tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post225084658683421608..comments2024-03-27T00:32:29.877-07:00Comments on Photos and Stuff: Why Look?amolitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-29287715843456208572016-02-10T00:32:52.819-08:002016-02-10T00:32:52.819-08:00Love that part about "Charlie Brown Adult spe...Love that part about "Charlie Brown Adult speech" - you've found a perfect way to explain why getting some understanding on concept in photography is so difficult. Markushttp://markus-spring.infonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-78064434370234171322016-02-09T03:08:50.817-08:002016-02-09T03:08:50.817-08:00Good heavens, amolitor, I agree with you! I shall ...Good heavens, amolitor, I agree with you! I shall now certainly need therapy. I frequently photograph a genre (the nude) where quality and innovation are a rarity, where good taste is the exception, and gross imitation, wheel-reinvention and cliché are the rule. There is a preference for 'capturing' or 'shooting' whole bodies, appropriate terminology for results that may have their exact counterparts in the poses of wild animals photographed on safari.erickehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01409165571476557979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-42833214613629034622016-02-08T23:52:20.891-08:002016-02-08T23:52:20.891-08:00"Which isn't the same as seeing a redwood..."Which isn't the same as seeing a redwood tree." Exactly. Your nuanced comment, which accepts that photographers can feel satisfaction working at a superficial level, I think describes most of us and should make us question our work and try for something more. How can we make a photo that is closer to actually seeing the redwood tree?Garyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15247144582377347587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-66894071403004370352016-02-08T18:45:50.556-08:002016-02-08T18:45:50.556-08:00If people keep taking the same pictures of redwood...If people keep taking the same pictures of redwoods over and over again, then indeed once you've seen one you've seen them all. Which isn't the same as seeing a redwood tree.<br /><br />One can go ahead and shoot pretty much the standard shots of things, and people who haven't seen them over and over again will likely find them stunning and wonderful. It being a big world, there's likely to be many of those people out there.<br /><br />The difference between what I am proposing and what people tend to do is almost precisely the difference between finding a personal interpretation of a piece of music at the piano, and simply playing it as notated by one arranger or another. The latter can be perfectly lovely, and your friends and family will probably approve. It can also be perfectly satisfying.<br /><br />The main difference between playing music and taking pictures (in this analogy) is that finding a personal interpretation of a picture is pretty easy. In both cases, music and photography, all you really need is an idea, an opinion, and the technical skills to express it. Having an opinion is pretty easy, I find (although I suppose some people might not find it so). The technical chops to execute a picture you have an idea for are just not that hard to learn. This is not true for a musical instrument, in general.<br />amolitorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-374142397110419322016-02-08T17:08:23.527-08:002016-02-08T17:08:23.527-08:00Your comment about Antarctica pictures has some of...Your comment about Antarctica pictures has some of the flavor of Reagan's "If you've seen one redwood, you've seen them all." There are many beautiful views in Antarctica, many vivid street scenes, etc. Someone who takes a picture and wants to share their sense of the beauty or vividness is - in all likelihood - not thinking primarily about their unique vision, but rather about an aesthetic sensation that they feel others may respond to. And sometimes they do.Victor Bloomfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10816583389961678576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-15741652116909586112016-02-08T09:52:03.730-08:002016-02-08T09:52:03.730-08:00If I look at a scene and sense that it stirs somet...If I look at a scene and sense that it stirs something inside me, I'll take the picture. I enjoy looking at pictures which invoke that same emotion in me; pictures which fail to do so leave me cold. I look at pictures from Antarctica because I'm curious how it looks like (never been there), but in the same way I'll look at pictures of a car crash in the local newspaper.<br /><br />In order to produce pictures that I like, I have to commit to some emotional engagement with the subject. For me, this is a slow process (I shoot landscapes for this reason). Pictures I take on travels are mostly failures (aside from family snaps), therefore, the camera stays at home on vacations.Thomas Rinkhttp://www.picturesfromthezone.com/noreply@blogger.com