Geeze, Wm Robb, I like your posts. I'm never gonna be a Pro, but you seem so _sensible_. And sometimes, crabby. Me too. -Lon
BTW, no crab in the below-
William Robb wrote:
One of the truly wonderful things about being an amateur photographer after a few decades as a pro boy is that I now have the ability to photograph what I want, the way I want to do it, without having to compromise either myself or my art (for lack of a better term). Now that payday no longer depends on "getting the shot", I can work more leisurely, I can choose my subjects, and I can do it right, rather than just doing it for money.
Losing the yoke of whoredom is a beautiful thing.
There is, of course, a downside to all of this. It used to be that when I took a picture, I had a pretty good idea of what the final result would be used for, and could fit enough technique into the equation to allow it.
For example, at a wedding, I knew that it was most unlikely that the record shots of the procession would ever be made larger than a 4x6 print. Handheld 35mm, middle aperture, flash on camera, and zone focussing worked well for this sort of thing. If it wasn't ideally sharp, it didn't matter, it was good enough for the purpose, and I only had one shot at the picture, so timing took precedence.
However, this sort of slapdash approach wouldn't do for the formal portraits, where it was entirely possible that any given frame might end up as a 16x20 (or larger) print. Suddenly, even the best technique with 35mm wasn't good enough, and I had to use medium format and a tripod and reflectors and assistants and all sorts of complications.
But all that changed when I got out of the game and started shooting for my own pleasure. Now, if that nice snapshot won't make a large print, I may be in trouble with my wife. This happened on a couple of occasions before I figured it out. She wants pretty pictures for the wall, and every time I trip a shutter, I had better make sure that negative has enough enlargability to keep her happy.
But, this keeps me on my toes, and prevents my work from decaying. I find it is nicer to be able to take the time to get a good quality image than it is to get a pretty picture that may not be viewable at a larger than drugstore print size.
I find it nicer that I don't have to worry about the shot that got away. Why should I? Another nice picture is just around the next bend in the path anyway. If I miss this one, perhaps I will get the next one. If not, another will come along soon enough. Missing a nice shot isn't the end of the world. There have been times when I have just sat and admired what was in front of me until the light was gone, rather than spoil the moment by pulling out a camera. It is amazing what we don't get to enjoy when we take a feeding frenzy approach to getting every great picture there is. Often, we don't get to enjoy what we went to photograph in the first place.
I didn't have time to take this approach when I was shooting professionally, and I think that in many ways, I am a better photographer now than I was when I was shooting pro. Now I have time on my side, and I can use it to benefit my pictures.
This is the beauty of being an amateur, and I think it is foolish to waste this advantage for any reason.
William Robb
