I can work my camera - now what...?

magicbastarder

RealEstateKing wrote: »

The basics of the technical stuff can be taught in half an hour, after that it's just making it flow.

i took this approach last week when i took up tennis, and now i'm preparing to enter wimbledon.

Overdraft

Karlmartini1 wrote: »

here's my stuff, critiques welcome.

Gorgeous photos, eg:



Added to my favourites, looking forward to browsing through the rest.

Overdraft

RealEstateKing wrote: »

The basics of the technical stuff can be taught in half an hour

Twenty years later and I'm still struggling with the basics

deRanged

elven wrote: »

Is there a source of non technical c&c,

would this be where you go for exhibitions?
move from learning the craft to seeing what others think of your work, see can you influence their thinking, make them see what you want to show them? developing your own identity and style?

Actually I guess that's further developing your identity and style. From your posts here you already have both.

Dundhoone

Elven,

Im not at technical perfection or anything near it, nor have I explored a certain style, so this is a noobie opinion.

I think you go far more to the "arty" side than most of the flickr boardsies I've seen. You have a distintive style, and a particular eye for things.

You can continue with C&C from folks who have very varied interests on here, but I'd think you would benefit from a far more artistic perspective. I've no idea where you might get that outside an art course. The other option is to forget critique, get your own version of a "cave project" and find your own way some more.

(and im not suggesting that andys photos dont stand up to critique with that comment:D)

SOL

I think, on somewhat of a tangent, we should alter the rules for C&C on here, because at the moment photographs are posted, and then people are very reticent to offer any serious criticism.
There are usually just a large number of "I like" replies, perhaps these could be replaced using the new(it hasn't been there that long has it?) "Thanks" button to express feelings and then people might be more inclined to offer real advice?

Perhaps we could start this a thread of it's very own... not that it hasn't been done before... but in striving for beyond technical excellent we may have to reexamine old ideas?

thebaz

magicbastarder wrote: »

i took this approach last week when i took up tennis, and now i'm preparing to enter wimbledon.

well said Magic ,

though they say the first round of golf Jack Niclaus played , he went round in under 80 gross , hardly the norm

I think what REK is trying to say is that the basics can be learnt in a short time(i.e how to use the camera in M mode),quite true.

But in the end it's the training of our photographic eye which will lead to better photographs.This is the part of photography which takes years to train and perfect.Looking at the tennis analogy this is the training that you will need to get to Wimbledon.

FreeAnd..

Originally posted by Roen
Yeah...I was going to start a thread about him a while back. I wonder where he got to? Did he go back home or is he still here? And didn't he have a mate called Kurino or something?

Dont worry Roen, Im sure wherever he is, he is getting a warm fuzzy feeling from this thread I think maybe Elven started this thread to tease him out?Now that was a guy who saw nothing in the creative side and was all about the technical...but it was hard not to like his unfaltering approach

Anouilh

Placebo wrote: »

on perfection one should conquer all aspects of photography, [nature, landscape, street, fashion, potraits, night shots] and build an artillery of lens' .
go to japan.

There is just one hazard in taking up photography seriously, I have found...
the possibility of developing (sorry!) OCD.

Over the past few years I've had some wonderful conversations with photgraphers on the Net. There always comes a point where extending one's range could lead to being stretched to the limit. Or where "improving" a photo may become a frenzied attempt to over-gild the lily.

The post here is just right... apart from the probably ironic advice to go to Japan. Anybody who has visited that country has returned overwhelmed by the perfectionism in every detail of daily life there. It has made me curious enough to want to visit for myself.

Great thread. Set me thinking...

sheesh

Just thought of this to day .try to talk to other photographers. I have listened to a couple of professionals an am often suprised by their attitudes to to photography I think it is interesting to see their thought processes like what they are looking for.

the wedding photographer that wants to do war photography because that is where the action is and alot of photographers like to be where the action is.

TiM_rEAPeR

When I first got into photography, as an student in design I was contradicting myself because I was trying to take photographs that were aesthetically pleasing and just pretty pictures that make people think you amazing and great blah blah, there really is a whole scope of view out there that goes beyond the realms of 'composition' and that. Generally I just think that everything is subjective and what's interesting about photography is what the photographer himself finds interesting. I have always felt that in a certain sense a photographer never really own a photograph... not trying to sound too cliched or arts'y but in a way I can't really explain(I know that everyone out there might disagree strongly). I guess just coming from design school where things are made from scratch I just feel that photography is such an immediate representation, in that you can extract a meaning and represent it within such a short period of time that a certain 'something' of ownership has to be given away.

Obviously there is a whole school of thought and learning for photography, but if you get trapped into a particular state of 'technical perfection' you find yourself criting you work from everyone else's head instead of doing something different, creativity can be compromised. Personally, I found it quite intimidating when I first joined this forum because there was a lot of unnecessary emphasis on technical ability. Ive only been using an slr for about a year and a half now and I don't have the technical ability I would like, but im ok with that because I know that it can be learned, but your eye for the world.. and the things that make you say with excitement "I can see a great photograph in that right there" can not so easily be replicated.

