Thoughts, notes, quotes, and approaches that have helped your photography.

Nh3 said:
A photographer must know exactly what his doing.
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Ahhh..... That's why I've never been any good.

A counter-quote from Marie Muscat-King (portrait, band and fine art photographer -- www.secret-studio.com)

"How much does it matter?"

When she was learning about such things, that was her standard reply to things like temperature, development time, lighting ratios, exposure... Not out of combativeness, but because she genuinely wanted to know.

And guess what? She was a brilliant photographer even before she learned any of that stuff.

Cheers,

R.
 
"Half the art is knowing when not to press the shutter button..."
Can't remember who coined this (possibly Lartigue?)

"f64 and be there--with a tripod".
(a LF fanatic of my acquaintance).

Regards,
D.
 
Something that made me rethink photography was when i watched the film Man On Fire. The last 20 or so minutes of footage made an impression on my 17 year old mind.
 
That history of photography on the Beeb earlier in the year had the line

“Photograph is the only art where it’s what you leave out that’s most important”

Or something to that effect, haven’t a clue what they meant but it sounded very profound
 
years ago i read an article in (i think) camera 35 magazine by ralph steiner that had a very strong impact on me. the gist of it was to keep it simple, work slowly and be your own influence as in follow your your own intuition and not the teachings of others.

i find that i am more influenced by things philosopical that things technical. it has taken me a long time to realize that it's not the camera/film/sensor/brand but me that is the key to my photography.
 
"A photographer must know exactly what his doing."

As opposed to say... a brain surgeon, an air traffic controller, a president. Wait, scratch that.

Cheers,
Gary
 
I always saw it as just a hobby. But then my favourite band requested if they could use my concert pictures for their newsletter and artwork. Then it dawned on me that maybe, possibly I could be any good.

That was my 'defining moment' when I started to see myself as a photographer. I might be cr*p at doing business with what I shoot, it's just nice to know that I could... a bit.

Many years later it still is just a hobby. But I bask in the warm glow of recognition once in a while ;-)
 
An f/8 day!

An f/8 day!

stuken said:
I believe its f/8 and be there.
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My how things change over time. When I was just getting into photography at 16, a mentor said, "isn't this a great day, f/8 for sure". He was referring to a bright, sunny, summer afternoon here in America's heartland. I believe that film speed has increased just a tad since then! I am pretty sure that he never needed a camera with 1/6000 speed shutter. How fortunate we are today to have ASA 25 to ASA 3200 speed film to mix and match to our hearts desire.

As for tips on getting the "just right" exposure, I haven't a clue. As someone said, sometimes the box says it all and at other times, it isn't even close. Faulty exposure is probably the ruination of more my photos than I care to admit to with poor composition a close second.:bang: The first is a technical problem while the second is just lack of talent. What a revelation, I just realized why so many of my photos look like c...p, I have no talent and am deficient in technical expertise!
 
I had an assignment to shoot four rolls of film in one room in one hour my first year of photo. The less cluttered the room the better. A real eye-opener. Twenty minutes in when you've exhausted all the pictures you see you start to panic. Twenty minutes of panic and then you start to see more.

I still do this every few years, and assign it often.
 
It's perfect pratice

It's perfect pratice

petebarker said:
'Shoot shoot shoot'
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One day, while out on the firing range, a grizzlied old Sargent was "dressing down" a fellow shooter when he said," Maggot! (I don't know why they always called us, "Maggots", unless it was because we always squirmed whenever they barked at us.) Its not practice, its perfect practice that will make you a Sharpshooter!" I have found that far too often people misquote that little gem of wisdom and end up wasting a lot of time and learning a lot of bad habits, myself included. Practice, practice, practice, but only if you are paying strict attention to each and every detail of what you are doing. This approach takes a little more time and a lot more effort, but the rewards will be significantly greater and more rewarding. 😉
 
Papa Smurf said:
My how things change over time. When I was just getting into photography at 16, a mentor said, "isn't this a great day, f/8 for sure". He was referring to a bright, sunny, summer afternoon here in America's heartland. I believe that film speed has increased just a tad since then! I am pretty sure that he never needed a camera with 1/6000 speed shutter. How fortunate we are today to have ASA 25 to ASA 3200 speed film to mix and match to our hearts desire.

As for tips on getting the "just right" exposure, I haven't a clue. As someone said, sometimes the box says it all and at other times, it isn't even close. Faulty exposure is probably the ruination of more my photos than I care to admit to with poor composition a close second.:bang: The first is a technical problem while the second is just lack of talent. What a revelation, I just realized why so many of my photos look like c...p, I have no talent and am deficient in technical expertise!
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As far as I understand it, the quote from weegee was designed around using a flash bulb on his 4x5, prefocusing, and using f/8 to get a decent enough DOF for any situation. So you were always ready to shoot. It didn't have much to do with the sunny 16 rule.
 
"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea." Eric Cantona - famous French philosopher.
 
sepiareverb said:
I had an assignment to shoot four rolls of film in one room in one hour my first year of photo. The less cluttered the room the better. A real eye-opener. Twenty minutes in when you've exhausted all the pictures you see you start to panic. Twenty minutes of panic and then you start to see more.

I still do this every few years, and assign it often.
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I went through this recently at an event I shot for a friend...It was a tough shoot...But it's something one needs to go through every once and a while...It teaches (more like forces you) to see and then see the things that don't just jump out at you...You get creative and find angles that you normally wouldn't...
A week later I shot a family portrait and it was soooo much easier and I enjoyed it soooo much more...had it not been for the first event I would not have realized how easy and fun the portrait shot was...

sepiareverb...great idea, great assignment...
 
"If you're going out to shoot trees and trees aren't happening but clouds are...then shoot clouds"...Dewitt Jones

I heard this at a lecture years ago given by Mr. Jones...of all the things he had to say that day this is what stuck in my head...
 
Well, whatever the original intent of "F8 and be there," the "be there" is what makes photography so hard for many. Writers don't have to be there, painters don't have to be there; but, photographers do. They have to pick up their gear and go to where the photo is. Being there is always the hardest part.
 
Fred Burton said:
Well, whatever the original intent of "F8 and be there," the "be there" is what makes photography so hard for many. Writers don't have to be there, painters don't have to be there; but, photographers do. They have to pick up their gear and go to where the photo is. Being there is always the hardest part.
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Isn't it 90% of life is showing up?

Another one of the my favorite quotes is;

The world is going to hell and Adams and Weston are out photographing rocks and trees. -HCB
 
One of my all-tame favourites is from Edward Weston:

"If it's more than 100 meters from the car, it's not worth photographing."

There are times when it's okay NOT to photograph something 🙂

Gene
 
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