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From: "CLCOOK@OLYWA.NET" 
Date: Tue, 09 Dec 03 21:24:28 +0100
Subject: Things I've Learned
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From: "Carl Cook" 
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Subject: Things I've Learned
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 21:24:28 -0800
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In this month's edition of Lenswork magazine, an outstanding little 
publication that features only black and white fine art work --

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

Here are some samples -- for educational/discussion purposes (hopefully 
in compliance of the fair-use provision of the copyright laws).

I hope you enjoy them, some might disagree, some more so then others, 
some will agree at some. All are thought provoking.


1. Good lenses and cameras are worth the price.

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

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

4. No amount of darkroom work can make up for a badly exposed or 
composed negative. (This includes Photoshop work. ed)

5. The more gear you carry, the less likely you are to make a good 
photograph.

6. If your main interest in a workshop is to learn how the photographer 
"did it," so you can too, question your motives.

7. It is better to study with an instructor who wants to help you 
develop your own work, even if it is very different from theirs, then to 
study with one who wants to tell you how they did their work

8. Every photographer has dry spells. Good photographers work anyway. 
Those who do, grow by leaps and bounds.

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

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

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

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

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

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

15. Books on photography offer little help.

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

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

Enjoy --

Carl  




clcook@olywa.net
http://www.clcookphoto.com