Snapshot - DPChallenge Forums

Fujifilm XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR

09/25/2014 09:11:54 AM · #2

I stumbled on this collection of snapshots that's worth a look.

The Snapshot Century

09/25/2014 09:15:08 AM · #3

Good challenge idea though it'll be controversial. "Looks like a snapshot" is a common dismissive judgement round here; it's normally applied to a picture that's filled with joie de vivre but without the muddy footprints of a photographer tracked all over it. I believe that much of what's dismissed as a mere snapshot is the actually the highest, or at least purest, expression of photography. Also, quite a lot of what looks like your Wiki definition actually isn't. It can take considerable effort to look convincingly unforced.

So it'll be a challenge that will drive the dismal, thin-lipped DNMC Police insane with impotence; how can they decide if you satisfy the challenge when there's no way to tell by looking? This photograph would likely be dismissed as a snapshot by many of DPC's finest judges of other people's thoughts.

insteps

Fujifilm XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR

09/25/2014 09:38:40 AM · #4

Paul, minimal editing is about all we can do to improve the quality of photographs submitted. If nothing else, it's a healthy exercise.

LN13

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF-S 15-85mm IS USM

09/25/2014 10:45:35 AM · #5

Originally posted by insteps:

I stumbled on this collection of snapshots that's worth a look.

The Snapshot Century

This photo has me very confused:

//rpkphoto.smugmug.com/Photo-History-1/The-Snapshot-Century/i-6c3hm67/A

Ernie, the selfie king:

//rpkphoto.smugmug.com/Photo-History-1/The-Snapshot-Century/i-zmRmV8C/A

I'm not going to get any work done today.

Message edited by author 2014-09-25 10:49:21.

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

09/25/2014 11:16:00 AM · #6

Originally posted by ubique:

This photograph would likely be dismissed as a snapshot by many of DPC's finest judges of other people's thoughts.

so its not a snapshot if its intended?

Message edited by author 2014-09-25 11:16:28.

RyanW

Nikon D7000

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

09/25/2014 12:39:13 PM · #7

i think that's the general concensus mike...however, i believe that it mostly refers to a studio/staged static shot (nobody moving), such as a model in a pose, even if that pose is intended to be taking an action. however, if you had a model balancing on one foot and they fell, and you took a picture of them falling, it's a snapshot as it's a picture of an unscripted event despite the fact you already had the staging/lighting setup for the other photo.

nygold

Nikon D5000

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G

09/25/2014 01:07:25 PM · #8

Originally posted by ubique:

This photograph would likely be dismissed as a snapshot by many of DPC's finest judges of other people's thoughts.

Is the image significant because of when not what.

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

09/25/2014 04:28:15 PM · #9

Originally posted by nygold:

Originally posted by ubique:
This photograph would likely be dismissed as a snapshot by many of DPC's finest judges of other people's thoughts.

Is the image significant because of when not what.

It's significant because it is. That is, significance doesn't speak to quality, just notoriety. Like Kim Kardashian, I suppose. The photograph is interesting, and not a snapshot. But I've seen plenty I like better.

I was really just seizing the opportunity to lampoon the deadly dull DNMC police of DPC, who can't distinguish between destination and route. 'When a finger points to the moon, the idiot looks at the finger' (Chinese proverb).

Message edited by author 2014-09-25 16:34:05.

bohemka

Nikon D700

09/25/2014 04:46:17 PM · #10

Originally posted by ubique:

'When a finger points to the moon, the idiot looks at the finger' (Chinese proverb).

Well that's just because it's in cuffs. People are strangely drawn to perp walks.

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

09/25/2014 06:02:59 PM · #11

I vote yes for this. Heck, I'd even probably shoot and enter! :)

09/25/2014 06:54:42 PM · #12

As with every challenge ever offered on DPC, there will be some who love it and some who don't.

