The interesting levels of Photographic Elitism

Wow! That rang very true with me 🙂

I have, at times, gotten very caught up in the idea that "this is better" or "that is better" and just kept on buying stuff. More or less I stopped...sort of

I have 35 rangefinders film and digital, a few 35 slrs, 645, 6x6, 6x7, 35 pano etc... I am lusting for 4 x 5 as well! The darkroom is being built, i develope B+W, C41 and E6 at home. To top it off i have/use lightrom,a decent scanner and a great printer.

Sometimes I spend more time fooling with the assorted crap than actually taking pictures or even looking at the pictures!

I get a backlog to develope and scan then I try to knock it all out...look quickly, triage, then scan the ones I like. The goal is to get it over with and get it into the computer to "address later" .....later never seems to come.

Photography seems to have become more of a technical goal rather than an artistic or creative goal with getting to the image and getting it where I want it to be the end result rather than having an image as I visualised it, learning from it and enjoying the product.

I must break the cycle.......right after i scan those last few rolls 🙂
 
I've definitely been guilty of letting the technical details get in the way of the actual picture-taking. I think (hope) my GAS is finally winding down as I realize that some of the pictures I most enjoy were taken with the humble (or maybe not) Olympus XA. I have to constantly remind myself of this and have been trying to get back to cameras that don't get in your way. Hence, a recent post on the Hexar AF. Yes, the Hexar AF will definitely be it. Definitely. Until the X100 comes out, that is...

atlcruiser said:
Wow! That rang very true with me 🙂

I have, at times, gotten very caught up in the idea that "this is better" or "that is better" and just kept on buying stuff. More or less I stopped...sort of

I have 35 rangefinders film and digital, a few 35 slrs, 645, 6x6, 6x7, 35 pano etc... I am lusting for 4 x 5 as well! The darkroom is being built, i develope B+W, C41 and E6 at home. To top it off i have/use lightrom,a decent scanner and a great printer.

Sometimes I spend more time fooling with the assorted crap than actually taking pictures or even looking at the pictures!

I get a backlog to develope and scan then I try to knock it all out...look quickly, triage, then scan the ones I like. The goal is to get it over with and get it into the computer to "address later" .....later never seems to come.

Photography seems to have become more of a technical goal rather than an artistic or creative goal with getting to the image and getting it where I want it to be the end result rather than having an image as I visualised it, learning from it and enjoying the product.

I must break the cycle.......right after i scan those last few rolls 🙂
Click to expand...
 
Its a great and funny story in which I can easily see myself too (short of the money for them9 and). Images are the proof - they are beautiful!!!
 
I believe the process is called 'growing'.

At some point, you have to stop relying on what others say and start to decide for yourself where your boundaries are. For me, with the help of may wonderful photographers and thinkers in RFF and beyond, that's B&W, using film, darkroom printing, and a small collection of cheap old cameras as curiosity fodder.

Don't get me wrong, I have *all* of the considerations that you mentioned up there, but the level of dependency to what other think slowly but surely diminished as I do more photography.

And don't take this as me suggesting that you should stop learning. Keep learning, but remember that there are two different approaches to learning in general, as a child and as an adult. Same concept here.
 
v_roma said:
My question (and I'm only half joking) is how do you cure GAS? That article rang too true for me, even if the number of cameras and the cost was exaggerated for my particular situation. But I do wonder if the "cure" is really to get the best (but how long does the best stay the best?) or something else... I am finding that GAS gets particularly bad as I have less and less time to actually go out and take pictures. It's almost like a substitute for actual picture taking. Any wisdom to be shared out there? 🙂
Click to expand...

replace GAS with printing... once you learn to make the types of prints you love then extraneous gear will become obvious and you'll get rid of it to raise funds for paper, chemistry, darkroom equipment and maybe even start to explore alternative print processes...
 
kevbo said:
<snip>
Oh for the love of God people. Even I, the camera addict, am starting to pick up on this! 🙂 I would imagine that after "old lenses", the next level is "You've got to shoot film" then "You need to shoot medium format - it's so much better".
<snip>
But doesn't it get silly after a while? This non-stop ladder?
K
Click to expand...

kevbo - you are not alone! I followed a similar path. Guilty of looking at vintage lenses last night! (ps - there's a nice 35mm Summaron in the classifieds!).

sojournerphoto said:
Just stop now🙂
(link)
Mike
Click to expand...

Alas, the GAS path for dSLR's! At least I bought a "proper" tripod the first time! Also skipped the Kit Lens (did that with first film SLR in 1991 where I also got suckered into the "filter package").

One thing that also range true in the linked essay, in the final Step #25:
Letter to George said:
Besides, your files, while not perfect or automatically imbued with any special magic, are now about as good as it's reasonably possible for files to be, and you've learned by this time—finally—that photography is a matter of learning to shoot, having the camera with you, learning to handle it as if it were second nature, gradually increasing the sophistication of your taste by looking at great work that appeals to you, learning to edit, and discovering your own visual passions, rather than being a matter of equipment.
Click to expand...

