RE: Uncomfortable Truth About Photography
Bipin Gupta wrote: Bipin, I think I might be one of the ones who doesn't share these views. 1. It is more about equipment than we'd like to admit and smart kids. No. It really isn't. The last couple of years have shown me that. I've been playing with a K7 again in the last couple of days and had real fun. It's not about the gear no matter what is advertised. It's nice I grant you but not essential. 2. People are doing some unethical shit with RAW and nobody really understands or cares. This has been going on for years. You can upload an image from anywhere and Photoshop the life out of it, bypassing the need for a camera at all. 3. Many times, sadly, it doesn't even matter if your photos are all that good or not. Depends what you want from a photo. The majority of iphone photos are great and if you're uploading to social media something that happened that moment, it only has to convey what is happening, not be a gallery print. If you sell your photographic services and/or images people will care. I don't agree with any of the other views. 4. Photography is easier than we'd like to admit. Nearly always said by owners of DSLRs who have never had the kit lens off the body and never used it out of auto mode. There is a world of difference to owning a camera and taking photos with it, to dedicated photographers who have an idea of the image they want to take and possess the skills required to make that happen. Malcolm -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Uncomfortable Truth About Photography
I didn't quite get that far before realizing that it was stupid to waste any further time reading the piece, although I did read through it for the exercise of being able to critique. I don't find any of the author's truths uncomfortable or even related to what I do with my photography. It's just a little op-ed rant to make the author seem informed or smart. Is stupid. G On Apr 23, 2015, at 5:55 AM, P.J. Alling webstertwenty...@gmail.com wrote: I got to point 2. ... -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Uncomfortable Truth About Photography
Well, at least the uncomfortable part was true. -- Mark Roberts - Photography Multimedia www.robertstech.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Uncomfortable Truth About Photography
This came to mind ... You're talking a lot, but you're not saying anything. ~ Psycho Killer; Talking Heads On Thu, Apr 23, 2015 at 12:04 PM, Mark Roberts postmas...@robertstech.com wrote: Well, at least the uncomfortable part was true. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Uncomfortable Truth About Photography
I got to point 2. about half way through I realized he didn't know what the hell he was talking about. Changing contrast is an old technique, too high a contrast range wouldn't reproduce well in newspapers. Cropping and manipulating images has always happened, often on the editorial level and has never been OK, if it changed the story, unless the editor did it. On 4/22/2015 2:13 PM, Bipin Gupta wrote: This great little piece landed in my Inbox today from my school mate in Canada. This could be a tribute to all us great or not so great Photographers. Read on folks. You will love it or hate it. The choice is yours. But do share some feedback - either way. Regards. Bipin. 1. It is more about equipment than we'd like to admit and smart kids. The kid whose dad bought him a D3 and a 400mm f/2.8 lens is going to have a better sports portfolio than you. You're talented but too fucking cheap to provide or get top notch equipment. As a consequence, he got all the primary shots he needed in the first five plays and spent the next half-hour experimenting with cool angle shots and different techniques, while you were still trying to get your fucking cheap DSLR to lock focus quickly enough and shoot. True, you can't pick up a pro camera, set it to P mode and instantly turn into Ansel Adams. But if you're learning at the same pace as everyone else and you are trying to keep up because your equipment can't hack it, the difference will be stark, and frustrating. Remember today’s kids are smart learners. 2. People are doing some unethical shit with RAW and nobody really understands or cares. Photoshopping the hell out of photos is a no no in photojournalism, we all know this. And yet I see portfolios and award compilations come to our desk with heavy artificial vignetting, damn-near HDR exposure masking and contrasts with blacks so deep you could hide a body inside them. When I question anybody about this they say oh yeah, well I didn't do anything in CS6, just the raw editor in Lightroom real quick so it's okay, it's not destructive editing, the original is still there. It's not okay. But it doesn't seem like anybody cares. Some of the shit on the wire services looks exactly the same so they got jobs somewhere. That dude that