Thoughts on what's popular these days

I

imokruok

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I am a big fan of Flickr, and have discovered a number of techniques just from browsing others photos. The following image, among others, was linked off of the Flickr blog today.

4443722520_e71ff354d8.jpg


There's definitely some artistic talent here. Mainly in digital manipulation. But regardless of recognizing that this guy knows how to use Photoshop, I find the image visually sickening. Way, way, way overdone on the HDR to the point that I have trouble recognizing what the guy took a picture of. I just find it somewhat bothersome that people overlook the photographic quality of a normal shot over the guy who can mash three images together to make pretty colors.

Many of the other shots are better.

http://blog.flickr.net/en/2010/03/19/shopping-at-the-souk/
 
I'll just say that while I occasionally keep an ear to the ground regarding what people are doing out here, right now, I don't get too caught up in the "what's hot" talk in terms of photography, because, like the world of fashion, some things are ephemeral, while certain tenets of vision/art/craft/whateveryouwanttocallit stay fairly steady, although they may fall out of vogue for a handful of years. Everyone who gets involved in this thing on a creative jag has to sort this out for themselves, regardless of changes in sensibilities, artistic conceits, "the market", or technology. At the moment, HDR is about as many light-years away from my creative sensibilities as a technique could possibly be, but I'm open to someone bold enough to work within it to show me something that would blow my socks off. That's part of how art works at its (rare) best. I won't say anything's possible, but a great many things are.


- Barrett
 
photokalia said:
To me, the best HDR technique is the one that no one notices.
Click to expand...

Second to this.

The above example shows that nowadays its popular to pay attention mostly to the form but not to content.
People are just seeking new ways to make them be looked at.
 
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You sure its HDR? To me just looks like too much saturation, which you can get by sliding the Saturation slider in lightroom or in the hue/saturation command in photoshop.
 
It's either HDR made from converting 3 RAW files in a -3, 0, +3 exposure compensation or it's massive use of the "fill" slider in lightroom or aperture. Either way it's hideous. I really don't like hdr at all.
 
The point of photography isn't to butcher the light, it's to learn to make light work for you within it's limitations.
 
imokruok said:
I am a big fan of Flickr, and have discovered a number of techniques just from browsing others photos. The following image, among others, was linked off of the Flickr blog today.

4443722520_e71ff354d8.jpg


There's definitely some artistic talent here. Mainly in digital manipulation. But regardless of recognizing that this guy knows how to use Photoshop, I find the image visually sickening. Way, way, way overdone on the HDR to the point that I have trouble recognizing what the guy took a picture of. I just find it somewhat bothersome that people overlook the photographic quality of a normal shot over the guy who can mash three images together to make pretty colors.

Many of the other shots are better.

http://blog.flickr.net/en/2010/03/19/shopping-at-the-souk/
Click to expand...

The photo you posted wasn't in the flickr blog directly but it was a user response to a photo in the blog.
Nevertheless 15 People have it as favorite. It must be good :D
 
Is something like this really "popular these days"? Or is it just an isolated gimmick appealing mostly to computer geeks who live in their basements glued to their computer screens. Is it meant to show not so much an image, but rather how much post processing the so-called 'artist' can do . . . . a sort of digital virtuoso display/work. It may stab us in the eyes, but, it does succeed in emphasizing once again just how much of "what's popular these days" must first pass through some sort of digital threshing machine.
 
Pickett Wilson said:
Look to me like a seriously over sharpened image.
Click to expand...

That's what I see too.

But, we don't know if the image was test of a new lens either. I am guilty of uninteresting "test" images. And I post them too. :eek:,

But, without knowing the "Why" is was posted... I will reserve my overall critic.
I lied ;)
If this was a test shoot, I'd say, over sharpened, a different camera angle might of worked better along with a tighter framing. Overall, it has some redeeming qualities..It has plenty detail and shows how confusing an open market can be when tring to find something. :)
 
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