Does this make me a bad photographer?
Aug 13, 2021 06:30:51 #
GerryER wrote:
Sorry, can't agree. A photograph should "capture" a moment in time as close as possible to the actual scene; realism. Once you start playing with effects, whether in camera or through post processing, you have entered surrealism. Nothing wrong with that, just not "real."
When you frame your image you have just left the realm of reality since you're eliminating all the real stuff outside the frame.
Aug 13, 2021 06:54:04 #
User ID wrote:
Many of the genres I listed are never edited (mug shots, documentation, etc) but it’s all nevertheless surreal, even in it crude ordinariness.
Editing is not what makes photo surreal. All photos are surreal even without any PP, little frozen miniatures, silent gems, reality disconnected from time, substance, context, scale, etc etc. It’s like The Twilight Zone. Super accurate high fidelity rendering just enhances the surrealism.
Editing is not what makes photo surreal. All photos are surreal even without any PP, little frozen miniatures, silent gems, reality disconnected from time, substance, context, scale, etc etc. It’s like The Twilight Zone. Super accurate high fidelity rendering just enhances the surrealism.
Why the need to label "it", a picture more than what it is?? It is a good picture or not but still a picture. Sometimes ego gratification gets in the way of the need to be more than what is.
Aug 13, 2021 07:34:30 #
NMGal wrote:
He is a “nit picker”. Keep doing what you are doing as long as you enjoy it.
Plus one!
Aug 13, 2021 07:46:16 #
GerryER
Loc: Virginia USA
jburlinson wrote:
When you frame your image you have just left the realm of reality since you're eliminating all the real stuff outside the frame.
Not so, you have "framed" the part of reality you want recorded, and hopefully exactly as possible. If you then want to doctor it up in post, then have at it, but then it leaves the realm of reality. (For B&W, as a poster above mentioned, the reality of color has been rendered to shades of gray, but all else should be "real.")
This has wandered off the OP's subject, so we should start another thread if we want to argue this out, which I do not! Let's quit here!
Aug 13, 2021 07:58:42 #
GerryER wrote:
Sorry, can't agree. A photograph should "capture" a moment in time as close as possible to the actual scene; realism. Once you start playing with effects, whether in camera or through post processing, you have entered surrealism. Nothing wrong with that, just not "real."
Five photographers take a photo of the same subject, each with a different camera and lens. Who got the "real" shot?
Aug 13, 2021 08:05:28 #
Photolady2014 wrote:
Morning all! So I just got through taking a 5 day... (show quote)
I'll share to you a story;
One fine day, God went for a walk and after little ways, found a man crying by the wayside. God asked the man why is he crying on such a fine day and the man answered "I am a builder, but one of my bridges fell during a earthquake an many people died. If only I build it stronger". God took pity and told the man, "Be happy. From this day to your last, anything you build will stand till the end of time". And with that God went on walking until God found another person crying by road. "Its such a fine day, why do you cry?" asked God. The person answered, "One of my patients died today. I'm doing my best but I cant make them all well". "Doctor" God spoke, "be happy for henceforth, anyone who seeks your cure will be well". God wiped the doctors tears and then moved on.
A few minutes goes by and then God saw someone throwing tools in the lake with tears running down the persons cheek. By the time God was beside and asked the question, the person was sitting in the grass and softly crying.
"I am an artist, but try as I might, I could not not make everyone satisfied".
Upon hearing this, God sat beside the artist and also cried.
You see, You are not him/her, so don't try to be. Nothing that you will do will be perfect in everyone's eye. Somebody will always find something wrong in it. So stop finding ways to please others with your work, unless they are paying for it. Also not all critique contains wisdom. Learn to know which does and which ones to ignore.
As an example, The "4 degree off to the right" is a stupid remark. That 4 degrees on a zoom lens can be 20 feet or more to the right. Moving that much to correct your position at a moving wildlife? You might as well not get the picture.
There are many ways to make a good photo. If you find his ways hard to follow then find other ways.
Here is an example of a basic process that works fine (most of the time) https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-575239-1.html
Do what makes you happy and if you are not satisfied, work in your own time to improve it.
Do not be afraid to make your own path.
Aug 13, 2021 08:53:17 #
GerryER
Loc: Virginia USA
srt101fan wrote:
Five photographers take a photo of the same subject, each with a different camera and lens. Who got the "real" shot?
All of them, as long as the photo shows exactly what they framed!
Aug 13, 2021 09:06:52 #
Great shots…but I think the teacher is saying how to get them to the next level, although his comments are clearly heavy handed. I have many shots I love, but after putting them in the drawer and pulling them out later, I know they are missing something. It’s hard to hear someone critique our children, er, photos, but you took the class to improve your work. (This may be sacrilegious, but many of his comments can be addressed in post. Why not try some PS adjustments and see if you like the blurred backgrounds or lightened shadows?) Keep at it, and don’t be discouraged.
Aug 13, 2021 09:35:43 #
I too get beat up by when I attend photography classes or see A National Geographic Society photographer's superior works. I have wanted to give up often. I look at other photographer's pixs for inspiration, from the pros to the average Joe's...they all have something to offer. I don't know sqwat about dancing or singing, but if someone can move me with their program, then that makes it a success in my book. It doesn't have to be perfect from a professional's view point. I appreciate talent and effort on every level. Your pixs were fantastic in my opinion. I wish I had taken them. You speak for many of us. Hang in there...and thanks for sharing your work.
Aug 13, 2021 11:25:07 #
"I think to be the calibre of photographer he is takes an ego, just as being a super athlete or head of a mega company.
I may take another class of his as he knows his stuff, albeit he takes it to 100% perfection."
