Sep 11
Last night I got stuck reading this guy’s blog and was up very late. I couldn’t stop reading it because his writing is just awesome and bitingly funny. In particular, his “How Not to Photograph” series is spot on and hilarious. I found myself chuckling a lot when I realized I’ve done most of the things he’s pointed out in this series (as has he, which is why it’s so funny, because all aspiring photographers sometimes get stuck in these types of photography). When he talked about how when photographer’s try to imitate that deadpan look that Rineke Dijkstra is famous for, they succeed in only having their model’s portray expressions that say something like, “someone just farted” or “this is not really a look look” or “I’m pretending to stare blankly into space but not succeeding…” or “I just had an accident in my pants look.” You get the picture, right?
He also talked about genre switching (film to digital, square/medium/large format, different cameras, black and white to color). I’m definitely guilty of this. Here I think I’m simplifying things by not bringing my huge DSLR on a hike or to a concert, but instead I bring two or even three small toy film cameras and my digital point and shoot. Can I make it any more complicated for myself? I’ve coined a new term for this condition: simplicated.
So for those of you who are interested in reading more from Colin Pantall’s blog and I highly recommend you do: click here.
Aug 22
Here’s another great article I just had to repost because it is right on the mark (for the most part). I do tend to disagree on the HDR one because if it’s done correctly, you won’t even know that it’s an HDR photo and that requires some real skills. Although HDR is overused, I still think it’s a great tool if used appropriately. I also think that wide angle shots turned vertically can work if used appropriately. Well, let’s just say I’ve done that before and if I should be embarassed about that, I’m not. I agree completely on the shutter lag issue – I even bought a new point and shoot (my Cybershot) so that I could be more speedy photographing my toddler. It hasn’t helped that much! I also agree that it can get annoying when people are more interested in what kind of camera you use and how many megapixels it has. Whether it was taken with an iphone, toy camera or fancy DSLR, what matters is the photograph.
What do you think? I welcome all feedback and love when people open up a thoughtful discussion to disagree with me. It’s all for the love of photography! Likewise, to those of you who comment regularly on my photos: I appreciate your feedback very much. However, what I would like more of are constructive comments that open up a discussion (Pet Peeve #1 listed in this article). I don’t mind constructive criticism at all. After all, I am an amateur photographer just trying to learn as much as I can and improve my skills everyday.
http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2009/08/black-hole/
