The Problem with Modern Photographers -- And Your Problem Probably Too (I'm Guessing)

[Calzone]

Nick,

Shooting like a large format photographer (maximizing IQ at time of image capture and minimizing post processing for printing large for fine detail and broad tonality) with a digital camera for speed and convenience is what I do.

The problem for me is not having enough studio space and the expense of printing big.

Pretty much the technology is so great that few exploit the medium fully. Pretty much one can transcend formats and make prints that have the detail, resolution and broad tonality of medium format and at times when perfection happens even large format when shooting a small format digital camera.

How many people really are making the most of even a 24 MP camera? How many are trying to maximize print size to exploit the available technology? I'm sorry, but I must say a 13x19 print is rather small and not much of a challenge when shooting digital?

How many photographers don't print? Pretty much my RAW files only get a tweaking, and I use filters to render the contrast I want at time of image capture.

It is as if I am like a large format shooter who is trying to create a perfect negative that I can contact print, except I'm shooting a Leica Monochrom. Point is that I don't do much post processing or pushing ISO because I don't like how digital artifacts get amped up with mucho post processing.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Bill and Nick,

I often squint to help visualize contrast. In a way I am trying to replicate being color blind.

Like you, I'm primarily a B&W shooter, only because I went to art school and that is what I cut my teeth on. For clarity I will state that I'm not color blind.

Might you think being color blind as being an advantage for a B&W shooter?

Cal

 

[Sumarongi]

Might you think being color blind as being an advantage for a B&W shooter?

Errm, you think being impaired is that funny? ... if the authorities discover that you're colour blind, they immediately revoke your pilot's licence, your sailing boat licence, probably even your driving licence!

 

[Steve M.]

Interesting, but not actual. Bresson obviously set up a lot of his shots. He wasn't one million monkeys hammering away at one million typewriters, he was one man taking photographs, most of them on city streets where he could not control events. So he controlled many of them. It's really obvious. But in the end he got the shots. Same with Adams. No matter how he did it, he got the shots, and anyone who has seen the prints from his negatives vs book reproductions understands that he achieved some great stuff.

We live in an age where we are inundated with imagery. It's mega-information, yet our senses are the same as when these two photographers were working (and there were many, many others just as good). We've pretty much seen it all. So seeing new work is almost impossible because there is none of it around. The sense of wonder is gone. I may love the Mona Lisa, but hang it on my wall and show it to me over and over on the TV, the computer, etc, and I will get sick and tired of it in short order.

Painters have been talking about this for decades.......the death of art. There's been over exposure to the ninth degree. Doesn't mean good stuff isn't still being made, it means we have lost that sense of wonder and uniqueness. Never mind the sunset, let me take a photo of it on my cell phone to put on my monitor at home!

Besides, there are no problems, as Ken Mcleod said. There are only obstacles in the landscape which need to be negotiated 🙂

 

[bmattock]

Might you think being color blind as being an advantage for a B&W shooter?

Speaking only for myself, I cannot really say. The problem is that I've never had the experience of not being color-blind, so I have nothing to compare it with.

I will say that although I do not see in pure B&W, I do tend to distrust colors, since my eyes lie to me. So I mentally (and subconsciously) give precedence to things that others might not, such as the things I mentioned like light and shadow, texture, and movement.

I certainly feel at home with B&W, and perhaps that is some kind of advantage. Hard to say though. I am also of an age where I grew up with B&W television - we didn't have a color TV until I was nearly a teenager, and the early color sets were really awful anyway. So B&W was also not unusual for me see every day, even without doing photography.

 

[bmattock]

Errm, you think being impaired is that funny? ... if the authorities discover that you're colour blind, they immediately revoke your pilot's licence, your sailing boat licence, probably even your driving licence!

I am allowed to drive, but like many color blind people, I have learned that (in the USA) red is always on top and bigger than the other traffic lights. There are a few states where the lights are sideways and red is the same size as the yellow and green, and in those cases, red is always on the left. At least, I hope it is.

I have never sailed a boat, but yes, it is true that if I were to try to get a pilot's license, I would be restricted to daylight flying only. The lights on the runways would be a mystery to me.