You wouldn't want to pay for anything less, would you? If you want a pat on the head and a "nice capture" then post your images in the UHH Gallery and save your money.
TO Florida ^^^ - I get what you're saying. I hack around with musical instruments and have since I was a kid. I've never advanced beyond a pretty good high school player level. Never will. When I hear a master player it does make me feel like "why do I do this? I'll never play like that." But there is often enjoyment to be found in playing along with a recording and realizing that today I sound pretty good. Those days are few and far between but that's why I keep coming back. Golf is the same kind of addiction. I'm never going to break 80 but once in awhile I do shoot and 84 or 85 and that's fun.
I may take another class of his as he knows his stuff, albeit he takes it to 100% perfection."
You wouldn't want to pay for anything less, would you? If you want a pat on the head and a "nice capture" then post your images in the UHH Gallery and save your money.
TO Florida ^^^ - I get what you're saying. I hack around with musical instruments and have since I was a kid. I've never advanced beyond a pretty good high school player level. Never will. When I hear a master player it does make me feel like "why do I do this? I'll never play like that." But there is often enjoyment to be found in playing along with a recording and realizing that today I sound pretty good. Those days are few and far between but that's why I keep coming back. Golf is the same kind of addiction. I'm never going to break 80 but once in awhile I do shoot and 84 or 85 and that's fun.
Aug 13, 2021 11:44:25 #
Chicflat
Loc: Tulsa, Ok,
Photolady2014 wrote:
Morning all! So I just got through taking a 5 day... (show quote)
I think the rule of thirds is mostly bogus. For me composition is always a matter of how I can include what is there into an image I or anyone else might enjoy. I enjoy the second photo; for me thew bird gives character and context to the shot. Also, as an aficionado of gardening, I have come to believe that a good garden includes a sense of exploration. I find the bird to be an object discovered, and I like the presentation that allows it its own integrity.
Aug 13, 2021 13:03:40 #
User ID wrote:
Every photograph ever made is surreal.
Security camera footage, porn, school portraits, passports, mug shots, biffies, forensics, documentation, camera club tulips and butterflies ... every photo is inescapably surreal. No way to avoid it. There’s no “going from real to surreal”. Thaz what makes photography so very fascinating and even addictive.
Security camera footage, porn, school portraits, passports, mug shots, biffies, forensics, documentation, camera club tulips and butterflies ... every photo is inescapably surreal. No way to avoid it. There’s no “going from real to surreal”. Thaz what makes photography so very fascinating and even addictive.
I saw a large cibachrome print of what I think
was a Ferrari 250 GT Spyder.
The image was so lifelike it seemed you could climb into the car and drive it.
I suppose it was surreal in as much as it looked so real and did not look surreal
or anything else apart from real... even though it was "just" a picture and not real at all.
Something like the effect of the tunnel the road runner painted on the cliff wall that Willie Coyote ran "into".
Aug 13, 2021 15:59:16 #
I will get back in from the standpoint of a career teacher. (history, geography, government and a few others from time to time over 34+ years)
My wife would ask me why I told students some of their answers were wrong instead of talking about what they got right. I told her I tell them both. She asked why not leave off the parts about what they got wrong - make them feel good. My reply was if I don't point out what was wrong they might keep doing it and never learn the right answers.
Oh, my method was first give an overall opinion="pretty good but" and point out the problems and solutions then go into what they had right with praise and repeat the "Pretty good" so it ended on a positive note.
In the OP's case the teacher seems to have overdone the point out the problems part. But I don't know if there were also other comments about what was right that didn't get posted.
I had a lot of students who got things mostly wrong at the start of a semester/school year and were getting almost everything right at the end (they learned) come to me and comment on how things had changed. I would tell them that they had done a good job and learned the material plus how to do a much better job of it as the class went along. Almost all of those kids walked away with a grin that would make the Cheshire Cat look gloomy. And since I included a lot of material on how to study and learn in my classes I had a fair number of students who at some future point would drop by to say something like "Those things you taught us about how to learn. I tried them in (name a class/teacher with a tough reputation) and they worked!"
My wife would ask me why I told students some of their answers were wrong instead of talking about what they got right. I told her I tell them both. She asked why not leave off the parts about what they got wrong - make them feel good. My reply was if I don't point out what was wrong they might keep doing it and never learn the right answers.
Oh, my method was first give an overall opinion="pretty good but" and point out the problems and solutions then go into what they had right with praise and repeat the "Pretty good" so it ended on a positive note.
In the OP's case the teacher seems to have overdone the point out the problems part. But I don't know if there were also other comments about what was right that didn't get posted.
I had a lot of students who got things mostly wrong at the start of a semester/school year and were getting almost everything right at the end (they learned) come to me and comment on how things had changed. I would tell them that they had done a good job and learned the material plus how to do a much better job of it as the class went along. Almost all of those kids walked away with a grin that would make the Cheshire Cat look gloomy. And since I included a lot of material on how to study and learn in my classes I had a fair number of students who at some future point would drop by to say something like "Those things you taught us about how to learn. I tried them in (name a class/teacher with a tough reputation) and they worked!"
Aug 14, 2021 09:43:57 #
Reefdiver wrote:
....(This may be sacrilegious, but many of his comments can be addressed in post. Why not try some PS adjustments and see if you like the blurred backgrounds or lightened shadows?)
Not close to sacrilegious. It's what photography is all about.
Do what you can in pre-snap, then fix what you can in post-snap.
Aug 14, 2021 21:28:42 #
I am not a professional photographer--never will be. But I like your photos. Tell me, is that a copy of exactly what he wrote and how he wrote it? As a teacher, one should use proper English (capitalization, complete sentences etc). I know everyone does not care about spelling, but a teacher should set a good example. Yeah, bad spelling and stuff like that bother me.
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