[Leica] Technical detail--why?

[vick.ko at sympatico.ca (Vick Ko)]

Yeah, Nathan

It was interesting that I was browsing the "Photolife" magazine, a 
magazine clearly created by the equipment manufacturers and sellers.

Every photo was followed with lens, camera, setting, and some post 
processing notes.

Made me think that the only purpose was to capture the crowd that is 
thinking "if I buy that lens and camera, I can create that photo too".

And I also heard an artist's talk today, about "The Night sky". He was 
telling about one of the amazing "Hubble photos", that it was more a 
testimony to man's genius in creating a camera called the "Hubble 
telescope", but comparing to his shot of the Milky way, taken at late 
night, over Lake Superior.  The Milky way shot evoked much more a sense 
of connection and "one with nature", because it didn't take a gizillion 
dollars of research and the most unique camera made by man to take.  I 
don't even know what camera he used to make the Milky way photo.  But it 
was as stunning as the Hubble photo.

And with all that I've said, I'm guilty of being under the influence of 
"the tech notes".  I latched onto Leica, Nikon (old) and Hasselblad, 
seeing the amazing photos that the photographers (and the brochures) 
with that gear took.

Harmful?  No.  Sometimes I like to know what settings I used. Especially 
in the darkroom.  Especially if I detect a fault.

...Vick


On 3/24/2013 5:21 PM, Nathan Wajsman wrote:
> Someone, I think Cedric, commented on Jean-Michel's pictures today, asking 
> for technical details. That got me thinking--back when I first took up 
> photography in 1985, I religiously noted lens, exposure etc. in a 
> notebook. I still have that notebook. The only thing is, the I have never 
> actually used the information noted therein. Nowadays, I do not care about 
> the technical details, indeed, when I post my weekly pictures, I don't 
> even mention the equipment used. What's the point? Either the photo is 
> good or it isn't. Whether I used my 4x5 or my iPhone should not influence 
> the viewer's evaluation.
>
> Technical details are useless at best, and harmful at worst.
>
> Cheers,
> Nathan
>
> Nathan Wajsman