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Opinions

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Re: Opinions

Postby AJB Temple » 28 Jul 2021, 10:05

I watched the rest of the saved up episodes of the Rankin competition this week. Didn't agree really with the join winner decision.

Things that stood out, were: to get the best you must have a good eye for what makes a picture, you must have some recognisable style to earn money as a pro, and absence of technical skills will drag you down.

I think a lot of photographers focus (no pun int. ) on technical skills and gear, and lack "the eye". That was the case in this this completion with the older man: he produced technically excellent images (he also could afford a high end camera and lenses) but often they were uninteresting. And this is often the case with competition shots you see in magazines and on forums.

We have this at home: we have the gear, and I know how to use it. My wife has a much better eye within her field of interest for what will make a good picture, but is uninterested in the technical aspect. She still gets better pictures than me, especially if I set her up first.
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Re: Opinions

Postby Gill » 28 Jul 2021, 11:48

At the end of last night's presentation on abstract photography, Jorj Malinowski, President of the Lincolnshire Photography Association (LPA) which overseas all photography clubs in the county, said of the Zoom presentations we've been seeing in lockdown:

'We've been seeing a vast variety of avant-garde stuff and I think it's opened people's eyes to the possibilities of what can be done outside, and really I think we should do... Is our photography art, hobby or sport? I think it's the first two but, unfortunately, the likes of the LPA and the PAGB are making it a sport. And that's what we really want to get rid of. We want to make it a hobby that produces art. And I think that's what we should be aiming for.'

'We've had this problem of, it's got to be, "Oh, you're not allowed to mess with it, but we also don't like record shots." Well, actually, a not-messed-with picture is a record shot. So how do you square the circle? You can't do it. It's got to be one or the other.'

I could have screamed with delight when he said this! Nowadays, thanks to modern cameras, everyone has a camera. Although everyone can take a picture and most people think they can take a good picture, very few people actually can. Most photographers can take better pictures if they learn a few simple lessons about technique but photography is becoming much more than it was in the days of Ansell Adams or Cecil Beaton. Before the 21st century nobody had heard of 'bokeh' yet now it's in common photography parlance. Photography is evolving and it's evolving into an art form that some old-timers will struggle to accommodate. I hope I can keep up with the changes - I'm trying and I increasingly like what I'm seeing.
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Re: Opinions

Postby novocaine » 28 Jul 2021, 12:17

whilst the term "bokeh" has been around for at most the past 25 years in our language, the actual term is Boke (I can't write Japanese) and simply means "blur". Blur has always been around in photographer and goes right back to Ansel and his giant box of magic. I guess it came about because blur was a rather large term. :lol:

I think that any comparison with current day photography techniques and those of the past is a difficult path to tread. a large percentage of the methods used today, as well as the way in which they are applied was simply not possible with equipment until perhaps 20 years ago and for those that were possible, it was an expensive experiment if it went wrong. the advent of digital photography has removed the expense to a certain extent, as now your expense is the equipment alone, no cost for printing, film, manual post production etc. this has meant that instead of shooting 24 frames then waiting 2 weeks to find out your experiment failed you wait 2 seconds, chimp it and delete it.

One of our outings as a club was to force people to think about the shot instead of just shooting everything. we didn't tell people till they arrived, then we limited them to 24 shots, 1 lens and turn of the screen. it was interesting, as those who had only used digital took a 18-200 or equivalent with them, the older generation (me including) tended towards a fixed focus lens (I love my 50mm). Of the 240 shots (I think it was actual 220) the winners hands down were the older generation with the fixed focus who had developed "an eye" for a good image composition. The younger generation understand composition in terms of a set or rules, "rule of thirds", " diagonal lines", "simplify the scene" but none of them could see it without taking the picture. this whole mindset has slipped in to common place, especially amongst judges, who tout "we want something different" when what they really want is the same but altered.

right, I'm stopping now, it's turning in to a rant. sorry.
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Re: Opinions

Postby Andy Kev. » 28 Jul 2021, 21:44

I anglicised the spelling of it years ago to "bokey". I may be unique in this sense but it makes sense to me and makes a nice sounding word IMO. It also takes the seriousness out of it as I think too much waffle is talked about it.
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