 

[NickTrop]

2a. He was not printing, because he has best printers working for him. And he knew what and how he wants it to be printed.

2b. HCB was not snapping as OP might assume.
Sorry, can't stand lack of knowledge.

BTW, HCB went to the AA land and his landscapes of America are way more alive and interesting comparing to AA rocks and trees. IMHO.

2a. -- So, as I said, he outsourced his printing. No?

2b. See qoute/link below. I tried to find a source that cited how many shots HBC took on any give day and could not. That's the best I can do. It's a second-hand source but just to bolster my claim "in general". Is not claiming or assuming HBC took more pictures than AA on any given day not something that can be categorized as "goes without saying"? Also, to say that HBC "took a lot of photos" or "more photos than Ansel Adams" is in no way diminishing to HBC.

"National Geographic’s recent 50 Greatest Pictures issue recently and was totally enthralled by reading about the behind-the-scenes on some of their most iconic images. One line jumped out at me massively:

“A photographer shoots 20,000 to 60,000 images on assignment. Of those, perhaps a dozen will see the published light of day”"

https://digital-photography-school.com/1000-shots-a-day-the-national-geographic-photographer/

 

[Calzone]

Errm, you think being impaired is that funny? ... if the authorities discover that you're colour blind, they immediately revoke your pilot's licence, your sailing boat licence, probably even your driving licence!

S,

I'm not making fun or light of an impairment.

I have bowed legs (malnutrician when a toddler), but bowed legs makes me hyper agile, which is a great advantage if you are a boxer to flank your opponent.

Also many people struggle with handicaps, imperfections, limitations and restrictions...

I know in WWII color-blind people were sought out because their vision was an actual advantage for doing recone.

Cal

 

[ptpdprinter]

"National Geographic’s recent 50 Greatest Pictures issue recently and was totally enthralled by reading about the behind-the-scenes on some of their most iconic images. One line jumped out at me massively:

“A photographer shoots 20,000 to 60,000 images on assignment. Of those, perhaps a dozen will see the published light of day.”

That's an astounding statistic. Monkeys and typewriters come to mind.

 

[Ccoppola82]

I suspect that the overhwhelming majority of people in here are NOT making a living through photography. That being said, who cares how they shoot or process? Shooting and processing have their own therapeutic qualities to them, and because it is for fun and not $ or deadlines, I would say that both are worthy and productive uses of time. In my downtime I can choose to draw, paint, read, watch useless TV, process, whatever. As long as I have some single malt and my activity of choice gives me enjoyment, that’s all that matters to me. That being said, if I was shooting professionally I think your points are quite valid.

 

[css9450]

Monkeys and typewriters come to mind.

Having a monkey and a typewriter as my avatar, I heartily endorse this post!

 

[NickTrop]

I don't think color blindness is a big deal. I've obviously been this way since birth. Funny story. I have a hard time between olive greens and browns. My first car was a green '69 Impala my dad handed down to me (nice of him). He bought new and it was the family car for years, since I was a wee lad. When I drove my friends to HS, they were calling it "the mean green machine". I was quite miffed by this since I didn't know I was CB then (though suspected something was off... but thought I just didn't know my colors very well). I mentioned it over dinner one day and my family stopped dead in their tracks. The car IS green! Ten years I thought is was brown.

Another one. I was going to the gym regularly years ago. I went and saw a great pair of designer sweats marked down down and down on the lablel from like $60 to $15. Picked them up, loved them, wore them to the gym all the time. Thought I was stylin'. Great designer sweats I got for a steal...

I thought they were navy blue.

After wearing them several months, as I was leaving for the gym, my wife lowered the magazine she was reading and said, "You know those sweats are flaming purple, right?"

She had a good laugh. Let me wear these things for months before telling me.

 

[rajmohan-fotograf]

I suspect that the overhwhelming majority of people in here are NOT making a living through photography. That being said, who cares how they shoot or process? Shooting and processing have their own therapeutic qualities to them, and because it is for fun and not $ or deadlines, I would say that both are worthy and productive uses of time. In my downtime I can choose to draw, paint, read, watch useless TV, process, whatever. As long as I have some single malt and my activity of choice gives me enjoyment, that’s all that matters to me.

