Brief Scenes

Does anyone still use the basic principles of design and compose photographs in the frame anymore?

I studied photography before digital cameras existed. It was challenging work to find interesting subject matter in the world, expend all the effort, and come away with an excellent photo– I had to do this with a Quaker oats box, photo paper and aluminum. Digital photography seems to be more like collage.

I bought my first 35mm SLR in July of 1971. There were no classes available at the time so I learned by referring to the Owner’s Manual and reading photography magazines. Admittedly not the best way to learn but it was my only choice.

Naturally, I learned to work slowly and to actually think about what I was doing and how to do it. In 1976 the local community college finally offered 2 semesters of non-credit, continuing education classes in photography.

It often seems to me that there is little or no learning between using a simple point & shoot digital camera and using a DSLR. How many times have we read questions asking this: “Help! I just got my new DSLR and I need to know what settings to use outside on a sunny day.” or “What is the best camera to buy to make my pictures look professional?” I often wonder what people do with the Owner’s Manual that came with their camera.

I’ve often stated that digital photography encourages what I call “the machine gunner mentality” – fire 300 shots and hope you get 10 or 20 pictures worth keeping. A person once said in here that if they took 1,000 pictures and got one good one they were happy. Talk about exceedingly low expectations! I honestly believe that you’d get better results if you gave a camera to a chimpanzee.

I encourage people to develop what I term “the sniper mentality” – one exposure, one good picture. Sometimes I deliberately limit myself to one 36 exposure roll of film. Can you image how someone used to snapping 100 pictures in 10 minutes would react if they were that limited? I think it would be an excellent learning experience.

Its also appalling that so many people seem to think that an editing program is a cure-all for lousy photography. Sure, when I printed my black and white negatives sometimes they required some manipulation – burning in or dodging. I knew, of course, that if the picture was out of focus it was garbage. Now we see people asking “What program can I use to un-blur a blurry picture?” I usually answer with “Trying to un-blur a blurry picture is like tryng to un-pickle a pickle – not happening.”

So yes, I agree completely with your assessment of the current state of photography. Too many people apparently believe that if they spend $2000 for a camera and a couple of lenses that means they are now photographers. I’ve long lost count of the number of people who write “I just bought my DSLR last week and I’m doing a wedding tomorrow. What settings should I use? Do I need a flash? Is a 200mm lens all I’ll need?” One can only hope that the wedding was in front of a Justice of the Peace with only two other people present.

Enough sermonizing.

Guide to Digital Cameras : Megapixels vs. Image Resolution