As for "meaningfulness", we all have our preferences of what is meaningful and "significant", and what isn't. I just wish we were all able to articulate those preferences without denigrating the tastes of those who don't share them.

Message edited by author 2014-09-25 18:55:16.

tnun

Pentax DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6ED AL [IF] WR DC

09/25/2014 06:59:33 PM · #13

I am looking for an idiot who will point to the moon...

09/25/2014 08:28:47 PM · #14

<------

09/25/2014 10:36:03 PM · #15

Originally posted by tanguera:

It has nothing to do with taste. Nothing to do with meaning or significance either.

09/26/2014 12:06:15 AM · #16

Then I don't understand what you mean, Paul. If it has nothing to do with taste, meaning, or significance, what DOES it have to do with?

Does a "snapshot" have aesthetic value, or is it merely something unintended, offhand, struggling-for-the-right-word-here, image? If I accidentally press the shutter on my camera as it hangs on my shoulder, is the resulting image of a blurred sidewalk, or the inside of my lens cap a snapshot? Can a snapshot be judged as good or bad? How do we go about voting on such an image? What criteria should we use to determine which is the best snapshot among the entries?

In the examples provided above, is this a snapshot? Is street photography "snapshot" photography? What is the difference?

As the ambassador of the snapshot as the purest form of photography, perhaps you could shed light on this topic, rather than just "lampoon the DNMC police". I would REALLY like to understand it, or at least TRY to understand it better.

09/26/2014 12:10:21 AM · #17

Oh! We are cross-purposed. You are referring to snapshots whereas I was referring to DNMC. It's my fault, I hijacked the thread to beat my favourite drum. Sorry.

Message edited by author 2014-09-26 00:10:44.

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

09/26/2014 09:58:12 AM · #18

Originally posted by tanguera:

... As the ambassador of the snapshot as the purest form of photography, perhaps you could shed light on this topic ...

I don't have a definition that can't get a few holes shot through it.
Close as I care to go is that a snapshot is normally intended to be about the subject, but a good snapshot ends up being about the photograph.
And I suppose I'd then have to conversely say that a non-snapshot is normally intended to be about the photograph, but a bad non-snapshot ends up being about the photographer.

Message edited by author 2014-09-26 09:58:55.

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

09/26/2014 10:11:29 AM · #19

a snapshot is unplanned and you stumble across the opportunity to take shot, a non-snapshot is planned or sought out.

snapshot has become a derogatory term as it has become synonymous with having a lack of skill or intent, because you know, only great shots are planned out. I call it sour grapes or jealously from folks who feel they are upstaged by a less experienced photographer because they are either self-conscious of their own work or cant figure out how to execute their own vision.

Message edited by author 2014-09-26 10:12:51.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

09/26/2014 01:48:33 PM · #20

Originally posted by tnun:

I am looking for an idiot who will point to the moon...

Will "Waving At Saturn" do?

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

09/26/2014 01:58:24 PM · #21

Then I don't understand the distinction between "street" photography and "snapshot".

I guess it's the ol' "I know it when I see it" adage...

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

09/26/2014 01:59:51 PM · #22

Actually, a snapshot is not "unplanned." You travel 3,000 miles to Notre Dame. You hand your camera to a fellow tourist and have him take a picture of you standing in front of it. That's a snapshot, and it involved more planning than most DPC challenge entries.

Uncle George is biting the bubbles that the kids are blowing. You find your camera and take a snapshot of him in mid-bite. Planned and executed.

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

09/26/2014 02:00:23 PM · #23

Originally posted by tanguera:

Then I don't understand the distinction between "street" photography and "snapshot".

I guess it's the ol' "I know it when I see it" adage...

street photography is unplanned, at least in its ideal form.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

09/26/2014 02:31:45 PM · #24

Originally posted by posthumous:

street photography is unplanned, at least in its ideal form.

I did not plan on seeing this cow meandering up the shoulder of the freeway ...

tnun