Decenter

It is interesting reading how most are so down on Tony and Chelsea. They have their place in the photo world as do all the other reviewers. I have to go with the old saying, "Show me what you can do before you speak bad of others". For that matter I enjoy watching their videos and have learned a few things from them. I find them more entertaining than some of the others that are technical and dry. OMG some can put me to sleep in minutes.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The best teachers do a bit of entertaining. After all, the word, 'education' comes from the Latin, 'educere'. That verb means 'to lead out,' or 'to draw out an interest in something'. A good professor knows to get your attention by educating you before instructing you. I've always said, "Give me the "why" first. When I understand WHY I should do something, I'm motivated to do it." Once I know why I should do something, I'll pay attention as you show me how.

I think the first time I heard an adult say, "Do it because I said so!," I was in 7th grade. I stood up in that teacher's class and said, as kindly as I could at age 12, "Excuse me, but I've been taught that, "because I said so," is not a real reason why anyone should do anything. Can you give us the logic behind the rule?" At first, she seemed insulted, and was about to send me to the principal, but after putting her gaping jaw back into place, she smiled and gave us the real why. It took longer, but we accepted the message!

I don't even remember the topic, but I do remember the look of revelation on her face, as if she had just been given a key to the magic door to the realm of motivation.

I had been taught that principle by my sister, who had just graduated from Smith College with a degree in history, and was on her way to law school. She's still a judge, helping the guilty understand the reasons why they shouldn't show up in her municipal court again.

ad8rr Loc: Jackson, Michigan

Funny!!!

JD750 Loc: SoCal

She was smiling because one of the kids was smart enough to ask the right question to justify her spending more time and she was happy than the kid actually wanted to learn more in depth abut the topic.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Perhaps. But she was just enough of a "Do as I say and don't ask why" person for me to think otherwise.

You know how all of us — at times — get by on recipes and formulas without understanding WHY they are created the way they are? In other words, we know how to make something or how to do something from someone's instructions, but we don't know (or care) how to develop our own version of it. That teacher was normally that way about a lot of topics. We had the impression she didn't know the reasoning or principles behind a lot of the stuff she was teaching. Sadly, we NEEDED those reasons to make sense of the course.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain," as the Wiz says.
"You can't handle the truth," as Jack Nicholson said in some movie from long ago.
"It's in Mein Kampf. It has to be true," said Hitler.
"I read it in Rolling Stone, or the National Enquirer, or I saw it on Fox! It HAS to be true!," said the low information citizen...

Always ask why, when learning. Always lead with why, when teaching... That's some of the best advice I ever read. True knowledge is understanding. Wisdom is understanding gained through experience.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

And don't forget this truism: "Good judgement comes from experience and most of that comes from bad judgement".

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Sadly, painfully, that is correct!

SteveTog Loc: Philly

Oh Jeez, Matt Granger.... There's another one.

Non-stop mushed-mouth drooling over Lllleeeiiiicccas. Get that posh fanboy a bib.

In a recent series he talked about how he intimidated three ruffians who were trying to steal his precious Leica in Portugal. I don't stand much for machismo, but really, who thinks Matt Granger could even intimidate a twig?

It's just a matter of time before someone does roll Little Lord Fauntleroy while he's flashing his glitzy cameras and you can bet that reality won't show up online.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

What an interesting critique. It really has zero to do with the content of his shows. But then if you are so put off I presume you don't watch his videos anymore. Or do you?

SteveTog Loc: Philly

I've seen enough of Granger for my lifetime. I'm really put off by his brand worship. A camera is tool and a camera brand is not a religion. Leica is a good tool, but so are many others. And Granger lost me when he started calling himself Mr. Leica. The way he fawns about the brand is pathetic, snotty, consumerism. Yes, he finally said Voigtlander lenses are competitive to Leica, but that the only thing I have seen recently that is worthwhile from him.

Despite what Granger insinuates, a photographer is not a better photographer because of the brand he flashes. An athlete is not a better athlete because he wears x shoes vs. y shoes. You will not win a Nobel Prize because you wear Fruit of the Loom undies. But the type of car you drive might actually get you laid if you date idiots and leave the windows closed so your combover doesn't blow to the side.

Photography is about skill, knowledge and artistic expression long before it about a red dot or a long Swedish name, no matter who humps those things metaphorically on YouTube.

Granger gets suckers to buy overpriced gear under the guise that the brand will make them better photographers, get them more friends, or maybe entrance to Valhalla. I'm not buying his BS.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Oh, please. Matt's just another camera whore like all the rest of the YouTube influencers. Let's all get over the fact that they do it (and usually for the Google Adsense revenue and YouTube hits, not because some camera company is using them as shills). It doesn't mean you can't learn something from any of them on any given day.

Every brand has its "ambassadors," "luminaries," "legends," or whatever they call them, too. Those folks are paid a nominal sum to promote various brands. In all these cases, it's a job. Don't like Coke? Promote Pepsi or RC, or better yet, filtered tap water in most places.

Virtually every product line in the world has its snob appeals. They're usually brands that built reputations slowly over time. Often, they rest on their laurels from long ago. For instance, Mercedes start falling apart as the warranty runs out, now, instead of lasting 300,000 or more miles with only nominal parts replacements. But there are some luxury brands still worthy of their names, and Leica is one of them. You buy it because it is a hand-made engineering marvel, not because it is absolutely the state of the art, although sometimes they do the right things before others do. Their recent partnership with Panasonic should bear ripe fruit, soon.

SteveTog Loc: Philly

OMG - I completely got the wrong MATT. I was talking about Matt OSBORNE not GRANGER.

Holy Cow, that was embarrassing. Granger is much more realistic in my opinion.

I am now going to sit in the corner with a dunce cap and suck my thumb for a bit.

Yeesh.

SteveTog Loc: Philly

It was a pretty bad critique, considering it was about the wrong person. Osoborne vs Granger. Oops.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

We'll let you bask in the red-faced glow of your sudden realization... It's okay, really. We've all done something similar, maybe?

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Ok now I'm laughing. I'm very happy you explained that. It happens that we make mistakes. Maybe some here are perfect, but I'm sure not. The best we can do, when possible, is correct our mistakes. Thanks for being honest and correcting the mix up.