Big Expensive Camera = Photographer? Not so fast...

So, I'm standing on a street corner in the middle of San Francisco's Chinatown waiting for the cross-walk signal to change when this stereotypical tourist in cut off shorts and his "Freedom Isn't Free" patriotic t-shirt walks up next to me. Around his neck hangs what appears to be a new digital camera with an extremely large and unwieldy zoom lens. He looks at me and a conversation began.

I think in his mind the conversation went more along the lines of:

Him: "Look at my awesome camera. It's so expensive. You envy me dont you? Yeah, I know you do. Yeah come on, bask in the greatness of my camera. My lens is so powerful I can see the international space station from right here. Wait, I'll show you."

To me it went more along the lines of: "Hey, please look at my camera. I had to mortgage my house to buy this camera. Here take a look at it. Wait, where are you going? Please come back! Please......I have no friends... Dont you leave me too... My wife already left me for my brother! Don't go!"

Yeah, it's annoying. I hate people like this. I just wish I could be there when they are scratching their head wondering why the $6,000 camera they bought doesn't take photos like they see in national geographic.

Just as annoying are those people who think that with enough photoshop their photos are going to be as good as Ansel Adams and his landscape photography. "If I make enough changes to this photo...."

The goal isn't to try to salvage your images by photoshopping them to death--no, it's about taking good photos in the first place. I'm not saying that you shouldnt photoshop your photos at all, that would be quite stupid. All I'm saying is that like all other forms of art, photography requires a solid foundation upon which to build upon. If you don't know the do's and dont's of composition, the differences between over and under exposure, how to use light and shadow, etc then the chances of you ever having a photograph that "works" or that others are drawn to is slim.

Technology doesn't necessarily make us smarter, nor does it necessarily make us better at doing things. In general, it can and does have the power to help us achieve our vision and goals, but to what cost? Photographers such as famous landscape artist Ansel Adams created amazing photographs that have inspired thousands of people across the globe, and he didnt need the assistance of modern micro-electronics and computer calculations to do so. He used a combination of his eyes, heart, mind and a little technological know-how to create his works of art.

My .02 Cents.

Bad Photos

So, we all enjoy taking the occasional photographs. Birthdays, Christmas, and all other special events abound, I'm going to make a bet that at least on one of these occasions you can be spotted at least once with a camera in your hands. Its inevitable.

Now, how often have you had to sit through your grandmother, aunt, or another friend's annotated 'slide-show' of their trip abroad or event they went to? Yeah, I figure that I'll get at least one or two eye rolls or an occasional groan at the mere thought.

Well for those of you who are often disappoitned your own bad photos. I'm going to let you in on a little secret.

We all take bad photos.

Any one who has seriously persued photography as a professional or even as an amateur can tell you that for every one good photo you take, there will be at least five times that ammount of bad photos; however, just to back up my statement I'll leave you with a quick snippet and link to an A.P. Photo Editor's blog:

"Yes it's true. Everyone. All the top editorial photographers take bad photos.

They just don't show it to me. Ever."

If your interested in the rest of his musings, take a look.

Questioning your medium...

Being an artist in any shape or form so often comes with it's many debates and controversies. One of the more persistant and seemingly never-ending questions is "What exactly is considered art?".

Now just wait a minute, I hear that groaning coming from the other end of your connection. This isn't going to be some long winded post about what I consider art to be or some wrinkled and decaying extistentialist art critics view on art.

Instead I present to you a very short and interesting 'micro-essay' entitled "Is 'What is Art?' a question worth answering?" by Paul Butzi.

Do yourself a favor and take a quick glance.

Blogs and New Technologies

So, the blog is up. Nothing posted just yet; however, much to come soon.

An interesting piece of news for those who know something about traditional photograhy is the introduction of supposedly the worlds first "digital enlarger" for photography. Apparently it takes your digital files and creates traditional black and white (as well as color) prints through the use of an actual photographic optical printing enlarger. AKA, no injket prints that fade after 5-10 years.

Seems interesting to me at least. I'd be interested to see just how well they perform and the quality of the prints.

If your interested you might want to take a peep. If not, relax, no one knows you got no clue what i'm talking about. ;)