got canned from The Blade for photoshopping basketballs where there were none? He's found redemption- I remember reading an article where some editor says oh he sends us the raw files so we know its kosher now. Fucking storm chasers are the worst offenders at this shit. Guess what he does now. 3. Many times, sadly, it doesn't even matter if your photos are all that good or not. We are in the age of the Facebook Wedding Album. I've shot weddings pretty much every Saturday for a decade and if there is one thing I've learned it is the bride paradox: people hate photos of themselves even if they are good, people love photos of themselves with people they love even if they are bad. And that's totally fine. Now that many people have a DSLR, there exists an entirely new and growing population of couples who are perfectly happy employing their wedding guests as proxy paparazzi for everything from prep to ceremony to formals to cake to dance. They will like their photos better than ours, even though they won't last, they won't be able to put together a quality album, but they really don't mind. And nobody cares. My buddy, an excellent photographer that chooses to shoot mediocre but proven poses for senior portraits, yearbooks, weddings, school sports, etc.,.. makes something like $ 70k / year in Midwest money. He's a really great photographer, but you'll never see the good stuff he shoots because it doesn't sell. You shoot what the clients want. 4. Photography is easier than we'd like to admit. Here's something for you: I've been doing this for a long time. I am an excellent photographer. Give me an assignment and tell me what you want and I assure you, I'll come pretty fucking close to the picture you had inside your head. I am very, very good at what I do. You know what? You could learn everything I know in a few months. Maybe less if you really focus on it. That's it. My knowledge, my experiences, all of it, from professional sports to weddings to news to features to product shots to portraits, you can learn all in a few goddamn months, especially if you have Pro gear. 5. We need to stop being goddamn snobs and accept the coming of The Golden Age Remember that asshole kid with the $ 5k Nikon D3 whose portfolio was better than ours? Have you played with a D3? That is a sweet goddamn camera. That can do everything you need to do, right now. Even ISO 6400 is beautiful. And a lot of cameras are like that. Take the Pentax K-5 – beats the hell out of the Canon 5D Mk III, if we are to believe DxO Mark Everything is getting better. Sony, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, everything is fantastic. And that means more people are going to be able to afford really great cameras that
Re: Uncomfortable Truth About Photography
I stopped reading at the first 'fucking'. Well, that's not right. I made it as far as the second one. I'm not adverse to using the F word but if this guy can't get the message across by reasoned argument then I can't be bothered reading it. Cheers Brian ++ Brian Walters Western Sydney Australia http://lyons-ryan.org/southernlight/ Quoting Bipin Gupta bip...@gmail.com: This great little piece landed in my Inbox today from my school mate in Canada. This could be a tribute to all us great or not so great Photographers. Read on folks. You will love it or hate it. The choice is yours. But do share some feedback - either way. Regards. Bipin. 1. It is more about equipment than we'd like to admit and smart kids. The kid whose dad bought him a D3 and a 400mm f/2.8 lens is going to have a better sports portfolio than you. You're talented but too fucking cheap to provide or get top notch equipment. As a consequence, he got all the primary shots he needed in the first five plays and spent the next half-hour experimenting with cool angle shots and different techniques, while you were still trying to get your fucking cheap DSLR to lock focus quickly enough and shoot. True, you can't pick up a pro camera, set it to P mode and instantly turn into Ansel Adams. But if you're learning at the same pace as everyone else and you are trying to keep up because your equipment can't hack it, the difference will be stark, and frustrating. Remember today’s kids are smart learners. 