rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Contribute to what!? This conversation has been discussed countless times until people simply get bored with it and then a few weeks later it's brought up again with a slightly different twist resulting in essentially the same conversation. Now if that isn't a dead horse, what is. I'm guessing it may be because many UHH members are a bit older than myself and don't recall what has been discussed countless times in the past. That or human nature being what it is, there will always be those who need to discuss the same old simply because they can. I guess ultimately it's a good thing and I should simply bow to peer pressure and either contribute in some way to the conversation or gracefully apologize for having interupted. Until the next time, have a really nice day...

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

I'm sorry if you're bored but then again you're not 'people" but one individual. If the subject bores you, you are free to ignore it. On the other hand while it might be an old subject to you, it isn't to someone who just joined UHH. There is a steady stream of both new members and people new to photography here. If you don't have the time or the inclination to help them fine, just move on. Derogatorily commenting on a subject you are not interested in and insulting members who participate as a way of excusing your lack of civility, speaks loudly of who you are and it is not flattering.

Anhanga Brasil Loc: Cabo Frio - Brazil

Completely agree.
Saw a scene last saturday night that caught my EYES. When viewing it next day...
It missed the depth. But, considering I shot it with no lights from my side and the house
being across the street using a Vivitar 75-300 f4.5... I did get a lot of sharpness, more than my
EYES could see.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

This thread brings to mind two quotes from Garry Winogrand:

“I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed.”

“The photograph should be more interesting or more beautiful than what was photographed.”

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

The 2nd line should pop up every time I start to post process!

Anhanga Brasil Loc: Cabo Frio - Brazil

The first quote was what moved me to take the shot. Meant that: assembling the stuff (camera,
lens, tripod and wire remote), besides forgetting to write down the settings, since the Vivitar is
a Nikon mount using an adapter ring on a Canon T6, so it is not registered on EXIF.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

You have no idea of who I am and up until my untimely commentary, everyone participating in the conversation had been here longer than me. If anyone lacks civility here, it's not me. My comment was neither insulting or directed at any individual and it was accurate. I have insulted no one. You on the other hand have taken it upon yourself to insult me even after I offered up a apology for my original comment. I guess people from northeastern Pennsylvania are simply not as tolerant as people from southeastern Pennsylvania.

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

An apology that contains this,"I'm guessing it may be because many UHH members are a bit older than myself and don't recall what has been discussed countless times in the past" is at the least insensitive and is no apology.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Apology to whom? For what?

Saying this a dead horse being flogged again?

GUAFB.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

"I'm guessing it may be because many UHH members are a bit older than myself and don't recall what has been discussed countless times in the past"


WOW- a little AGEISM to pepper up the conversation. Well- I am 74 years old and still operating a full time photography business and I have total-recall memory! I remember what I wrote yesterday and when I was 5 years old!

On a forum like this there are new folks to photography and the forum and there are others who have been around both for a long time. To the newer group, our old stuff is new- possibly?. To the older folks and long time members the older stuff may be redundant so they have the option of just skipping it and going on to something they consider more interesting, innovative or illuminating. The can also add their own slant on the matter or suggest a different approach. OR- they can set an example and come up with a post, a thread or a tutorial that is unique, timely and fascinating . They coud, alternatively, scan through the site and seek out folks who are asking questions, seeking help or troubleshooting an issue and take the time to help the with their vast knowledge of the craft. It IS nice when the old or more experience guys and gals teach and help the novices. It's good to remember that this forum not a personalized consulting service for any one individual. Many of us write not only for the benefit of those we are addressing but possibly otheres who are just reading on and trying to glean some information.

OR- it's a free country- and they can just behave like a nasty adolescent "hall monitor" or a self- appointed "moderator" and throw a wrench into a perfectly sane discussion and convert it into a chaotic, disrupted adn unnecessarily argumentative "dumpster fire"!


So...back to business.

Some BLAME zoom lenses and othere conveniences for perhaps, a lack of discipline or a more practiced technique. There is no rule that comes with a zoom lens that says you need to stand in one place and incessantly and indiscriminately zoom in and out. That is fun but it's kinda lazy and oftentimes leads to disappointing results. You can move around and find the best point of view, establish a camera position and predetermine a focal length setting to yield the best perspective based on distance AND focal length usage.

A scenario- You are driving along a road in a scenic area and suddenly you spot a SCENE that you want to capture. The landscape and the lighting seem striking to you- that is why you stopped to shoot it. If you want it to look exactly as you first envision it- pop on your NORMAL lens or set you zoom accordingly and shoot it. If you listen to Ansel- slightly longer that normal is perfect. I, personally, like my 60mm prime is my favorite on my full frame DSLR.

If you are satisfied you can then try different interpretations of the scene by changing position and distance and of course, using various focal lengths.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Ed, your maturity and spot-on observations make many of us look like spoiled kindergarteners in comparison.

gvarner often posts provocative and interesting topics, though I notice he doesn't comment too often in them himself. Smart man

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

What's often missing from the equation is light and really good equipment. When you look at magazine ads they are usually more vibrant and detailed than what we see. Our own pictures are usually less vibrant and detailed than what we see. There's a lot of studio lighting and really good cameras and lenses and prep work involved in achieving magazine quality images presenting the subject at it's most appealing, whether it's a person or food, or a car or a watch or a diamond ring.
More than 10 years ago I ran into the issue of my images not being as good as what I saw in the eyepiece when I was involved with astrophotography. My whole telescope/camera setup cost about $2K. But a $12K setup would have gotten significantly better images, magazine quality. The same with microscope photography. What I saw in the eyepiece never made it to the image. Yet some images by others were better than what I saw in my eyepiece. My microscope/camera setup was something less than $1K. If you are not willing to sink $10K or more into the best cameras and microscopes you are going to be limited by your equipment. You won't get magazine quality images.
I see the same issues here at UHH, especially in bird photos. Some people get stunning natural images of birds in flight or in thickets, etc. They are using top of the line full frame cameras and 600mm prime lenses. You can see each feather separately detailed. I'm not going to get that stunning detail with a few hundred dollars worth of equipment, no matter how long I try.
I think the challenge is to do the best you can with what you have, equipment wise, experience wise and talent wise.

Photocraig

Perhaps a repeated subject, but it is very much alive with every exposure's framing and perspective and subject selection choice we make. And It's not nice or smart to go around kicking a live animal that weighs 1,000 pounds!.

My 2 Cents: By the very reduction of a three dimensional scene into a two dimensional image. photography becomes an exercise, and maybe, the art of Abstraction. Throw in point of view, selective focus, depth of field, selective exposure, Monochrome or color emphasis, HDR is a good or BAD way and you are really into an Abstract presentation of an image as your imagination (artistic expression??) desires. And them we can go talking about the print....................

C

cr1218

I've read that the rangefinder cameras help with this in some way, by providing more context as you shoot. But I haven't played with them myself yet.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

That's where previsualization comes in and an accompanying amount of technical knowledge to accomplish that vision. If I want to portray what's there, I can. If I want to portray my vision of what's there, I'm more than adequate.
--Bob