Seconded, especially the single malt! 🙂

 

[NickTrop]

Seconded, especially the single malt! 🙂

I've grown even pickier in my old age. Give me a peaty Islay. You may keep your fruity Speysides. (Well, not really "keep" them. I'll "settle" for them in a pinch.)

 

[rajmohan-fotograf]

I've grown even pickier in my old age. Give me a peaty Islay. You may keep your fruity Speysides. (Well, not really "keep" them. I'll "settle" for them in a pinch.)

Agreed - smoke and peat, yum!

 

[charjohncarter]

Totally, funny and clever. You might be able to sell this mini essay for more than $18.84.

I didn't go to the tasting at Laphroaig distillery, did at Pitlockery, and I created this masterpiece shooting jpeg:

Untitled by John Carter, on Flickr

 

[bmattock]

...I mentioned it over dinner one day and my family stopped dead in their tracks. The car IS green! Ten years I thought is was brown.

I found out when my parents sent me to Catholic school when I was about six or seven. Unlike public schools where we brought our own crayons to school and they had paper labels on them, this class had thick communal unlabeled crayons which we all shared. I colored my skies purple and my grass brown and the nuns thought I was a discipline problem until it was discovered I was color-blind by the school nurse. (FYI, I *was* a discipline problem also)

Another one. I was going to the gym regularly years ago. I went and saw a great pair of designer sweats marked down down and down on the lablel from like $60 to $15. Picked them up, loved them, wore them to the gym all the time. Thought I was stylin'. Great designer sweats I got for a steal...

I thought they were navy blue.

After wearing them several months, as I was leaving for the gym, my wife lowered the magazine she was reading and said, "You know those sweats are flaming purple, right?"

She had a good laugh. Let me wear these things for months before telling me.

When I was in the Marine Corps, I happened to be walking through the mall one day and saw a table full of marked-down jeans at The Gap in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA. That was in the 80s when colored jeans were fashionable. I didn't want colored jeans though, just blue ones. I found a stack of them at $6 each and bought 4 pair of them. They were indeed purple and not blue, as I was laughingly informed back at the barracks.

 

[Ccoppola82]

I've grown even pickier in my old age. Give me a peaty Islay. You may keep your fruity Speysides. (Well, not really "keep" them. I'll "settle" for them in a pinch.)

Mmmmmm. Lagavulin. I remember the first time I cracked an Islay and the entire room smelled like a smokey campsite. What a joy. Lol. I did enjoy your essay BTW, was just pointing out that us casual photogs do things for the joy of doing them.

 

[al1966]

I've grown even pickier in my old age. Give me a peaty Islay. You may keep your fruity Speysides. (Well, not really "keep" them. I'll "settle" for them in a pinch.)

The one alcohol I miss are Islay malts, my late uncle haulage firm used to deliver most of the grain to the distilleries, as a result we got loads of free whisky 😀

 

[Sega]

Strange you should mention Ansel and Henri as I've been watching and reading about them whilst I've been off, I would have said David Bailey but only from my Dad taking the mick while I've been shooting around him, I'm not acctually mega familiar with his work.

I can't say I'm that much like either, never had an art education bar the basics you get up to the point you pick your GCSE subjects, I wanted to be a Mechanic back then so art was out.
Toyed with learning it on one of those open courses along with learning another language but as yet I've not as I never really want to make my photography a job (who knows they might make millions off me when I'm in the ground).

I can go machine gun mode but rarely do, due to a few issues I have since being a kid I don't like people so it's rare you'll see them in my photos but I'm also not one of those die hards who hike (alright now I couldn't if I wanted to) miles to get that perfect landscape shot and I live in an Industrial town with country close by (not quite the Slumtown that Lewis Hamilton would have you think Stevenage was).

I try to compose my shots well rather than edit them, I think most I did was fixing neg scan issues more than the acctual photo, most recent big print was a 'Selfie' style photo of my late Daushund cross and I didn't alter it at all although the printer cropped it a little during its framing.

As with Colourblindness I remember being told about a Car enthusiast who painted his Cobra kit car bit lurid yellow as it was one of the only colours he could see, still apparently sold well too.