72 posts tagged photography
If you know the difference between the Canon 5D Mark III and the Nikon D4, and you’re not a pro…what exactly do you consider a good use of your time?
OK, that was a bit harsh. But when I was a spec monkey, it never occurred to me that every minute I spent reading camera reviews was a minute not spent creating something. Cumulatively, I lost years.
Let my lack of priorities amount to something. Get out and shoot.
Sure it can. But would it be as compelling as a story with a handful of carefully chosen photos combined with words?
Of course, an iconic image demands attention and, often, a backstory. But such an image is rare, even for legendary photographers.
The real question should be: why do we set ourselves up, by default, to tell single image stories?
Eleanor Roosevelt:
“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”
This quote has been a great inspiration in determining what I choose to read about on photography blogs these days. Of course, I often replace the word “people” with “things” whenever a Nikon vs. Canon debate crops up.
Before taking any advice from a photography blog (including this one), magazine, book or workshop, it helps to remember:
No photographer has arrived. It’s all a journey and everyone needs to get better.
I’ve never met an “expert” that wasn’t dead wrong about something. I’ve never met an “amateur” who couldn’t teach me something.
Every once in a while, I get email about why I don’t plaster this site with my photos. After the TWiP episode, I got a few more. Here’s the lowdown:
This site first started as a way to document my lesser photography experiment and I published the photos from that experiment frequently (check the archives). But as the site matured, I wanted it to be about ideas and your photos, not a showcase for mine.
I even considered creating a Flickr group for us all, but this didn’t stand up to the philosophy I was preaching. After all, Flickr groups don’t allow for much in the way of storytelling.
So, for now anyway, I think the solution is to call attention to your stories - your blogs. This book is about to come out, singing the praises of the blog and I couldn’t agree more. It’s the best place we’ve devised yet to tell a good story, using a variety of media. Post your links below or send them in for the newsletter. I’d love to see what stories you’re itching to tell.
Right?!
Well, what if they are? What if how you measure skill and success in photography is of no importance to the majority of photographers, or viewers for that matter? What if it has nothing to do with money earned, equipment used or the set of rules we’ve all agreed on?
If you photograph, you are, by definition, a photographer. The definition of a successful photographer isn’t as clear.
The 2012 National Magazine Award Finalists have been announced. I see the usual suspects for photography honors: National Geographic, New York Times Magazine, Harpers and TIME.
What I don’t see on the list: Popular Photography, Outdoor Photographer, Shutterbug, Photo Techniques, JPG, Aperture, etc., etc.
It seems real stories still matter.
Big thanks to Frederick Van Johnson for going against the grain, embracing lesser photography and having me on the latest episode of This Week in Photo. Download the episode here.
For listeners of TWIP, you can download the Lesser Photographer manifesto here and please consider signing up for the newsletter, so we can keep in touch. If you’re on Twitter, I’m all over that as well.
I’ve been a listener for years, often disagreeing on this blog with many of the guests. Frederick shows some guts for having me on and I’m grateful.
Doesn’t poke hard enough for my liking, but it’s funny nonetheless. (via Joseph Cristina)
I’m not a fan of Instagram. I don’t believe it allows you to tell a story with your photos in the best possible way. However, I realize many of you adore the app, which is why the above link may be troubling.
Update: Instagram was just sold to Facebook for $1 billion. So, that was their business model all along - as is the business model for all “free” apps and web services…capturing and selling your information. Very profitable; and you did all the work.
