But there IS a person in this photo!!!!

12/14/2013 04:49:48 PM · #126

pamb,

insteps, Paul's first sentence is "1. Snapshots are vital and spontaneous, while photography is deliberate and often ponderous." Not "some", nor even, "most". By NOT including a quantifier, it implies "all".

Regardless, I love that everyone likes something different, but disparaging a style just because we we prefer something else doesn't help anyone. Personally, I prefer deliberate images; and I know for a fact that some of this site's best PH gods use a very deliberate process to create their "spontaneous" whatever-you-call-thems.

Garry

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

12/14/2013 04:51:19 PM · #127

I like how

Schlake is conspicuous by his absence. Starts the fire and walks away...

Smoothly done.

pamb

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

12/14/2013 05:02:24 PM · #128

Originally posted by tanguera:

pamb, insteps, Paul's first sentence is "1. Snapshots are vital and spontaneous, while photography is deliberate and often ponderous." Not "some", nor even, "most". By NOT including a quantifier, it implies "all".

Regardless, I love that everyone likes something different, but disparaging a style just because we we prefer something else doesn't help anyone. Personally, I prefer deliberate images; and I know for a fact that some of this site's best PH gods use a very deliberate process to create their "spontaneous" whatever-you-call-thems.

Agreed. With all of this.

Apple iPhone 5

12/14/2013 05:16:29 PM · #129

Ken Rockwell genius or fool? Are gay rights evolving? Is there a person in this photo?

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

12/14/2013 05:42:25 PM · #130

I find these threads fascinating. Can we have more please?

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

12/14/2013 06:26:18 PM · #131

There's a couple of things that should be kept in mind:

ubique is so right as far as the first two points: the snapshot are extremely important. They have been and always will be such an important part of photography. Life happens and it happens fast. Moments are gone in a heartbeat.

But the setup shots allow us to create things that never existed and that never really would exist. It really is comparing apples and oranges -- Rembrandt and Picasso. It boils down to different tastes.

With all of the art in the world, as previously mentioned Rembrandt, Picasso, Renoir, Vermeer -- one of the artists that give me the most pleasure is Ernest H. Shepard. I doubt that I'm in the majority (though Bear might appreciate it...)

So Ubique's point number 1 is both very correct and a little off-base, imo. A spontaneous photograph is capturing a moment, whereas setup photography is creating a moment. Both can either succeed or fail. And the success "rate" is dependent upon the whims and caprices of the viewer.

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

12/14/2013 06:41:57 PM · #132

...sorry, this is long overdue...

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

12/14/2013 06:58:27 PM · #133

Originally posted by vawendy:

I could be wrong but I'd wager Paul would enjoy setup shots more if they didnt look soo setup. If you ask studio phographers the challenge isn't in the lighting, composition or exposure. All of that can be taught to a monkey. The challenge is getting your subject to relax and forget about the camera. That is something I rarely see here. I see it in Johanna's work and a few others but that's about it. If you are a studio photographer spend time with street photographers. Your work would be better for it.

ETA: I'm not singling you out. Just thinking out loud here.

Message edited by author 2013-12-14 19:00:53.

ambaker

Google Glass Google Glass

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

12/14/2013 07:00:11 PM · #134

Is the painstakingly constructed image more worthy, than the natural beauty that so many pass by and never really see?

Are you a "better" photographer because you arranged everything to fit your preconceived idea, or because you looked until you saw inconceivable beauty?

There is a reason why Baskin Robbins sells 31 favors of ice cream...

For me, the only sin is to dismiss the efforts of the others as unworthy. No one really knows what the other went through to bring an image to life.

IMNSHO the answer may be to quit looking for something to critique, and start looking at the d@mn pictures.

Sony Sony / Carl Zeiss 24mm f1.8, e-series

12/14/2013 07:04:16 PM · #135

Originally posted by ambaker:

IMNSHO the answer may be to quit looking for something to critique, and start looking at the d@mn pictures.

Amen!

sempermarine

Apple iPhone 5s

12/14/2013 07:09:18 PM · #136

Originally posted by yanko:

If you are a studio photographer spend time with street photographers. Your work would be better for it.

This sounds like a good idea.

Trotterjay

Sony Alpha NEX-7

12/14/2013 07:32:37 PM · #137

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:

...sorry, this is long overdue...

What took you so long Art? I've been waiting and waiting...(smile)

Ann

Olympus OM-D E-M1

Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro

12/14/2013 08:03:42 PM · #138

I still don't see the face in the log.

hihosilver

Nikon D200

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

12/14/2013 10:34:55 PM · #139

I'm 100 percent sure...no one missed

Ubique as much as me...

