Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/03/24

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Subject: [Leica] Re: Technical vs. artistic skill
From: don.dory at gmail.com (Don Dory)
Date: Fri Mar 24 18:12:46 2006
References: <200603230826.k2N8PNwq070630@server1.waverley.reid.org> <e4b5d630a3ca.44244d5b@optonline.net>

Larry,
The thrust of my comments were that you had to know what the device would do
before you could get interesting results.  With the automagic cameras you
have no idea why an image turns out the way it does.  Make the mistakes and
see what interesting images happen; screw up the exposure and you find out
about high key and low key.  Accidentally use a slow shutter and discover
blurs.  Screw up the focus and see what selective focus does.  It all adds
to the knowledge.

Don
don.dory@gmail.com


On 3/24/06, lrzeitlin@optonline.net <lrzeitlin@optonline.net> wrote:
>
>
> <<B.D.,
> You are a talented and experienced photographer.? Take your average 14
> something year old just starting out.? Hand her your Oly330 and watch her
> shoot a card full of properly focused on something and correctly exposed
> by
> some standard images.? What is good, it all looks good.? Why is it good,
> well they are all in focus and I have whites and blacks so the exposure is
> just fine.
> With the limitations of manual and a limited number of opportunities the
> newbie will have to think.? Yes, a lot of the first images will be trash,
> but the newbie will know they are trash and look at what works.? With some
> understanding of why you want a particular shutter speed and why an
> aperture
> causes certain effects then the automagic camera becomes a valuable tool.
> Otherwise you are in P and your images look just like everyone else with a
> zoom and a pop up flash.
> Don
> don.dory@gmail.com>>
>
> Don,
>
> Don't make the assumption that technical and artistic skills are somehow
> related. The evidence s
> hows that they are uncorrelated. I know engineers that can design a
> computer from scratch but can't write a coherent English sentence.
> Shakespeare, on the other hand, wrote his plays with a quill pen. Would
> learning to use a word processor have enabled him to do better. I doubt it.
>
> To use a more cogent example, Ted, who is unquestionably one of the best
> photographers on the LUG, is a self admitted technophobe. Would a Masters
> degree in Optoelectronics make him a better photographer. I doubt it.
>
> Skill with the mechanics of a camera has nothing to do with artistic
> vision.
>
> Larry Z
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>

Replies: Reply from bdcolen at comcast.net (B. D. Colen) ([Leica] Re: Technical vs. artistic skill)
In reply to: Message from lrzeitlin at optonline.net (lrzeitlin@optonline.net) ([Leica] Re: Technical vs. artistic skill)