What kind of photographer do you consider yourself?

[roteague]

All,

I've been on here a month or so, and while I think I have gotten a general feel for the type of photography you are doing, I do have a couple of questions. What type of photographer do your consider yourself, and does your current (or posted) work reflect that consideration? One of the reasons I ask, is sometimes I get the impression that most forum members work primarily with B&W, while I work mainly in color.

As for my answers. I consider myself strictly a "landscape" photographer. I don't do people, I've never been good at it, and I am not comfortable with it. I love the tones and color of light, and I have found over the years that I tend to shoot either very early or very late in day; I also love inclement weather types (as if we get a lot in Hawaii). I love the ocean, I love the mountains and I love the desert.

What do you think? What type of photographer do you consider yourself?

 

[ThomHarrop]

I was a publisher and commercial photographer for about 20 years. Now I am an artist.

 

[doughowk]

An amateur with pretensions of being more. B&W primarily of landscape & rural architecture.

 

[philldresser]

roteague

My heart is primarily in Monochrome for my personal work, focussing on Landscapes and more recently abstracts/extracts. I can appreciate colour work by others but feel monochrome is more expressive formy chosen fields

Phill

 

[anyte]

I'm a passionate hobbyist/amatuer color nature photographer that occassionally takes a brave step into the realm of black and white. I like railroad tracks and bridges as long as they border on nature. My son is the only person I shoot. I do a lot of test shots that have nothing to do with nature though - all part of the learning process.

I live in the middle of the prairie and as such shoot all things related to the prairie.

 

[Doug Bennett]

I look for light. Not just any old light, but the good stuff. At that point, whether it's falling on an old shack, an old growth forest, an antique car, or a person is secondary.

I love decay; texture; the patina of age. I like the luminosity that rock can get, when it shows that it really is a living thing. Big, old trees that have that "I'm right here" presence.

Whatever will hang on the wall and glow.

I'm not sure that answers the question.

 

[mark]

I do color and BW. Mostly landscape and intimate landscape with the LF cameras. The MF camera comes out around people I care about and landscapes. I am playing more with BW in large format because it is too damn expensive to buy 5x7 color film. I have just gotten a 4x5 monorail to replace my presss camera, and it is almost leaf changing season so color will dominate my shots for a while with the occasional BW. I find I switch between the two a lot and that might be what is stifling my BW learning. Like you I love the color and tones of light. Being in the desert SW I am bombarded daily with beautiful light. Looking out the window right now makes me mad that I am still at work.

I don't post because I don't have a scanner. When the opportunity arises for me to use a scanner I am usually chomping at the bit to go take pictures or play with the kid and his mom. Someday I will get something up.

 

[BWGirl]

Robert,

Excellent question! It's funny that when we seek to define what type of photographer we are, we all end up describing the things we like to photograph.... It's kind of like defining what kind of driver you are by the type of vehicle you drive!

I'm a "trying to learn how to get what I'm seeing into the camera and onto the paper" photographer. I know what I WANT to say in a photograph, but I do not always manage to convey it properly... with time, this may happen. It's kind of like juggling!

I love photography and I started out loving color photography and not really understanding what the big 'hooha' was about B&W. But now, I find that while I can appreciate a good color photo (like yours Robert), I tend to see things in terms of light, shadow, texture and pattern.

So, I guess I'd have to define myself as an emerging, evolving photographer-in-training.
Jeanette

 

[ian_greant]

Breathing, until that stops everything else is everchanging.

 

[removed account4]

don't really have a label ... maybe a working photographer?

 

[Aggie]

over the hill student

 

[lee]

I wanna be a journeyman photographer. That is what I am working toward.

lee\c

 

[Cheryl Jacobs]

The easy answer is that I am a people photographer. Not one to settle for brevity and clarity, I think I'll ramble on about this for awhile.

It's not really 'people' that I like to photograph. It's a combination of soul, depth, and mood. Those three things. I'm not interested in documenting how people look, even if the light is beautiful.

My personal work, and most of my portraits, tends to look a lot like my memories do -- the dark tones, diffusion, and what I hope is a bit of mystery. I like to make images represent more than the subject as an individual, and that trigger an emotion or a memory in the viewer.

I'm awfully tired, though. I'll reread this in the morning and see if it's accurate.

- CJ

 

[papagene]

AHHHH... ERRRRR... UMMMM...
I have a tendency to switch from landscape to still life work. I grew up in a small town so I love being outdoors with my camera. I also have a semi-warped mind so my still lifes can be of the odd ball variety (most of them are 11x14's so I haven't got them scanned yet) - wait 'til you see my clowns!!
I shoot almost entirely in B&W, 4x5 and MF.
What type of photographer am I? I guess because I am trying to express myself visually through photography, I am an artist type of photographer.

