Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

Simply put, it's 'growing up', and evolving. Enjoy the ride.

KHy

Years ago, one of the recommendations I gave students was to get a 100 ft. roll of surplus film, a loader, and cassettes, and shoot it. The way to good photography included having to take a lot of mediocre images, and slowly begin to learn what a good image looks like.

Proof sheets and critiques eventually result in visual literacy. Watching a lot of tv and shooting pre-determined shots with wide angle lens cell phones does not lead to visual literacy. What has happened is that digital technology has simply allowed for a great deal more mediocre and poor images.

Good photography is certainly still there, good photographers must go through the same general process with digital tech, but the learning is exactly the same. The development of and strong photographic eye is at the core of good photography. There have always been "tricks," and post-production adjustments. Those do not account for good images. Bing able to critique one's work, and doing plenty of hard work does produce results. There is always room at the top of the pile. But it is true that digital technology has allowed for a much wider pile with a lot more "meh" images. An hour on Instagram or any other image-based social site will show that.

All that is to say I think the real issue is not about technology or post-production adjustments, it is about the lack of visual literacy.

amyinsparta Loc: White county, TN

Life and all in it evolves. Yesterday is not today and today will not be tomorrow. Embrace the present. It's all you have.

JeremyVan

I could not agree more!

leftj Loc: Texas

Now that is deep!

yorkiebyte Loc: Scottsdale, AZ/Bandon by the Sea, OR

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

The skilled, talented photographers still exist. Rather than digital photography to blame, I think it is the internet which makes it seem as if there are fewer skilled photographers than before, as they are now drowned out by so much mediocre photography. With the help of the internet, anyone can present their work to the public with minimal effort, regardless how poorly done.

wilikioti Loc: Deep South, USA

Obviously you are very ignorant of digital photography and computerized processing of images. Hardly enough experience for a rant.

charles tabb Loc: Richmond VA.

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I still feel that if one takes a beautiful picture that is like what was seen thru the naked eye and the viewfinder he is a photographer. However if one takes a picture and alters it to a point where it's both beautiful and looks like it could never exist in real life, he should be called a photo artist.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

From my prospective photography got much better. You certainly have a myopic opinion.

blackest Loc: Ireland

as someone who is semi-literate, I look forward to reading more of your posts. I only hope you can manage to avoid being pulled down by the bickering. Welcome to the forum, don't forget to explore the other sections you may find them more interesting than the main discussion section.

3dees

I think I know what the OP is getting at. I'm 67 years old and been in this hobby for more than 40 years. my problem is I suck with computers. yeah, I can tweak my photo's in photoshop and that's about it. today it seems like if your a computer wiz, you can pick up a camera and shoot just about anything and make a photo. yes, a lot was done in darkrooms but how many had darkrooms as opposed to having a computer? in the film days you had to learn to check everything before hitting that shutter button. you got 24 or 36 images and hope you can get a couple of nice pics. today with digital you shoot hundreds of shots. doesn't cost anything besides the cost of the card. I shoot jpeg because I don't know how to work with raw. sure I can learn. I don't think it's all that hard and I know all the benefits it offers. I just prefer not to. I don't sell my prints. I have a few on my wall and have given prints to family and friends. I don't pixel peep. the largest I can print is 19x13. if it looks good from a couple of feet away, I'm happy. I just think with the technology today, you can call yourself a photographer without the learning process we older generation had to go thru. not saying it's wrong. I envy computer savy people who can manipulate photos with their computer. I fought hard with myself about giving up film for digital, but I'm glad I did. I tried learning some basics with photoshop but it seems like a lot of it is just over my head. while in this and other forums, I usually just read and try to learn a little here and there. I don't post much because I don't want to come off as a dummy. I love this hobby and will stay in it til I can't do it anymore. sometimes I just wish the digital age came when I was younger.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

And if you see just the camera hanging there you are a vampire!

eeisman

Yes, I remember spending a hour, trying to print one frame of a color negative, and not getting the proper color balance. It is a blessing to have digital photography.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Wow!! Are we angry or what...I am a photographer, not a pro, but I think a fairly good one, and Like Adams and others, I sometimes manipulate a GOOD photo to maybe make it a little better than what the camera saw. Maybe I want the greens more green or the sky bluer than the camera sees it, maybe instead of color a black and white with just the lips or rose red. I did the same thinng when I shot film (I would burn and dodge). Does that mean I am not a good photographer, NO. If all you do is take family or vacation pics, then maybe you don't need to manipulate, or maybe you do. To each his own, but do not say that if one makes changes, he is not a photographer. And by the way, with digital, you will not have to wait to see if your photo was blurred because someone moved, which caused you to lose the shot (you can not turn back time). You can see it immediately and retake it. Wow, what a concept and money saver! Keep on using film and wasting money if that is your choice. Not me.

There are a lot of good people here and you just insulted a lot.

Now I'm done ranting....for now

By the way, I see you are new. Welcome to the UHH.