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Newsgroups: fido.photo
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From: BOB GEARHART
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 03 11:14:00 +0100
Subject: Things I've Learned
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Clcook@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
... Saw It... Wanted It... Had A Fit... Got It!
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