 

[Graeme Hird]

I'm like you Robert - a landscape photographer who prefers to work with colour materials.

Oh, I take a lot of other photos, especially of the horses at the local racing club, but they aren't real photos; they're just record shots. The real ones are my landscapes shot with the LF camera ....

Cheers,

 

[Ed Sukach]

I wonder how many "kinds" there are..?

My answer: "Fine Art".

Now, for a long, convoluted, esoteric discussion of just what "Fine Art Photography" means to each of us...

 

[Mongo]

My first inclination was to answer your question with "A lousy one." But reading through the thread, I'll give a little more info on myself.

I do mostly landscape and architectural photography, with the occasional still life and abstract thrown in. I photograph to express my artistic side, and I'm most attracted to the flora, fauna, and architecture of my home (southwestern Pennsylvania). I do mostly B&W work because I love the process and the challenge of looking at the world as a series of tones and shapes, but with autumn approaching (like a freight train judging by the trees around here) I'll be doing a lot of color work for a few weeks.

I have done a little bit of model photography for some friends...people who make their living based (at least in part) on their physical appearance.

But here's the thing: I'm never truly satisfied with my work. The people who've seen my work really seem to appreciate it. I've had a few people try to talk me into doing a show. I've had offers to delivery my work to gallery owners. The people who see my work seem to believe that I'm talented. I've had offers to find models who want portfolio work given to me by those for whom I've done such work. But I just don't think I'm good enough yet.

And so I come to the real answer to your question: I'm on a journey to be a better photographer. I'll never be a commercial photographer, I'll never be published, and I'll never have a gallery show. I'll never sell a thing that I shoot (although I've given plenty of photographs as gifts). Instead, I'll be out in the world shooting the things that interest me in an attempt to grow and flourish. Photography for me is about expressing my artistic capabilities in a way that I enjoy. I photograph because I enjoy everything about photography. I love looking at the world to find the things that I will photograph. I love examining light. I love the process of setting up a shot so it's "just right" (to me). I love pulling a developed roll or sheet of film out and holding it up to the light. I love collecting a set of my prints into a folio. But most of all, I love growing as a photographer. I love the progress that I make, and the feeling of satisfaction that comes from knowing I can do things now that I couldn't do previously.

If photography was "just a hobby", it'd be too expensive and time consuming for me. Instead, it's a way of growing personally...and that (to me at least) is priceless.

 

[jim kirk jr.]

I strive to take images of the invisible,unseen,un-noticed and overlooked in nature,a landscape-whatever captures my eye.In the end,each day I hope to be a better photographer than the day before.

Jim

 

[dr bob]

I don't know. I'm still working on that.

 

[TPPhotog]

At heart I'm the kind that loves to shoot most things as long as it's in Black and White!

 

[Ole]

A slow one.

I use (mostly) large format in various sizes, in (mostly) B&W, on (mostly) immobile or at least slow-moving subjects.

It just struck me that there might be a connection between slow photography and "slow food"? Both are very important to me - I don't eat "fast food", or use a d*gicam....

 

[George Losse]

I'd just say that I'm a photographer. I did the corporate photographer thing for about ten years. Now I just like to shoot what moves me enough to set up the camera. My normal subjects range from Landscapes, buildings, to nudes.

I'm only shooting B&W now, color is just too real for me. Every couple of years or so, I try a roll or two of color film. It just doesn't move me the way black and white does. Or maybe its just a hold over from the corporate thing, most of my work there was color.

I must say, I can't wait for the Fall colors that are just around the corner here in the East. I'll have my holders filled with plenty of B&W film to capture the wonderful colors.

 

[Lee Shively]

Okay, I'll bite.

I'm an artist.

Not a very good one, maybe. Unknown, for sure. Not starving, obviously.

Being able to make pictures to please only myself, I have the luxury of calling myself an artist if I want to.

 

[rogueish]

All,

I don't do people, I've never been good at it, and I am not comfortable with it.
What do you think? What type of photographer do you consider yourself?

I've never really been good with people and am self concious about taking pics of people. (yes I am trying to working on that).
But with the right model, portraits are almost simple.
I needed portraits for photo class and a friend of the Mrs' was volenteered. We were both a little unsure at first but she quickly turned out to be a natural! I shot two rolls of 36 in less that 30 minutes, most of the poses were her own doing, required very little directing. I got an 85 mark on that project, many good prints and a little bit more confidence
Never disregard what your not comfortable with, you never know (yes I still have a rather hard time photo'ing people).
As for type of photographer, I guess I am urban landscape (if there isn't too many people), natural landscape, still life and macro. Everything I shoot is B&W, much to the disappointment of the Mrs.
I also would like to get into LF

 

[ian_greant]

on further reflection...

..