Someone asked a 93 year old musician why he still practised everyday -- his answer was along the lines of, "I am begining to notice some improvement."
Someone asked a 93 year old musician why he still practised everyday -- his answer was along the lines of, "I am begining to notice some improvement."Don't kid yourself. Cultivating good technique does not come easy and does not come out of thin air...
I think composition should be considered a creative rather than technical act, as is the editing and printing (which are both helped along with technical proficiency). Granted, there are things like the mechanics of setting up the camera, manipulating the controls, and exposing the light sensitive materials that are essentially technique, but it is the least important part of the process. For me, the whole creative act comes from feeling and interpretation of what is seen. Having well practiced technique allows for intuitive response and creative expression without needing to think about the technical stuff.
I come at all of this as first being a musician, and since yesterday would have been John Coltrane's birthday I'll use him as an example. This is like him going away for a year to work on all the harmonic theory and mechanical technique for what would become Giant Steps. When he came back all that work allowed for more creative and expansive expression (on top of all the years he already put in). Of course, he already had something inside him that needed to be expressed, but the command of the technique allowed it to be.
I wouldn't call a photographer who was able to capture what he saw and process what he saw the way he thought it should be processed a simple button pusher. His simplicity in technique would lend to his candid photographs appeal. He knew enough to capture exactly what he wanted to convey, and that goes way beyond being a simple button pusher. A simple button pusher is mom in the backyard shooting the kids.You can be technically proficient but not creative.
You can be creative but not technically proficient.
OK, people seem to wheel out Ansel as an example of someone who is creative and a technical master.
But what about Cartier Bresson? While he knew composition and enough to take the image, but he was a simple button pusher. I would have hardly called him a technician.
A simple button pusher is mom in the backyard shooting the kids.
hi kevin
i wouldn't call a mom in the backyard a simple button pusher either.
i am certain she carefully composes images and is not a surveillance camera...
and i am sure whether she uses a digital device or a film point/shoot ( just to make things simple )
she has enough technique down to know how to use the camera to get what she wants ...
who knows, maybe she has strayed off the path and has decided to always use "fill flash"
or puts the iso down ( or uses super slow film ) to capture slow shutter speed effects ...
i think it is a fine line that one crosses from technique to creativity .. and most people
don't even realize they are doing it !
I am talking about creative photography as a means of personal expression. I've also been a professional and you have to take what comes. Nevertheless, for the kind of photography I do now, there's no technical secret to be uncovered that couldn't be learned in a couple of days. Same film, same film speed, same dev, same focal length, and a couple of aperture/shutter speed settings covers most things. It took years to arrive at the conclusion that such an approach frees up my creativity instead of restricting it, but the technical aspects aren't beyond the ability of an enthusiastic twelve year old for the same reason a box camera or point and shoot isn't. What they do with the technical know how is a different question.As a professional photographer (LIPPA) I am always amazed when people say that they can learn technical or technique in a weekend. Or maybe I am missing something.
Yes you will learn the bones of something in that short time but like the musician analogy, it takes practice and more practice.
I believe that creativity is the inspiration and technique the conduit.
HCB's photographic wizardry began and ended with the viewfinder. His printing was no great shakes and he could afford a printer who was. He mostly used a 50mm lens on the same brand of camera, and whatever the going film of the era was. Technically there was nothing to see. Photographically it was a feast.I was speaking in general terms. Yes, i would call the everyday house mom a button pusher, simply because they shoot with the hope of capturing a good image and not the know how to actually get it done. The common mother would typically buy the latest greatest all automatic everything camera and simply point and shoot. Now this is not a knock on women by any means, there are great women photographers, I'm speaking of a common everyday mother. Bresson knew how to handle his Leica and he also knew exactly what the print should and would convey. I would call that a huge difference.
huhI was speaking in general terms. Yes, i would call the everyday house mom a button pusher, simply because they shoot with the hope of capturing a good image and not the know how to actually get it done. The common mother would typically buy the latest greatest all automatic everything camera and simply point and shoot. Now this is not a knock on women by any means, there are great women photographers, I'm speaking of a common everyday mother. Bresson knew how to handle his Leica and he also knew exactly what the print should and would convey. I would call that a huge difference.
HCB's photographic wizardry began and ended with the viewfinder. His printing was no great shakes and he could afford a printer who was. He mostly used a 50mm lens on the same brand of camera, and whatever the going film of the era was. Technically there was nothing to see. Photographically it was a feast.
Any photography collectors buying slides?Which proved the point that not all photographs must be printed by the photographer to be good. When one shoots slides, the developed film IS the final product.
Any photography collectors buying slides?
True, yes, I am not giving him as much credit as I should. He obviously was fully proficient in using a camera and was a master at composition and reading the scene (or should that be staging a scene - controversy!). The truth is, compared to say Ansel, he wasn't a technical master. But, IMHO, I find his work far more engaging.I wouldn't call a photographer who was able to capture what he saw and process what he saw the way he thought it should be processed a simple button pusher. His simplicity in technique would lend to his candid photographs appeal. He knew enough to capture exactly what he wanted to convey, and that goes way beyond being a simple button pusher. A simple button pusher is mom in the backyard shooting the kids. Would call
I wouldn't call a photographer who was able to capture what he saw and process what he saw the way he thought it should be processed a simple button pusher. His simplicity in technique would lend to his candid photographs appeal. He knew enough to capture exactly what he wanted to convey, and that goes way beyond being a simple button pusher. A simple button pusher is mom in the backyard shooting the kids.
I think otherwise.It seems to be a little disingenuous to separate creativity and technique. A painter who can't paint? A sculptor who can't sculpt? A photographer who can't operate a camera? I dare say most artists are masters of their craft.
It seems to be a little disingenuous to separate creativity and technique. A painter who can't paint? A sculptor who can't sculpt? A photographer who can't operate a camera? I dare say most artists are masters of their craft.
I think otherwise.
If one has defined what they want and figured out how to get it, IMO the creative process is mostly over. Once you reach that point the task becomes a technical exercise.
HCB for example knew exactly what he was after, ‘the decisive moment’. He knew what he wanted in terms of composition and timing and subject matter. HCB’s work is so formulaic that it defined a photgraphic genre. Designing his ‘formula’ was a very creative exercise. Applying his formula was (is) a technical exercise.
This idea is typical of professional work (photographic or otherwise).
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?