know where and what you're shooting is indeed important.
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Didn't I read this in a comment on petapixel in 2004
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>>2969024
Liz looks soft in this one. Is it just me?
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>>2969024
We've been waiting 6 days now, fucking continue already
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ITT: Bazinga'd
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>>2969167
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I have a few primes (normal and telephoto) that I almost never take off. There's a lot of moving around I'd rather do before I get to the point where I want to switch lenses. However, zooms are quite useful for more than just photojournalism.
I would probably word that first point differently, to say stick to one lens, rather than one focal length.
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>>2969180
Shit like this, can you relax?
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>>2974048
>>2974133
Interesting shots for sure.
They clearly worked with what they had, for the most part. My only issues with them are that >>2974048 seems a bit out of focus (or it could just be the higher ASA setting) and >>2974133 may have looked better if he moved to the right and pointed more down. But maybe that wasn't possible.
Anyways my point really was that saying "fuck aesthetics" is like saying "nailing the technical parts isn't important, because every once in a great while out of hundreds of thousands of photos shot, some of them end up being of interesting subjects even if they aren't great aesthetically".
Photojournalists, and people who try to capture candid, fleeting moments will not always get the best light or the best composition, but their aim is to "get the shot anyways". I understand that. BUT, and this is a big but, they will still try their damn best to seek out the best light and the best compositions anyhow. They simply wouldn't have the jobs they do if they didn't have the ability to grasp technical excellence at all.
There are also people who shoot things like landscapes or architecture and they not only care about technical perfection a lot more, they have less excuses than others for technical flaws because they are usually working with static/slowly changing subject matter. And no, you can't just fire back with "but those genres of photography are boring", because that isn't "incontrovertible truth, it's heavily biased opinion. We're talking about photography as a whole, as well.
For what it's worth, here are some examples of what I find to be great photos - that is, photographs that utilize light, composition AND subject, not just the latter of the three.
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>>2974432
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>>2974433
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Camera-Specific Properties: Equipment Make Canon Camera Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II Camera Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.2 (Macintosh) Photographer Joergen Kloevstad Maximum Lens Aperture f/2.8 Image-Specific Properties: Horizontal Resolution 300 dpi Vertical Resolution 300 dpi Image Created 2012:10:08 00:14:30 Exposure Time 1/125 sec F-Number f/8.0 Exposure Program Aperture Priority ISO Speed Rating 100 Lens Aperture f/8.0 Exposure Bias 0 EV Metering Mode Pattern Flash No Flash, Compulsory Focal Length 200.00 mm Rendering Normal Exposure Mode Auto White Balance Manual Scene Capture Type Standard
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>>2974436
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>>2974438
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