2. People are doing some unethical shit with RAW and nobody really understands or cares. Photoshopping the hell out of photos is a no no in photojournalism, we all know this. And yet I see portfolios and award compilations come to our desk with heavy artificial vignetting, damn-near HDR exposure masking and contrasts with blacks so deep you could hide a body inside them. When I question anybody about this they say oh yeah, well I didn't do anything in CS6, just the raw editor in Lightroom real quick so it's okay, it's not destructive editing, the original is still there. It's not okay. But it doesn't seem like anybody cares. Some of the shit on the wire services looks exactly the same so they got jobs somewhere. That dude that got canned from The Blade for photoshopping basketballs where there were none? He's found redemption- I remember reading an article where some editor says oh he sends us the raw files so we know its kosher now. Fucking storm chasers are the worst offenders at this shit. Guess what he does now. 3. Many times, sadly, it doesn't even matter if your photos are all that good or not. We are in the age of the Facebook Wedding Album. I've shot weddings pretty much every Saturday for a decade and if there is one thing I've learned it is the bride paradox: people hate photos of themselves even if they are good, people love photos of themselves with people they love even if they are bad. And that's totally fine. Now that many people have a DSLR, there exists an entirely new and growing population of couples who are perfectly happy employing their wedding guests as proxy paparazzi for everything from prep to ceremony to formals to cake to dance. They will like their photos better than ours, even though they won't last, they won't be able to put together a quality album, but they really don't mind. And nobody cares. My buddy, an excellent photographer that chooses to shoot mediocre but proven poses for senior portraits, yearbooks, weddings, school sports, etc.,.. makes something like $ 70k / year in Midwest money. He's a really great photographer, but you'll never see the good stuff he shoots because it doesn't sell. You shoot what the clients want. 4. Photography is easier than we'd like to admit. Here's something for you: I've been doing this for a long time. I am an excellent photographer. Give me an assignment and tell me what you want and I assure you, I'll come pretty fucking close to the picture you had inside your head. I am very, very good at what I do. You know what? You could learn everything I know in a few months. Maybe less if you really focus on it. That's it. My knowledge, my experiences, all of it, from professional sports to weddings to news to features to product shots to portraits, you can learn all in a few goddamn months, especially if you have Pro gear. 5. We need to stop being goddamn snobs and accept the coming of The Golden Age Remember that asshole kid with the $ 5k Nikon D3 whose portfolio was better than ours? Have you played with a D3? That is a sweet goddamn camera. That can do everything you need to do, right now. Even ISO 6400 is beautiful. And a lot of cameras are like that. Take the Pentax K-5 – beats the hell out of the Canon 5D Mk III, if we are to believe DxO Mark Everything is getting better. Sony, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, everything is fantastic. And that means more people are going to be able to afford really great cameras
Uncomfortable Truth About Photography
This great little piece landed in my Inbox today from my school mate in Canada. This could be a tribute to all us great or not so great Photographers. Read on folks. You will love it or hate it. The choice is yours. But do share some feedback - either way. Regards. Bipin. 1. It is more about equipment than we'd like to admit and smart kids. The kid whose dad bought him a D3 and a 400mm f/2.8 lens is going to have a better sports portfolio than you. You're talented but too fucking cheap to provide or get top notch equipment. As a consequence, he got all the primary shots he needed in the first five plays and spent the next half-hour experimenting with cool angle shots and different techniques, while you were still trying to get your fucking cheap DSLR to lock focus quickly enough and shoot. True, you can't pick up a pro camera, set it to P mode and instantly turn into Ansel Adams. But if you're learning at the same pace as everyone else and you are trying to keep up because your equipment can't hack it, the difference will be stark, and frustrating. Remember today’s kids are smart learners. 2. People are doing some unethical shit with RAW and nobody really understands or cares. Photoshopping the hell out of photos is a no no in photojournalism, we all know this. And yet I see portfolios and award compilations come to our desk with heavy artificial vignetting, damn-near HDR exposure masking and contrasts with blacks so deep you could hide a body inside them. When I question anybody about this they say oh yeah, well I didn't do anything in CS6, just the raw editor in Lightroom real quick so it's okay, it's not destructive editing, the original is still there. It's not okay. But it doesn't seem like anybody cares. Some of the shit on the wire services looks exactly the same so they got jobs somewhere. That dude that got canned from The Blade for photoshopping basketballs where there were none? He's found redemption- I remember reading an article where some editor says oh he sends us the raw files so we know its kosher