Tcchnical vs Emotional

Right, standard disclaimer - I'm new to all this and I know shag all about photography compared to most people on here.

However, this is something I'm quite interested in - when people here are taking a picture, are you going for technical perfection? Ie, obey rule of thirds, don't +/- expose etc. Or are you going for the conveyance of emotion from your image?

I'm guessing that most people will answer a bit of both, but where does the balance lie?

For me, I'm just trying to make sure people aren't indifferent to my photos - whether they evoke positive or negative responses is pretty much immaterial at the moment. I'm hoping that as I get better, I'll be better able to influence the feelings that my images cause.

So, where do you all stand on this?

mrmac

Wow - great question!
I suppose at the back of my mind, I'm wondering if "other people" will like this shot. Sad perhaps, but honest. However, I will defend myself by saying that I push myself to look for different and interesting images, ones that I like. So, me first, others a very close second? I think this is how most people start off, finding their feet, seeking a bit of encouragement. Then when they feel more comfortable, they start experimenting and expand their range.

I now take loads of shots that I review later, thinking "I should of done it this way, or that", so I'm starting to think about the technical side of things, but that's only because I'm slowly starting to understand what I'm doing

Hugh_C

I my opinion, the balance changes over time - as you gain more experience you don't have to concentrate as much on the technical side, it becomes second nature and allows right-brain activity to come to the fore. I think that new photographers start off left-brained and gradually become more right-brained.

Hugh_C

Oh yeah, and I'm doing it mostly for me, not for others' opinions, except when it's commissioned in which case it becomes a collaboration.

Hugh_C

Hugh_C wrote: »

I my opinion, the balance changes over time - as you gain more experience you don't have to concentrate as much on the technical side, it becomes second nature and allows right-brain activity to come to the fore. I think that new photographers start off left-brained and gradually become more right-brained.

I think I may have expressed myself badly,

what I mean is - how strict are you with regard to technical rules when taking a photograph? For example (Sorry for singling you out), Dragan's shots are often amazingly emotive, but they are often dark and grainy, thus the emotive aspect overrules the technical aspect (technical may be the wrong word).

My recent smoking image is similar - its dirty, dark, grainy and quite rank. But that is intentional. I mean, I wouldn't have had the same impact had I taken a perfectly exposed pack of fags... if you get what I mean...

kjt

Ahh I get what you mean now! Rules, shmooles! rules of thirds etc etc, I couldn't give a crap about rules tbh. If I can see a picture within a scene I'll take the shot. I have no time for critics saying, "ooh if you took the horizon line a little higher it could look better, it doesn't look good halfway, think thirds"

I think after some experience you know what looks good and what doesn't

Dragan

Deleted User wrote: »

what I mean is - how strict are you with regard to technical rules when taking a photograph?

Not very. A "good photo" is so hard to define, or to find a common ground on what is good and what is not. It's about personal taste, what do you do as a photographer and what do you do well.

Then it's all about finding those people who like the same idea of photography as you do, and getting them to part with their money.

AnCatDubh

Following the rules with rigor will lead you technically very competent shots but perhaps not overly interesting stuff - well maybe not when compared to some of the cutting edge stuff that you will come across. I think when you begin with photography you will begin to learn by the 'rules' - things like don't shoot into the sun. Well shooting into the sun can actually give you wonderful results in the right hands/right knowledge. I think the progression most learning (and even experienced) photographers have - is that you will be exposed to and will seek out various and varied influences which will demonstrate where people don't adhear to the known rules and yet produce spectacular photography.

elven

When you see shots that you like that follow those rules like 3rds/golden mean/balance etc, there's a good chance that the photographer wasn't consciously thinking about those rules when they were doing the shooting, but just went for what 'felt right' to them at the time, and i think what feels right is what you've absorbed of what you like to see in different images and what you've learned from what you've got wrong in the past. There's a good chance though that what feels right for people is common between a lot of people, and that's where they become 'rules'.