And that may be the realization needed to cure GAS. To truly believe the equipment is no longer holding you back, only your vision and execution.

Of course, now I'm buried in photography books and image galleries versus gear articles... 🙂 Thought about studying painting a bit.. 🙄

kevbo - your latest images are looking great, btw! (though a vintage lens in B&W *would* have been really nice for those weding shots! 😀)

monochromejrnl said:
replace GAS with printing... once you learn to make the types of prints you love then extraneous gear will become obvious and you'll get rid of it to raise funds for paper, chemistry, darkroom equipment and maybe even start to explore alternative print processes...
Click to expand...

aaahhhhhhhh!!! that dang "isn't printing the greatest thing" thread got me started on this. 😱
 
dave lackey said:
Well, having divested myself of ALL of my Nikon D-bodies, bazooka lenses, studio equipment and such, I am free!

Thinking back on it, I did enjoy the work that I did with these but somehow I feel we have lost our values that the "greatest generation" of my parents had long ago. I use an M3, a camera that dates back to the time my father came home from WWII and consumerism had not yet been elevated to the ridiculous level it is today. An M3 in those days was most likely the only camera that the "average" person (admittedly with a lot more money than my parents ever had), owned and used for years. They did not chase the equivalent of pixels, they just wanted to take photographs.

I would love to have an M9 to pair up with my M3, but it is not possible, but I don't fret about it.... I have come to appreciate the simple life:😉

"there are some to whom all our ways seem quaint, but today of all days it is brought home to me that it is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life"...
-Bilbo Baggins
Click to expand...


Replace the Nikon with Canon and M3 with M6 and this is pretty much my story too 🙂
 
shadowfox said:
I believe the process is called 'growing'.

At some point, you have to stop relying on what others say and start to decide for yourself where your boundaries are. For me, with the help of may wonderful photographers and thinkers in RFF and beyond, that's B&W, using film, darkroom printing, and a small collection of cheap old cameras as curiosity fodder.

Don't get me wrong, I have *all* of the considerations that you mentioned up there, but the level of dependency to what other think slowly but surely diminished as I do more photography.

And don't take this as me suggesting that you should stop learning. Keep learning, but remember that there are two different approaches to learning in general, as a child and as an adult. Same concept here.
Click to expand...

I had hoped to phrase the original post to avoid this but I've noted a few people have still misunderstood me:

I'm not a follower, never have been. I don't care what others think of my photos in the end - I enjoy them and the art myself. The _alluring_ thing however is the ever-present hint that things around the next corner are even better. I have this image in my head of a small child (me) picking up bread crumbs on a trail and an ever-present small gangly old woman with a bony finger beckoning me at the next corner with "child, the treats are even sweeter over here". 😉

Ergo, my feeling and comment that this cycle never ends.
 
v_roma said:
My question (and I'm only half joking) is how do you cure GAS? That article rang too true for me, even if the number of cameras and the cost was exaggerated for my particular situation. But I do wonder if the "cure" is really to get the best (but how long does the best stay the best?) or something else... I am finding that GAS gets particularly bad as I have less and less time to actually go out and take pictures. It's almost like a substitute for actual picture taking. Any wisdom to be shared out there? 🙂
Click to expand...

Curing GAS is easy, simply do like me and admit to yourself that you suck as a photographer and no matter what new expensive camera or lens you buy you're still going to suck 🙂
 
Thanks for all the advice 😀 As for time spent shopping vs. photographing, that's not really my problem. I wish I had more time to photograph. Because I don't, I think the GAS creeps in as an outlet for my photography interest. GAS can be done from work during a 5 min break. Actual picture taking needs a little more time (for me at least).
 
Kevbo - from reading your posts, the only solution I can see for you is to buy into a small 35mm film system. Fujica ST series is what I have, but Olympus still has the most gear out there.

Film opens up a whole new world! There are so many different brands and accessories, you can enjoy an endless path of discovery (called GAS).

😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

Also make a firm commitment to stay away from ebay and RFF. Before ebay, there were things I wanted, but I had comfort that if I couldn't afford them, I still had perfectly good equipment that gave me the kind of photos I wanted. Ebay allowed me to buy some things I couldn't otherwise afford. Then when RFF came along, I was smitten by the GAS virus. After all, so many good sounding, and sometimes obviously good photographers, couldn't all be wrong. If a camera or lens was that good, I obviously needed it. Ebay to the rescue!

This answer isn't in the same vein as most above, but I think it talks to the problem you pose. If you really want to, you can get many stunning photos with an inexpensive P&S.

I suggest our GAS isn't so much elitist, as gullible. 😛
 
Hmm... Isn't this type of behaviour common in other hobbies, too?

For example, I was a fanatical windsurfer when I was younger (and had much more free time). What do you think we did when we were standing ashore, before or after being out on the water? Exactly, we talked about gear, boards, sails and all that stuff windsurfers need or want. And we dreamed about those smaller, faster boards, those more manouverable rigs, those cool surf-mobiles...

It didn't keep us from being out on the water, just like reading and sometimes writing on RFF doesn't keep me from photographing.

I think it just shows that we're really into the thing. 🙂
 
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