Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/03/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Ted Grant <tedgrant@shaw.ca> wrote: > I see so many digital pictures published and the "happy snaps" of many that > appear to have no given thought to the aesthetics of photography in making a > good picture. I fear we may see a great loss of quality photography simply > because the "image making" has become an automatic action of what's on the > screen at arms length. And without thought for a beautiful photograph. > "Click! look, delete, click again!"........ all without a thought of what > makes a good photograph good or not!" > > Hopefully I'm wrong. Any thoughts ? I think what we're seeing it much wider access to happy snaps than before. Over the decades there have been countless millions of family snapshots, vacation travellogs and the like but if they're not digital or digitized or if there's no web we're not going to be consciously aware of them unless somebody grabbed us by the collective shirt collar and said "let me show you my pictures of my toddler's birthday party!!" These typically are a family's record of its good times rather than an attempt to make an image that provokes discussion or sets the viewer to dreaming of life outside his office cubicle. What is needed with digital P&S cameras and frequently with dSLR and now dRF cameras is required training in editing the photos for presentation. It's like a digital camera owner feels like he has to display virtually every photo the camera makes. Information overload on a grand scale!! (I GUARANTEE that without brutal editing, the LUG would have gotten sick of my Bluebird photos. I'd much rather show too few and have people want to see more than show too many and have people get tired of seeing them.) IMHO more people making happy snaps is a good thing and is good for photography because there will be some among those who start as happy snappers but who want to make the thought-provoking or beautiful or shocking photos that we take note of. Their P&S cameras can do a pretty good job much of the time but those committed to making standout images will eventually run into the technical and aesthetic limitations of the P&S camera and will be driven to learn more about the tools and processes in order to make the photos they want. As long as there are standout photos to compare with happy snaps, there will be students wanting to make photos that equal or surpass the standouts. Doug Herr Birdman of Sacramento http://www.wildlightphoto.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web.com ? What can On Demand Business Solutions do for you? http://link.mail2web.com/Business/SharePoint