</rambling>

AnCatDubh

AnCatDubh wrote: »

Following the rules with rigor will lead you technically very competent shots but perhaps not overly interesting stuff - well maybe not when compared to some of the cutting edge stuff that you will come across. I think when you begin with photography you will begin to learn by the 'rules' - things like don't shoot into the sun. Well shooting into the sun can actually give you wonderful results in the right hands/right knowledge. I think the progression most learning (and even experienced) photographers have - is that you will be exposed to and will seek out various and varied influences which will demonstrate where people don't adhear to the known rules and yet produce spectacular photography.

interesting, I posted this as I never really learnt 'the rules', I've bought understanding exposure but I never read it. For me, I see something or I want to try and get a photo taken in a certain way. Most of the time, it doesn't work out but I learn afterwards why it didn't - I find this way more interesting as I'm not constraining myself to trying to fit the 'rules' in, but rather trying to translate thoughts into a picture.

Anouilh

It may sound obvious, but I try to photograph what is actually there within the possibilities of any given camera, rather than what my eyes see. The interesting part of your question raises the exploration into why people choose such very different interpretations of the very same scene. I think that the emotional aspect is when the completed image either entertains or moves other people and is there to remind oneself of why that image seemed worth recording above all the thousands that flitted past one's eyes that day.

MagicMarker

Deleted User wrote: »

interesting, I posted this as I never really learnt 'the rules', I've bought understanding exposure but I never read it. For me, I see something or I want to try and get a photo taken in a certain way. Most of the time, it doesn't work out but I learn afterwards why it didn't - I find this way more interesting as I'm not constraining myself to trying to fit the 'rules' in, but rather trying to translate thoughts into a picture.

There's knowing the rules and then there's knowing the basic principles behind photography. Maybe if you read Understanding Exposure you might know how to get that shot first time around? Knowing how to get a correct exposure etc is not going to have any adverse effect on the end result.

To me, that's like saying I want to learn guitar, but I don't want to learn any chords.

Duchovny

Well usually before I take a shoot i have a image in my head how i want it to be, I don't care much if people will like it or not as I do this as my own taste and style as someone said before technical photos improve over time but even the rules were made to be broken, so I would say if you are not working for somebody you should use as you like it best rather than just think if someone else will like it, there is always someone that likes it.

MagicMarker

MagicMarker wrote: »

There's knowing the rules and then there's knowing the basic principles behind photography. Maybe if you read Understanding Exposure you might know how to get that shot first time around? Knowing how to get a correct exposure etc is not going to have any adverse effect on the end result.

To me, that's like saying I want to learn guitar, but I don't want to learn any chords.

Ha, I'm self taught on guitar as well!

When I say that I mess up images, I mean that I don't get the image I want. I know how the camera works, I know how to set it up for different shots. I'm not talking about taking a picture and then realising I burned it out or something.
My thoughts would be that I want my direction to come to me - so I'm all the time pushing myself to learn how to improve the camera, even if I am re-inventing the wheel. I find that while its slower, I get a deeper level of appreciation for techniques then if I had simply read the 'rule' somehwere. This also means that I find it easier to 'break' the rules - for example quite a few of my shots were taken directly into the sun with (what I think anyway) are quite pleasing results.

Anouilh, interesting - my approach currently is that I see something that I like/dislike/am interested in and my aim to make sure my photo reproduces that thought (and hopefully in time will enhance it).

smelltheglove

Oh very good question alright, I'm a bit of everything, I dismiss so many photographs as I am such a perfectionist. Even with family photos I much prefer to have the settings absolutely perfect although I am at a stage that I can get my settings acurate so quickly and most of the time when I enter an area / room I adjust my settings accordingly straight away, I work manually and so if by any chance there is a perfect picture moment all I have to do is zoom and click.

I try to get natural shots as much as possible, just back from holidays now and I got quite a lot of natural party shots and kids splashing in the pool all thanks to the fact that my camera is always ready to shoot. I am not very technically minded but I do like my settings to be spot on, but I prefer a natural emotional shot to a posed shot so I guess it is 50/50.