Are YOU a photographer?

[boojum]

I own some cameras.

 

[Archiver]

Earlier, I said that I feel that the title of photographer is something that I constantly strive to earn through reliably producing desired results, and this didn't really happen until around 2011-2012. But before that, I was already on a photographic odyssey which took me through Melbourne, interstate and overseas. In 2009, I went on the road trip of a lifetime with my 5D Mark II, three months driving around Australia. Along the way, there were many stops for photography, and I was able to capture this at a lake somewhere in Queensland. I wish I had made a note of the location.

5D II - Memories of Journeys Past by Archiver, on Flickr

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f4 L

In 2010, I acquired my Leica M9, which sent me on another leg of the odyssey, but I was still rocking the 5D Mark II. This was taken at Moora Moora Reservoir in Halls Gap, a country town about three and a half hours northwest of Melbourne. I took many such images on that trip, which began to show me that I could, in fact, do this.

70-200L - Moora Moora Reservoir by Archiver, on Flickr

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f4 IS L

By 2014, I had done a lot of work, learning techniques like exposure fusion for things like real estate photography. This was taken at the high end restaurant Vue De Monde, on the 55th floor of the famous Rialto building in Melbourne. By this time, such an image was quite routine for me.

5D II - A Restaurant with a Vue II by Archiver, on Flickr

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8 II L

 

[bulevardi]

If you take pictures, you're a photographer. Whether you are a good one or not is a different discussion. That picture is superb. Pretty strong evidence that you are a fine photographer.

Well... everyone with a phone takes pictures.
So almost everyone is a photographer. ;-)

Everyone with a phone also types messages, so a lot of people are writers. ;-)

 

[Richard G]

Earlier, I said that I feel that the title of photographer is something that I constantly strive to earn through reliably producing desired results, and this didn't really happen until around 2011-2012. But before that, I was already on a photographic odyssey which took me through Melbourne, interstate and overseas. In 2009, I went on the road trip of a lifetime with my 5D Mark II, three months driving around Australia. Along the way, there were many stops for photography, and I was able to capture this at a lake somewhere in Queensland. I wish I had made a note of the location.

5D II - Memories of Journeys Past by Archiver, on Flickr

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f4 L

In 2010, I acquired my Leica M9, which sent me on another leg of the odyssey, but I was still rocking the 5D Mark II. This was taken at Moora Moora Reservoir in Halls Gap, a country town about three and a half hours northwest of Melbourne. I took many such images on that trip, which began to show me that I could, in fact, do this.

70-200L - Moora Moora Reservoir by Archiver, on Flickr

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f4 IS L

By 2014, I had done a lot of work, learning techniques like exposure fusion for things like real estate photography. This was taken at the high end restaurant Vue De Monde, on the 55th floor of the famous Rialto building in Melbourne. By this time, such an image was quite routine for me.

5D II - A Restaurant with a Vue II by Archiver, on Flickr

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8 II L

That Vue de Monde shot reminds me of Eggleston’s jet lounge shot.

 

[purgum923]

I wouldn’t call myself a photographer, at least not yet. I dabbled with 35mm film when I was younger, but never really continued with it. I recently picked up a camera again and started shooting, learning the basics along the way. It’s changed how I see things now. Composition, light, and shadows stand out in ways they didn’t before. I’m less focused on making something look pretty and more interested in telling a story through the image. Photography is just a hobby for me, not something I do for a living, but it’s become a creative outlet I had forgotten about over the years and am glad to have rediscovered.

 

[Erik van Straten]

This one is from 1973.

I already felt that I was a photographer at the age of 4, so in 1958. I still remember that feeling.

This is the first photo I took I really liked. I like this one still.

Nikkormat Ftn, Nikkor H Auto 50mm f2, Utrecht.

 

[Bill Clark]

Yes.

Made photographs at important events.

 

[Rayt]

Just a hobbyist. To call myself a photographer would be an insult to photographers.

 

[Rick Waldroup]

I fancy myself as a great snapshot shooter, I think... 🙂

 

[boojum]

For this to have even a shred of meaning we need agree on the definition of photographer. Until then we are all describing something different. Not at all unlike Kipling's story of the six blind men and the elephant.

But don't let that stop you or even slow you down. ;o)

 

[Bolo Kukus]

To me, the only sensible answer to this is I own (too) many film and digital cameras and two mobile phones with built-in cameras, and I (sort of) use them all at one time or another.

Therefore, yes, I am a photographer.

At other times I feel more that the images I produce label me more a snapshooter, which is well and good .

Therefore, yes, at such times I am a snapshooter.

But then a snapshooter, like a mobile phone shooter, is still a photographer. So where does that take us, and leave us?

Never mind. The weather in the Promo Valley in East Java (Indonesia) where I am now is nothing short of superb. Cooler than most places in Australia, and no bush fires turning the lush tropical forests around me into mounds of exotic charcoal.

I fancy a long walk, so now I'll forget about all this overthinking, and go out, take photos - and be a photographer.

Just for the fun of it, I intend to take at least six volcano views with my IPhone...

PS Again, excellent phots in this thread. I especially like the early image by Erik Van Straten (#65).

 

[Archiver]

For this to have even a shred of meaning we need agree on the definition of photographer. Until then we are all describing something different. Not at all unlike Kipling's story of the six blind men and the elephant.

But don't let that stop you or even slow you down. ;o)

Three blind men met an elephant. One touched its tail and proclaimed that elephants are thin and stringy. The second blind man touched its side, and said that elephants are vast and like a wall. The third touched its trunk, and concluded that they were both wrong, elephants are prehensile and muscular.

Three blind elephants met a man. The first elephant felt the man and said, 'men are flat'. The other two blind elephants felt the man, and agreed.

😉

 

[boojum]

Three blind men met an elephant. One touched its tail and proclaimed that elephants are thin and stringy. The second blind man touched its side, and said that elephants are vast and like a wall. The third touched its trunk, and concluded that they were both wrong, elephants are prehensile and muscular.

Three blind elephants met a man. The first elephant felt the man and said, 'men are flat'. The other two blind elephants felt the man, and agreed.

😉

Six men;

#1 - tail
#2 - side
#3 - leg
#4 - ear
#5 - tusk
#6 - trunk

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

I have a photo keeper rate of 100%, sometimes even higher!

Therefore not only am I a photographer, I’m a damn good one too! 😉

All the best,
Mike