via the lens wrote:
Putting together artistic vision and technical skill is what gets a photographer a good (good being a relative term) photograph. Learning to see the shot in your mind prior to actually taking it will help you to reach your artistic goals. If you practice this, study up on technique and artistic skills, then eventually you see the shot prior to taking it and can do that in a very quick time frame. I've heard many people complain about learning composition and say that it impedes artistic photography but I don't believe that and don't practice that. I recently saw an exhibit of photographs, taken in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, of Werner Bischoff who worked for Magnum. There was a whole room of proofs and in every shot in the proofs I saw composition, composition, composition! Bischoff was an excellent photographer and produced some very nice work of varied subjects over time; he started out as an artist, not a photographer. Technique (artistic and mechanical) helps to solidify vision and together the duo will end up getting you good shots and in some cases, great shots. When I shoot these days I see the end result prior to taking the photo; some photos live up to this and other don't but I keep on trying.
Putting together artistic vision and technical ski... (
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I think my downfall is the artistic goal part. That's a pretty rudimentary part of my brain. And thanks for your words, they help me focus on my shortcomings. Hopefully by identifying the problem I can work on a solution.