now. Fucking storm chasers are the worst offenders at this shit. Guess what he does now. 3. Many times, sadly, it doesn't even matter if your photos are all that good or not. We are in the age of the Facebook Wedding Album. I've shot weddings pretty much every Saturday for a decade and if there is one thing I've learned it is the bride paradox: people hate photos of themselves even if they are good, people love photos of themselves with people they love even if they are bad. And that's totally fine. Now that many people have a DSLR, there exists an entirely new and growing population of couples who are perfectly happy employing their wedding guests as proxy paparazzi for everything from prep to ceremony to formals to cake to dance. They will like their photos better than ours, even though they won't last, they won't be able to put together a quality album, but they really don't mind. And nobody cares. My buddy, an excellent photographer that chooses to shoot mediocre but proven poses for senior portraits, yearbooks, weddings, school sports, etc.,.. makes something like $ 70k / year in Midwest money. He's a really great photographer, but you'll never see the good stuff he shoots because it doesn't sell. You shoot what the clients want. 4. Photography is easier than we'd like to admit. Here's something for you: I've been doing this for a long time. I am an excellent photographer. Give me an assignment and tell me what you want and I assure you, I'll come pretty fucking close to the picture you had inside your head. I am very, very good at what I do. You know what? You could learn everything I know in a few months. Maybe less if you really focus on it. That's it. My knowledge, my experiences, all of it, from professional sports to weddings to news to features to product shots to portraits, you can learn all in a few goddamn months, especially if you have Pro gear. 5. We need to stop being goddamn snobs and accept the coming of The Golden Age Remember that asshole kid with the $ 5k Nikon D3 whose portfolio was better than ours? Have you played with a D3? That is a sweet goddamn camera. That can do everything you need to do, right now. Even ISO 6400 is beautiful. And a lot of cameras are like that. Take the Pentax K-5 – beats the hell out of the Canon 5D Mk III, if we are to believe DxO Mark Everything is getting better. Sony, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, everything is fantastic. And that means more people are going to be able to afford really great cameras that can do amazing things and we are going to see some amazing photography come from surprising places. It's going to be awesome. It may also be the death of a profession – of Pro Photographers? Is this a bad thing for the industry? Look at the quality of the photos from a smartphone and the level of editing you can apply to those shots on the phone itself. No, this is a damn fucking positive thing. Cheers
Re: Uncomfortable Truth About Photography
He has some good points, but he comes off as a dick with a stick up his ass that's so big and thorny one wonders how he sits down. Bipin Gupta wrote: This great little piece landed in my Inbox today from my school mate in Canada. This could be a tribute to all us great or not so great Photographers. Read on folks. You will love it or hate it. The choice is yours. But do share some feedback - either way. Regards. Bipin. 1. It is more about equipment than we'd like to admit and smart kids. 2. People are doing some unethical shit with RAW and nobody really understands or cares. 3. Many times, sadly, it doesn't even matter if your photos are all that good or not. 4. Photography is easier than we'd like to admit. 5. We need to stop being goddamn snobs and accept the coming of The Golden Age Remember that asshole kid with the $ 5k Nikon D3 whose portfolio was better than ours? Have you played with a D3? That is a sweet goddamn camera. That can do everything you need to do, right now. Even ISO 6400 is beautiful. And a lot of cameras are like that. Take the Pentax K-5 – beats the hell out of the Canon 5D Mk III, if we are to believe DxO Mark Everything is getting better. Sony, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, everything is fantastic. And that means more people are going to be able to afford really great cameras that can do amazing things and we are going to see some amazing photography come from surprising places. It's going to be awesome. It may also be the death of a profession – of Pro Photographers? Is this a bad thing for the industry? Look at the quality of the photos from a smartphone and the level of editing you can apply to those shots on the phone itself. No, this is a damn fucking positive thing. Cheers Photography and all you great Photographers! -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com (postbox on min4est) -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
