Allen Friday
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- Joined
- Mar 30, 2005
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- 882
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The right tool for the job
I believe in choosing the right tool for the job. I would not use a sledge hammer to pound in a penny nail, nor would I use a ball peen hammer to drive a rail spike. I think the same applies to choosing cameras.
I have access to cameras from 35 mm to 20x24. I choose which to use based on the desired print. I would not shoot a 20x24 to capture my son's soccer game, nor would I use a 35 mm to create a 20x24 platinum landscape. They are different tools, which have different primary purposes.
The last few years I have worked primarily with 5x7 and 12x20, 16x20 and 20x 24. The last time I photographed an action scene, my son's marching band in a parade, I felt out of my element. I photographed the parade for the school. The band instructor loved the pictures and even asked if I do photography as a professional. She did not, and could not, see the photographs I missed because I was not as fluent with the equipment as an action photographer would be. The instructor was happy, but I was not because I knew how much better the pictures could have been.
The photographers for Sports Illustrated have all switched to digital "do everything" cameras. They use autofocus, vibration reduction lenses, etc. Does this make them bad photographers? No. They are using the right tools for their job. And they know how to get the most out of them.
Jackson used a 20x24 inch camera. That was the best tool to produce the prints he needed--big prints to show congress. He could have used a half plate camera and made contact prints similar to those from a modern 4x5, but he did not. Jackson knew his equipment, used it efficiently and productively.
I think that is a key, know your equipment, how to use it to the best effect, and know its limitations. Few photographers have access to a 20x24. But many on this forum have 4x5. I know that the result from a 4x5 enlargement will not be the same as a contact print from a 20x24, but that does not mean that the final image made from the smaller camera will not be more satisfying to a viewer. I personally rarely enlarge a 35 mm negative over 5x7. But, I have seen some beautiful enlargements bigger than that from 35mm. I choose to use the 35mm camera one way, another photographer chooses to use it differently. Who is right on how they use the camera?
I do think there is a great benefit to learning to use a manual camera, or a "do everything" camera set to manual. Once manual operation is learned, the photographer can then add in the automatic features that help get the image the photographer wants. The decision on what to automate is made from knowledge, instead of using the automatic functions because one is ignorant on how to otherwise get the photograph.
I suppose my last few paragraphs point to the issue: how do we define "photographer." The English seem to divide camera owners into snappers and photographers. The "auto everything" cameras make it possible for snappers to get acceptable photographs. But that has been true for 30+ years--remember the Kodak 110? But, once again, the snappers are using the rigth tool for the job. They want snaps to put on the refrigerator or in a scrap book etc. Do they need a 4x5 view camera to do that?
The "do everything" camera is great for the great majority of picture takers--it allows them to get the results they want, i.e. snaps of the family around the holiday table. Some of the snappers will take a greater interest in photography and will spend the time to learn its craft. A few of those will decide they want to make art using their camera. Some art photographers will use 20x24 to make platinum prints. Some art photographers will use a 35mm camera to shoot color transparencies. Who is the better artist? I think it will come down to who uses their tools the most effectively to create the result they want.
I believe in choosing the right tool for the job. I would not use a sledge hammer to pound in a penny nail, nor would I use a ball peen hammer to drive a rail spike. I think the same applies to choosing cameras.
I have access to cameras from 35 mm to 20x24. I choose which to use based on the desired print. I would not shoot a 20x24 to capture my son's soccer game, nor would I use a 35 mm to create a 20x24 platinum landscape. They are different tools, which have different primary purposes.
The last few years I have worked primarily with 5x7 and 12x20, 16x20 and 20x 24. The last time I photographed an action scene, my son's marching band in a parade, I felt out of my element. I photographed the parade for the school. The band instructor loved the pictures and even asked if I do photography as a professional. She did not, and could not, see the photographs I missed because I was not as fluent with the equipment as an action photographer would be. The instructor was happy, but I was not because I knew how much better the pictures could have been.
The photographers for Sports Illustrated have all switched to digital "do everything" cameras. They use autofocus, vibration reduction lenses, etc. Does this make them bad photographers? No. They are using the right tools for their job. And they know how to get the most out of them.
Jackson used a 20x24 inch camera. That was the best tool to produce the prints he needed--big prints to show congress. He could have used a half plate camera and made contact prints similar to those from a modern 4x5, but he did not. Jackson knew his equipment, used it efficiently and productively.
I think that is a key, know your equipment, how to use it to the best effect, and know its limitations. Few photographers have access to a 20x24. But many on this forum have 4x5. I know that the result from a 4x5 enlargement will not be the same as a contact print from a 20x24, but that does not mean that the final image made from the smaller camera will not be more satisfying to a viewer. I personally rarely enlarge a 35 mm negative over 5x7. But, I have seen some beautiful enlargements bigger than that from 35mm. I choose to use the 35mm camera one way, another photographer chooses to use it differently. Who is right on how they use the camera?
I do think there is a great benefit to learning to use a manual camera, or a "do everything" camera set to manual. Once manual operation is learned, the photographer can then add in the automatic features that help get the image the photographer wants. The decision on what to automate is made from knowledge, instead of using the automatic functions because one is ignorant on how to otherwise get the photograph.
I suppose my last few paragraphs point to the issue: how do we define "photographer." The English seem to divide camera owners into snappers and photographers. The "auto everything" cameras make it possible for snappers to get acceptable photographs. But that has been true for 30+ years--remember the Kodak 110? But, once again, the snappers are using the rigth tool for the job. They want snaps to put on the refrigerator or in a scrap book etc. Do they need a 4x5 view camera to do that?
The "do everything" camera is great for the great majority of picture takers--it allows them to get the results they want, i.e. snaps of the family around the holiday table. Some of the snappers will take a greater interest in photography and will spend the time to learn its craft. A few of those will decide they want to make art using their camera. Some art photographers will use 20x24 to make platinum prints. Some art photographers will use a 35mm camera to shoot color transparencies. Who is the better artist? I think it will come down to who uses their tools the most effectively to create the result they want.