Placebo

Anouilh wrote: »

There is just one hazard in taking up photography seriously, I have found...
the possibility of developing (sorry!) OCD.

Over the past few years I've had some wonderful conversations with photgraphers on the Net. There always comes a point where extending one's range could lead to being stretched to the limit. Or where "improving" a photo may become a frenzied attempt to over-gild the lily.

The post here is just right... apart from the probably ironic advice to go to Japan. Anybody who has visited that country has returned overwhelmed by the perfectionism in every detail of daily life there. It has made me curious enough to want to visit for myself.

Great thread. Set me thinking...

well im not a professional and it will always be a hobby to me so id like to explore all aspects of it once and IF i get to perfect grips of my camera, possibilities are endless as Fajitas mentioned. its Art.

Anouilh

It is also Science.



Some of the best tips have been given by professional photographers round the Net who take time to explain how different effects are achieved.

In fact, photography is probably one of the best examples of where
Art and Science fuse.

Thanks for taking time to comment on my post.

elven

Nice to see this got some people thinking, and there are some interesting answers in there.

I don't think that technical quality and soul/art/the x factor are mutually exclusive concepts. And I don't believe that it's wrong to follow the path of improving your craft, if that's what you enjoy about photography. After all, we're all doing this for ourselves and nobody else, aren't we?

But in truth - not talking about complete mastery - but to learn how to produce a well exposed image with the right bits in focus and the elements where you want them in the frame doesn't take a whole lot of time these days. And that's all we seem to judge images on round here for C&C - probably because most of us are trying to improve on that craft side of things.

What i wondered is where anyone else has found ispiration, or guidance - I certainly don't think I've reached complete technical mastery but I think there's a level you can reach which allows you to use photography well enough to go in lots of different directions, and i wonder what resources people use when they do go in a way that's not about the technical.

311

I'm just back from borders where I was discussing something similar with my sister. looking through all the magazines and different approaches to photography. I'm not as serious about it as you guys ,but I really enjoy good photography especially when it's new.

We decided to organise going into a salvage yard and picking out interesting objects of old ,stuff that use to be mechanical. I don't think we would of thought of it ,if we hadn't been around so much arty stuff (well me anyways)
I suppose for me the technical side of things can hinder what can actually come as second nature.

Anouilh

This thread has me very interested in what other photographers actually see.

The camera is so different from the human eye that it is possible to debate and intellectualize forever. French experts in aesthetics are particularly interesting on the subject.

Technical ability and its link to good photography are very important in my mind.

When I started uploading photos a few years ago, I was (rightfully, mind) critiqued at every turn. My horizons were so non-horizontal that I began to play with this aspect of my work, just for fun. I was instructed by the more Romantic (in the 19th Century meaning of the term) posters to "feel" more.
I began to wonder if I might not be the unfeeling type... Mostly I had a pain in my knee or a strained neck from trying to approach the subject from an "interesting" angle.

More thoughts from other posters would be welcome, as everybody sees the World in such a different way. Add a camera and it's an imaginative journey that never seems to end.

elven

I think the 'feeling' thing is something that you can't force yourself to do. I've always wrestled with wanting to put more into my photographs in that way, and every time i try, it's just crap, basically. But now and again i think it comes through when you're not trying - such is the sick twisted nature of it - like those stars that you can't see when you're looking directly at them, heh.

I suppose the main thing I've come to learn is to try and be true to yourself, and if you don't knwo what that is, don't be closed to anything...

Anouilh

This is such a wise way of thinking, Elven.

Everybody has their own way of seeing, just as they have an individual voice.

I was so formed by words and literature that it took many years before I could just have fun with a camera and not think too much.

Today's find... a nice, balanced appraisal of Barthes...

http://books.google.ie/books?id=UoXZ8aIeZpgC&pg=PA227&lpg=PA227&dq=imma+barthes&source=bl&ots=m0XxAqxf9X&sig=1TEJysWHjjU9rpOCOcG3INZxOHA&hl=en&ei=gQLKSZefFJ-5jAfmx5jOAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

Believe it or not, he was being discussed on RTE last night in relation to an exhibition in IMMA.

DaireQuinlan

Anouilh wrote: »

This is such a wise way of thinking, Elven.

Everybody has their own way of seeing, just as they have an individual voice.

I was so formed by words and literature that it took many years before I could just have fun with a camera and not think too much.

Today's find... a nice, balanced appraisal of Barthes...

http://books.google.ie/books?id=UoXZ8aIeZpgC&pg=PA227&lpg=PA227&dq=imma+barthes&source=bl&ots=m0XxAqxf9X&sig=1TEJysWHjjU9rpOCOcG3INZxOHA&hl=en&ei=gQLKSZefFJ-5jAfmx5jOAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

Believe it or not, he was being discussed on RTE last night in relation to an exhibition in IMMA.

Anouilh, MUST you do this ? I normally don't have much of a problem with you necro'ing threads you've started yourself because you're normally adding something to a conversation you've started in the first place. This thread probably ought to have been left die the death though.