Where are all the Real Photographers? (Page 17): Knowing how to use your equipment, what ever it is, to get the results that you want does. Well that rules out just about 50% of the...

dwmoar Loc: Oregon, Willamette Valley

wakeupnfly wrote:

Gone are the days of the view camera and the covered wagon darkroom. Is it now just an ego thing to have 1/2 of your life savings tied up in 10 lbs. of camera and glass? If we are serious about taking good photos it doesn't make that big of a difference what we use to get the results that we want in a photo. Being able to change your lens doesn't make you a "photographer". Knowing how to use your equipment, what ever it is, to get the results that you want does.

Knowing how to use your equipment, what ever it is, to get the results that you want does. Well that rules out just about 50% of the people to start with.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

RodeoMan wrote:

Let's gather printed photographs from all brands and varieties of image making devices and scatter them on a table. Now let's pick out the ones made by the real photographers. No doubt there are those in this forum who would predict a hundred percent success rate for themselves. I doubt if I would do very well. I think we're all photographers who use different tools and methods to harvest images. Some of us enjoy using big old cameras; others not so much.

Then there are those who don't care what camera took what picture...

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

Longshadow wrote:

Then there are those who don't care what camera took what picture...

Exactly. That was the point I was trying to make or to put it a different way; if you want to know a camera is good one, look at the images it produces. And if you want to know if an image is a good one, the best place to ascertain this is between the four corners of said image. Of course "good" is in the eye that fellow named "B. Holder"

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

RodeoMan wrote:

Exactly. That was the point I was trying to make or to put it a different way; if you want to know a camera is good one, look at the images it produces. And if you want to know if an image is a good one, the best place to ascertain this is between the four corners of said image. Of course "good" is in the eye that fellow named "B. Holder"

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

bsprague wrote:

I'll trade DOF and cropping ability for inconspicuous anytime!

I want people to act ‘naturally’, as though my camera weren’t there, and that calls for my camera and me being inconspicuous.

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

rehess wrote:

I want people to act ‘naturally’, as though my camera weren’t there, and that calls for my camera and me being inconspicuous.

Well then, you'd better ditch that Hawaiin shirt and that Panama hat. lol

alphonso49uk

A real photographer tends to over complicate everything

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

alphonso49uk wrote:

A real photographer tends to over complicate everything

Many do.....

charles tabb Loc: Richmond VA.

bsprague wrote:

Could it be that a phone and small Sony make you more "real" as a travel photographer? You've learned that better travel images come when you are inconspicuous! You've learned that cameras with good stabilization built in let you leave the tripod behind!

Believe it or not I have never used a tripod.
The camera that I have now does an excellent job for me even better now that I've bought the Sony a7RV.
Because I shoot birds and landscapes, animals etc. I got a new lens. A Tamron 50 to 400 mm. The only trouble is that when I take it in my backpack to take a plane I am stopped by the Feds. and they have me open the backpack to inspect.
Seems the lens has 18 pieces of glass and causes a stir when X-Rayed.
Other than that I love the pics that I get.

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

People use a camera that fits their needs. If they are going to post it on Facebook or Instagram, and that is all that they need to do, why would they invest in a "real" camera.
How many people "need" a real camera anymore.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

topcat wrote:

People use a camera that fits their needs. If they are going to post it on Facebook or Instagram, and that is all that they need to do, why would they invest in a "real" camera.
How many people "need" a real camera anymore.

And how many of those using phone cameras would have not even bought an Instamatic...
They use the phone camera because it's there.

National Park

I recently visited France and Switzerland with my trusty DSLR. There was hardly another "real camera" to be seen; Cell phones galore.... As Bob Dylan once wrote, "For the times, they are a changin'."

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

dwmoar wrote:

Knowing how to use your equipment, what ever it is, to get the results that you want does. Well that rules out just about 50% of the people to start with.

My wife used to borrow a small pocket camera from me when she traveled. She has never known the in-and-outs of photography, but she knew what she found interesting. She has always known what would make a good photo, such as she came back from Denver saying “I need more ‘zoom’ to get the mountains” {actually, she probably needed to be closer}. Now she uses her iPhone.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

rehess wrote:

My wife used to borrow a small pocket camera from me when she traveled. She has never known the in-and-outs of photography, but she knew what she found interesting. She has always known what would make a good photo, such as she came back from Denver saying “I need more ‘zoom’ to get the mountains” {actually, she probably needed to be closer}. Now she uses her iPhone.

But if one can't get closer, one needs more 'zoom'...

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

dwmoar wrote:

Knowing how to use your equipment, what ever it is, to get the results that you want does. Well that rules out just about 50% of the people to start with.

Goes for computers also.