Oh...was I supposed to add something original to this thread?!

Carry on...;-D

ubique

Olympus PEN-F

Olympus 17mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko

12/15/2013 12:09:30 AM · #140

I'm not addressing what's 'good' but what's interesting. I don't know nor care what's good, only what's interesting and what's not.

IMO
When one expresses a view in a forum, the qualifier 'in my opinion' is implied. If I express a view that isn't my opinion, I will attribute it properly. The use of a superfluous 'in my opinion' as a PC softener is just weasel words. Much like saying 'the bathroom' when you mean lavatory.

Generalising
Hypotheses derive from general observations: there is no other productive path. So when I say that spontaneous photographs are interesting and that deliberate photographs are not, it doesn't mean that all snapshots are interesting, nor that all staged shots are boring. It means that enough of them are interesting or boring (respectively) for it to be apparently significant. It may actually be that as few as 95% of staged shots are terminally boring.

Photographs versus Photography
My view that modern snappers with cellphones take more interesting pictures than do serious photographers is not just a question of weight of numbers (i.e. more cellphones at large) - it's more a matter of curiosity leavened with a cheerful ignorance. If you look at any of the phone photography sites, at least 50% of the work on display is interesting, surprising, adventurous and/or original. Then look at any challenge results here, where the 'interesting' quotient is (generally) under 10%. In my opinion of course.

Olympus 17mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko

12/15/2013 12:18:42 AM · #141

But, but...

I'm not trying to be obtuse, Paul, but if you feel that only modern snappers with cellphones take interesting pictures, and since virtually all but a tiny fraction of entries on DPC are done with cameras, are you saying every image on here is boring?

In all seriousness, please post a few links to some interesting cellphone pictures because I'm bored to death with cappuccino foam art and instagram selfies!!

ubique

Olympus PEN-F

12/15/2013 12:54:16 AM · #142

Originally posted by tanguera:

... please post a few links to some interesting cellphone pictures because I'm bored to death with cappuccino foam art and instagram selfies!!

No, I won't. I think it would be unproductive, and would degenerate into 'a yes-it-is', 'no-it-isn't' circle. And I have already been too much of a degenerate in this thread.

Anyone curious will investigate my radical hypothesis for themselves. Anyone not, will not. And both will be well satisfied.

bohemka

Nikon D700

Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX Aspherical DG HSM for Nikon

12/15/2013 01:14:51 AM · #143

But what is a phone photography site? I've just searched around (albeit only through google) and haven't found anything of value other than maybe the iPhone awards, and I'm not saying that's good, but it's the only site that wasn't trying to separate me from my money to set up a website for having taken pictures with my camera phone. Incidentally, the winners of the iPhone awards look just like the ribboners here.

I think instant media provides a lot of the elements you find rewarding, but when even those are "evaluated" it gets all twisted up and the predictable landscape wins the acclaim anyway.

I really don't think it's the device, method or even the preparation that matters. It's the forum.

chazoe

Nikon Z7 FX

Nikon MF Micro-Nikkor 85mm f/2.8D PC

12/15/2013 01:40:20 AM · #144

What I find interesting is the fact that when I check a challenge result I look at the first page and the last page, and many times I find equal value in the images on both pages.

12/15/2013 01:45:40 AM · #145

Originally posted by ubique:

Originally posted by tanguera:
... please post a few links to some interesting cellphone pictures because I'm bored to death with cappuccino foam art and instagram selfies!!

No, I won't. I think it would be unproductive, and would degenerate into 'a yes-it-is', 'no-it-isn't' circle. And I have already been too much of a degenerate in this thread.

Anyone curious will investigate my radical hypothesis for themselves. Anyone not, will not. And both will be well satisfied.

A pity. Like Scott, I was unable to find such a site. But you are right in that what we each find interesting is something different and no concensus is likely to be reached on this subject.

schlake

Canon EOS-1D X

12/15/2013 01:50:49 AM · #146

Originally posted by sjhuls:

I guess I misinterpreted it because I feel the opposite to be true.

No I don't enter anymore because of the general ill will that is felt among this site, and the lack of appreciation for all types of images. I will occasionally enter here to keep up my creativity and artistic side, despite the fact that many don't find my work creative or artistic.

I'm the opposite. The ill will and lack of appreciation is what usually inspires me to enter pictures. My entry to the last rain challenge, for instance. I didn't do it for the art. I did it to piss people off! (Sadly, it appeared to fail at that...)

schlake

Canon EOS-1D X

12/15/2013 01:53:26 AM · #147

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us..."

Dude, it's 2013. No one knows who Pogo is anymore!

Message edited by author 2013-12-15 01:53:38.

schlake

Canon EOS-1D X