Yes, that’s right, this blog is giving away a very cool Dell Wasabi printer. More details tomorrow.
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Category Archives: Discussion Starter
Photographer or gear head?
If you have ever read a photography forum, you will know what today’s topic is all about. And I imagine, it isn’t a condition restricted to photography. The people who are interested in the tools vs the people who are interested in the final output of said tool.
Let me say right here and now, I am probably somewhere in the middle, and oddly enough, I think that is the best place to be. Some days I might lean towards the group favouring the output, not the tools used. That is probably where my frustration with the gear heads starts to raise it’s ugly head. Does this sound familiar?
I think the new NorbTech 123XYZ Camera looks like crap. And the mount wont take the Monkey mount lenses I have already got. And what is the go with that crappy Acme 2001 sensor? What where they thinking? And why doesn’t the lens have more zoom? And no primes in the line up is a huge mistake. And the rear LCD is not 3D. It doesn’t play MP3s. The GPS doesn’t work in tunnels. It only shoots at 24 FPS, in CROPPED mode!!! Forget this crap and get a BestBrand camera!!
And it goes on and on and on. Then a gearhead who favours EvenBetterBrand will tear the previous post apart, and explain why he is a fanboy of EvenBetterBrand cameras and why they are better than BestBrand and then why the new NorbTech 123XYZ is the biggest pile of poo ever to grace his monitor.
And then it goes on some more. More often than not, you don’t see many images from the gear heads. It seems they are so interested in what can and can’t be done by a camera, that they don’t have the time to actually use it. Even though they know the exact pixel density of every sensor made in history and can quote you the thickness of an AA filter on a sensor. They are nearly as passionate as the people on the other end of the spectrum, the artists!
These are the people that look for meaning in a snap shot. They try and convey emotion, feeling, love, angst, a sore toe and much more, in an iPhone photo. You just know an underexposed photo is supposed to be a brooding representation of the suppression of the artist. Really, its just a badly metered photo of a bloke doodling on a pad. They can find all sorts of meanings and representations in all manor of photos. And they couldn’t give a bohemians cravat about what sort of camera was used, they really don’t care. It is all about the image.
So, where do you sit in the Gear Geek to Art Freak spectrum?
Well that is a surprise!
Had a referral to the blog today that I didn’t recognise. Clicked the link and got a nice surprise.
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Who knew? This rambling mess of words and photos has made the Top 50 photography blogs. Well I’ll be a monkeys uncle. Thanks to all the RSS subscribers, I think you are my saving grace.
Now, go out and tell all your friends.
And thanks again.
The ### Projects, they aren’t for me.
This will come as no surprise to the people that know me, but I am pulling the pin on the 52 Week self portrait project, and the iPhone 365 Day project. I thought it would push me. I thought I would enjoy the challenge. I thought I might have grown up and wouldn’t get bored with it. I was wrong.
That said, I did manage 36 stunningly gorgeous self portraits. That’s a whopping 69.32% finished.
The iPhone 365 project was less successful. 50 shots so far, that equates to 13.69%. A massive failure in anyone’s books. Given the fact that I carry the bastard with me everywhere I go, it is a disappointment.
What does this mean for my photography? Bugger all really. I will still be out there pointing my light capture box at all manner of things, just not as part of a strictly regimented project. Having to meet a deadline isn’t one of my strong points and I get bored easily. I don’t know what I was thinking.
Something else it has shown me is the fantastic effort made by people like Kendra “Chapendra” Sundvall, who is on her 4th 365 Day project, and still going strong.
The uber talented Lakshal “Lucky” Perera, who last year produced some terrific work in his 52 Weeks Project.
Also, Andrew “Andrew G” Gunsberg is currently about 75% of the way through his own 365 Day project, and it has all sorts of goodness in it.
It takes a hell of a lot of patience, talent, discipline and creativity to finish these things off, and I don’t have an overflowing cup of any of them. I tips me lid to all the people out there doing this sort of thing. Well done.
N.B. If you know of other great 365D or 52W projects, let me know in the comments.
Sickr Flickr.
Flickr fans may want to give this post a wide berth, although what I am bitching about isn’t exactly the fault of the good folk at Flickr, well I don’t think it is.
I can recall a day when I used to love to join in discussions in Flickr groups. They were helpful, informative, funny, controversial and a pleasure to be a part of. The last 12 months have seen things slide like a eel on a Teflon slippery dip. I don’t know if it is the groups I had joined, or all groups are suffering from the same general decline in the social aspect. In the past 3 weeks I have left 4 groups that I had been a member for for nearly the whole time I have been a part of the extended Flickr family. These groups were once like immediate family. You knew the other members well. You even socialised with them.
The reason I left each group was the same. It was less like a group of friends with a shared passion, and more like a bunch of teenage boys for ever trying to prove who had the biggest dick, which is terrific if you are an angsty acne sufferer with a backwards baseball cap, but less fun than a prostrate exam (this is supposition on my behalf, my back door has not yet seen a doctors gloved finger approaching) for a 40 plus cranky bastard like myself. I miss the chit chat, the sharing of links to interesting photographic gold nuggets. I miss the willingness to share advice, experiences and equipment. I miss the friendly banter.
What has happened? I was going to point the finger at all the different types of Flickr user that piss me off, but I can’t see that doing anyone any good at all. Me sitting here whinging and ranting will no more fix things than if I could clone a pig to an eagle and finally stop people telling me I will take a great photo when pigs fly.
So, I ask you, dear visitor, is it just me? Have you found similar happenings on your travels around Flickr groups?
I’m off to find an eagle!
