Clcook{at}olywa.net said to Photo at 12-09-03  21:32
 Subject: Things I've Learned

 Cl> In this month's edition of Lenswork magazine, an outstanding little 
 Cl> publication that features only black and white fine art work --

 Cl> http://www.lenswork.com   or at many book/magazine stores -- there is
 Cl> a  fun and thoughtful list, "Things I've Learned About
Photography," by
 Cl> Brooks Jensen. It was first published in the magazine 10 years ago. 

 Cl> Here are some samples -- for educational/discussion purposes
 Cl> (hopefully  in compliance of the fair-use provision of the copyright
 Cl> laws). 
 Cl> I hope you enjoy them, some might disagree, some more so then others, 
 Cl> some will agree at some. All are thought provoking.

 Hi Carl,

 I'll kick in a few opinions for discussion also,
                                                 
 Cl> 1. Good lenses and cameras are worth the price.

 Add good cars, boats and women to that list.

 Cl> 2. If you are on a limited budget, buy a cheap camera and the best
 Cl> lens  you can afford.

 Very true in the days of film. Today make that buy the largest CCD
 in megapixels, you can afford.  A good lens comes with it, and if
 you can afford to buy an 1Ds at 9 grand you can afford a lens of
 the same quality. Get it.

 Cl> 3. The fault with most photographers is that they spend 1/60 of a
 Cl> second  making a photograph and the rest of their life explaining it.

 We see a lot of that eh?
 
 Cl> 4. No amount of darkroom work can make up for a badly exposed or 
 Cl> composed negative. (This includes Photoshop work. ed)

 Dunno on that one Carl.  New rule is expose for the highlights, let
 PhotoShop handle the shadows. Even with a scanned negative, you find
 things in there you can't handle in the darkroom.
 
 Cl> 5. The more gear you carry, the less likely you are to make a good 
 Cl> photograph.

 That's sure true.
 
 Cl> 6. If your main interest in a workshop is to learn how the
 Cl> photographer  "did it," so you can too, question your motives.

 The most important thing one can get from a workshop is additional
 friends with whom to discuss your common interest.

 Cl> 7. It is better to study with an instructor who wants to help you 
 Cl> develop your own work, even if it is very different from theirs, then
 Cl> to  study with one who wants to tell you how they did their work
 
 Cl> 8. Every photographer has dry spells. Good photographers work anyway. 
 Cl> Those who do, grow by leaps and bounds.

 Some folks only do the things they want to do.  Some folks who put
 the groceries on the table with their photography must work even when
 they don't feel like it.  Some folks who have a passion for what they
 do will work for the pure enjoyment of doing it.  Those folks who are
 photographers are the ones who make the pictures we enjoy looking at.

 Cl> 9. The process of photography is more important then the product.

 I disagree on this one.  The process being the mechanics of creating
 an image for viewing by others.  Those folks who are wrapped up in the
 process are the other end of the scale from the camera collector folks.
 The folks who love the process are more than likely the same ones who
 will spend hours adjusting their lawnmowers to idle at the slowest
 possible speed, instead of just cutting the grass. For them the process
 is the product. To most though, the product of the process is the photo
 to be seen and hopefully enjoyed by others. To proudly say, look at the
 great tonal range and fine grain I achieved with Pan-X shot at a ten
 percent greater than rated ASA then developed in Microdol at a ten
 degrees warmer temperature, when the picture itself has all the
 interest of a taco burp, is missing the basic reason for photography.

 Cl> 10.  Never ask a person who collects cameras if you can see their 
 Cl> photographs.

 Dunno.  I know a few people who have collected cameras as they aged.
 They made some pretty darn good pictures too. A good camera, isn't
 something you use and throw away. You develop a relationship with a
 camera from having learned it's peculiarities and idiosyncrasies over
 time.  When something better comes along, you just put it on a shelf
 for the fond memories it evokes when you look at it.  Maybe that's not
 camera collecting though.

 Cl> 11. If your work looks like someone else's, ask yourself why and don't
 Cl> answer right away. Think about this deeply. If you do, your work will 
 Cl> become better almost immediately.

 Or even more like the person's who you are emulating.  To copy another
 is the sincerest form of flattery.

 Cl> 12. It is easy to make a picture of someone and call it a portrait.
 Cl> The  difficulty lies in making a picture that makes the viewer care
 Cl> about a  stranger. (Paul Strand)

 True, but then we are more often called upon to produce a picture of
 someone than we are to produce a portrait.  To me a portrait is a
 picture that speaks something about the personality of the person
 pictured.  Something that is worthy of a 16 x 20 properly matted and
 mounted in a heavy 20 x 24 frame.

 Maybe we might start trying to make more portraits when the new
 Epson 4000 printer at $1795 is available after the first of the year.
 Printing 16 x 20 on the many different papers including real canvas,
 with a 80 to 100 year lifetime is enough for me to change. Inkjet
 printing with greater permanence than Cibichrome or even dye transfer.
 Eight colors in 110 or 220 ml individual tanks for 70 (110ml) or 130
 (220ml) bucks each is a great price for refills. If your metric is a
 bit sloppy that's around 7 1/2 ounces or close to a half pint of ink at
 220ml.  Looks like something in this room will have to go to make space
 for a 3 x 5 foot printer.

 Oops, I'm becoming an equipment nut here aren't I 

 Cl> 13. You would never know it by looking at the photographic press, but 
 Cl> there are an amazing number of creative people engaged in photography 
 Cl> who couldn't care less about equipment but who love photographs.

 That's understandable. The photographic press makes money by selling
 advertising for photo equipment.  When browsing through a photo
 magazine, I often wonder why the photo equipment advertisers didn't
 hire a competent ad agency and photographer to create the ad for their
 product.

 Cl> 14. The scarier it is to make a photograph, the more likely to are to 
 Cl> learn.

 I'm afraid that one goes right over my head.  Expand on it for me will
 you?

 Cl> 15. Books on photography offer little help.

 Cl> That's about it. There are a whole lot more in the magazine.

 Cl> I love the last one (as well as all the others listed here). Looking 
 Cl> around here, I have tons of photo technique books I've picked up over 
 Cl> the years, and now leave for students, but the truth is, aside from 
 Cl> basic exposure/shutter speed/depth of field and compositional stuff, 
 Cl> none of it has been very helpful at all. You find that you are 
 Cl> developing your own style and once you've gotten the basics down, the 
 Cl> rest is up to you.

 We agree on that one.  Books on any hobby are best used to introduce
 the neophyte to the mechanics of the hobby.

 Cl> Enjoy --

 I did.

 Bob4
 

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