Unmet photographic needs

[Hsg]

When I begun to take street photographs, I needed a RF-like digital camera. At that time there were only two such cameras, Epson RD1 and Leica M8.

Fast forward to today and the market is full of RF-style digital cameras at very good prices... My photography needs are met.


Do you have any photography need(s) that are still unmet?

 

[back alley]

still hoping for a great image made by me!

 

[harpofreely]

Just more time to shoot. As much as we can nit-pick, we here in 2015 are pretty spoiled for good gear.

 

[daveleo]

what the last 2 guys ^ said 🙂

 

[Timmyjoe]

still hoping for a great image made by me!

Ditto!

Best,
-Tim

 

[Hsg]

I have never felt a strong need to capture great images. For one I don't really believe that I can capture great images but more importantly even if I did there is no reward as such for great images today.

 

[jsrockit]

Nikon Df and a few lenses has met my needs. Sure, I could nitpick things I'd want, but it doesn't matter since I don't work for Nikon.

 

[Ned Bojic]

I have never felt a strong need to capture great images. For one I don't really believe that I can capture great images but more importantly even if I did there is no reward as such for great images today.

Absolutely no rewards anymore. HCB, today, would have been an absolute nobody.

This is why I love shooting and strive to get better for me and only myself! But I laugh at any and all of the gallery chasing photographers. Being shown in a gallery, IMO, is a laughable goal.

 

[Hsg]

Absolutely no rewards anymore. Hb, today, would have been an absolute nobody.

This is why I love shooting and strive to get better, but I laugh at any and all of the gallery chasing photographers. Being shown in a gallery, IMO, is a laughable goal.

The only measure of success for photography today is social media following.

 

[dfatty]

i'd like a high iso capable foveon sensor. and usable foveon image processing software. more gear for me to suck at photography with, lol.

 

[photomoof]

I have never felt a strong need to capture great images. For one I don't really believe that I can capture great images but more importantly even if I did there is no reward as such for great images today.

Fine art, is like any other creative endeavor, some make money, some don't.

Among my friends and acquaintances some show, but sell little, living on teaching, some show and make a minimal to moderate living, and some are multi-millionaires. I have some understanding of why, but it's not simple.

Showing artwork has always been a crapshoot. But there is really no alternative, even today.

One can sell one's artistic soul to commerce, and keep a drawing cabinet full of artistic work, and vanity publish on Blurb, or post on the internet.

Life is hard -- I have tried it all, well no Blurbs, at least not yet.

 

[Hsg]

Fine art, is like any other creative endeavor, some make money, some don't.

Among my friends and acquaintances some show, but sell little, living on teaching, some show and make a minimal to moderate living, and some are multi-millionaires. I have some understanding of why, but it's not simple.

Showing artwork has always been a crapshoot. But there is really no alternative, even today.

One can sell one's artistic soul to commerce, and keep a drawing cabinet full of artistic work, and vanity publish on Blurb, or post on the internet.

Life is hard.

Photography's moment has passed. We're living in an age of recycling photography trends from the past. So, naturally there are no rewards to create great images.

Even if someone joins magnum photos, which used to be the highest reward for documentary photographers, the best they can hope for is teaching workshops - to complete beginners with deep pockets.

 

[back alley]

still hoping for a great image made by me!

my reward would be self satisfaction...

 

[DominikDUK]

You can't compare a gallery show to social media likes. It's just a whole different experience even if I don't sell something in a gallery it is still a success entering a gallery just before opening seing your pictures hanging on the wall gives you not only a feeling of anticipation but also a feeling of great contentment you made it your work is hanging in a gallery. In the social medias on the other hand every a hole can present his pictures it's also very unlikely that you will never receive a like. Hey some of the best liked pictures are those of cats.

Most Magnum photographers of the past never made any real money either the financially most succesful ones either left magnum or did some fashion work. They also sometimes came from money. 🙂

Also photography is not a thing of the past it is the predominant visual media, the prices for photographs in the art market are on the rise not the other way round. There are just a lot more photographs being made than in the past and it gets harder to be noticed in the noise. But the medium is very far from dead.

As for the unmet photographic needs I would love a portable digital analogue camera that records an image on film and a the same time on a digital sensor and cf card.

 

[Godfrey]

It's important to make a distinction between "needs" and "wants".

Your question seemed somewhat equipment centric. The equipment I have now can do anything I might want to do with it, so I have few if any needs. However, I am often curious about other equipment so I often want to try other stuff. That said, if I had only one camera, I would just use it and find out what I could do with it.

Most of what I need in photography now is the time to do it, the ideas to do it with, and the audience to share it with once I'm happy with what I've done so I can see what my eye alone have missed.

G

 

[drew.saunders]

Are we talking pie-in-the-sky "needs" or more realistic equipment needs? Realistic is boring, so here's what I'd like to see, which I doubt would ever be commercially viable.

A 4x5" digital back with a full-sized 96x120mm chip, at 12 micron (that works out to 80MP), that's the size of a Polaroid back, including batteries, and that comes with a built-in 0-10X electronic LCD ND filter. A native ISO of 1000, so with the ND filter, you can get down to ISO 1 with the 10X setting. Monochrome only would be fine by me!

And a pony! I want a pony! 😛

I think the pony is much, much, more realistic.

 

[photomoof]

Photography's moment has passed. We're living in an age of recycling photography trends from the past. So, naturally there are no rewards to create great images.

Even if someone joins magnum photos, which used to be the highest reward for documentary photographers, the best they can hope for is teaching workshops - to complete beginners with deep pockets.

(See also DominikDUK post before this one.)

Sorry but that just is not the reality, as I see it (but of course that is just my opinion), but certainly the enormous money involved these days has made for a much more confusing environment. I still cannot quite wrap my head around individual images selling for 6 figures. The Gagosian effect is admittedly confusing, to older artists. Fact is however the galleries are full of photos, and they are selling.

Documentary photographers? You have changed the subject from gallery artists, or as you put it "gallery chasing."

There is probably more money being made by non-fine arts photographers than any time in history, despite the demise of news hard copy. One has to be flexible if one is doing anything creative commercially.

There are admittedly a lot of frankly mediocre photographers chasing fame, it is the nature of everyone making so many images, many began to think they "should" be showing.

 

[sevo]

A 4x5" digital back with a full-sized 96x120mm chip, at 12 micron (that works out to 80MP), that's the size of a Polaroid back, including batteries, and that comes with a built-in 0-10X electronic LCD ND filter. A native ISO of 1000, so with the ND filter, you can get down to ISO 1 with the 10X setting. Monochrome only would be fine by me!

I'd be happy even over a 6x7 version of the same. But you'll probably get that pony first. Pink, and able to talk...

 

[DougFord]

A smaller, lighter version of the RX1. Then I could paint my masterpiece. lol

 

[jsrockit]

I would love a portable digital analogue camera that records an image on film and a the same time on a digital sensor and cf card.

That would be cool.