Photographers vs Photo Sales people…
… can you tell the difference?
Let me preface this little rant by saying this. I am not a world beater when it comes to photography. I doubt that I will ever make photography my full time job. I love it as a hobby, but I am not sure I want to turn it into work. That said, I know I can take a reasonable photo. Ansel Adams I am not, but I think I take a better photo than Aunty Mary after a few Sherries at the family wedding. I could be wrong.
Now, to the rant.
I have had a bug up my arse for months about this. Bull shit artists selling ordinary photos. It seems to me that there are loads of, lets say, mediocre at best photographers out there that are selling photos for big dollars. How are they getting away with it? Could it be that people are not aware what they should be paying for photos? Probably not, after all, what should you pay for a photo? Some people will say “let the market decide.” I agree, but purchasing a photographer, and photos, isn’t something we do every day like buying your lunch. How many people do you know who have been unhappy with the price of their wedding photos? I was! I got married on a beautiful beach, and yet the photos we got were ordinary at best. We didn’t pay a lot, but I still don’t think we got value. At the time, I knew a little bit about photography, and still managed to stuff the decision up.
So if I manage to make a bad decision, with some knowledge of photography, what chance does Joe Public have? Especially when faced with an over confident photographer who’s real skill is selling, not photography? Time and time again I have seen photos from photographers who really know how to pump up their own tyres, and when you look through their portfolio, you wonder what people see. Obviously they are seeing photos that are better than Aunty Mary’s last effort, but are they really worth the asking price? I know that a lot of time goes into post processing and sorting through photos, but quoting the same hourly rate as a brain surgeon is a little bit ridiculous. I know also that there is some skill involved, but the salesman photographer usually doesn’t possess that much skill when it comes to photography. Photoshop is his best friend. Too often you see some faux vignette added to a photo. Why? A tilted photo, Aunty Mary’s speciality, is seen as some sort of artistic expression!
Now I realise that there are some damned fine photographers out there. I know quite a few of them. There are also the gear heads. A person with $10,000 worth of the latest gear, isn’t necessarily a great photographer, no matter how much they say they are. I know that people are going to fire back that I am jealous that I don’t sell my mediocre photos. Fair enough, but if I can save one person from being robbed by these over confident sales reps, well I will have done my job.
You may be sitting there thinking what was that all about? Well, just know this, I feel better for getting it off my chest. Don’t listen to just the photographer, ask around. Ask friends. Ask work mates. Be informed and you might not get stung like I did.
50+ Incredible, 70 Stunning, really?
Am I the only one felling short changed at the descriptions given to some of the collections of photos these days? I have provided two links below that are shining examples of what I like to call the over hyped web page descriptions. Certainly, some of the photos on both those pages are incredible, others are stunning, but I cant see how all of them are one or the other. There are some terrible photos in the groups below. Some are garish HDR things that may have once looked like a photo, but now look like they have been coloured in by a three year old who is colour blind. No matter how hard some people try, you just can’t polish a turd. Others show as the famous Flickr “This photo is no longer available”, so it should actually be 68 Stunning examples blah blah blah.
Maybe people should look at my stunning and incredible Flickr stream? 🙂 No, really, I kid.
I agree, this is a very good photo. Stunning or incredible? You be the judge.
ReadyPhotoSite Blog » 50+ Incredible Examples of Contemporary Street Photography.
70 Stunning Examples of Cityscape Photography
Are digitally altered photos photography or art?
Time to go to the pantry, and drag out this old chestnut. I am not going to make a case for either side, I think most people know where I stand, but I have seen the debate pop up on quite a few blogs, websites and Twitter in the past week, so I thought I better jump on the bandwagon. I have grabbed links to two sites that have mentioned digital manipulation in the past week that I have read. Both are well written, and make some great points. Whether you like it or not, digital manipulation is here to stay. Whether it is right or wrong, who knows. If you like wildly glowing pinks and purples in your sunrise, then you might like it. HDR might well float your boat, but it does nothing for me. Madly dodging and burning might be your thing, but I still don’t know how to use it.
I suppose my biggest beef with it at the moment is there seems to be an ever increasing amount of people who buy a DSLR, take a very ordinary photo, then go crazy in Photoshop. I think it makes it to easy to polish a turd. Most beginners would be better served not using it, and actually learning how to use the camera to produce a better image.
There you go, despite me saying I wasn’t going to argue a case for either side, I just managed to. 🙂
Have a read of the articles and let me know what you think.
Despite what I say above, I do occasionally use Photoshop to tart up a photo myself.
Are digitally altered photos photography or art? | Factoidz.
Is it live or is it Photoshop? — Photocrati – Photography Blog, Digital SLR Camera and Lens Reviews.
I fully expect a bun fight, but discussion is good. I also fully expect to be going over the same topic in another 6 months time. 🙂
How Capa’s camera does lie, or doesn’t, you be the judge.
How about a little controversy to start the working week. The famous photo of a soldier falling to his death after being shot in the Spanish Civil War is being called a fake once again. It seems to pop up every now and then on photography forums and web sites the world over every six months or so.
The case against the photo.
The case for the photo.
Robert Capa – In Love and War | American Masters | PBS.
I have read them both and I am still on the fence. What do you think good reader?
Many thanks to w00dsy for sending me the first link.
Recommend me some photography Podcasts.
Ladies and gents, some eye popping news. I have discovered the wonderful world of Podcasts. That’s right, 2003, here I come. Given my arrival at Podcast nirvana, I was wondering what you good people out there in interweb land can recommend for me in the way of Photography Podcasts? Podcast, should I be capitalising the P?
