[LRflex] Re: Disappointment & appreciation...
- From: "Ted Grant" <tedgrant@xxxxxxx>
- To: <leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2009 11:20:46 -0700
David offered:
Subject: [LRflex] Disappointment & appreciation...
Hi David,
The quality we see here on the leicareflex list and the LUG on a daily basis
is generally way ahead of that seen in many amateur camera club groups. And
even though I've seen excellent photography at the club level when asked to
judge or discuss a print shows. It's sad to see the errors I attribute to.
"a failing of digital and auto everything cameras." But you can't blame the
cameras as it still requires a human being to observe and see the photo
moment before they press the "click" button!
Basically it's so simple these days to "make exposures," that doesn't mean
taking pictures, it means point and shoot in some fashion as the camera
screen nearly always makes a neophyte or old fart look pretty damn good.. In
their eyes!! Unfortunately they in turn figure they are "photographers" when
in fact all they are is button pushers with no knowledge of what makes a
good picture moment! And to some degree today people don't require any photo
knowledge to take/make interesting exposures as long as they are good
techies knowing which menu button to set on the camera.
Today it's "all techie" and damn little about photography and recognizing
light, eyes, action and shooting from the shadow side. This is primarily why
you saw the errors you did and explained. I use auto focus now simply
because my one good eye is failing and I can't manually focus without a
great deal of fiddling. By the same token I don't have any problem with out
of focus or correct point of focus because I know where the spot has to be
for the correct depth and or whatever else is necessary. But that doesn't
come by being a techie, it comes from being a good photographer first and
foremost! While understanding things photographic!
If there isn't a return to teaching how and what makes an interesting
photograph, in other words learning the basics of photography! The "crappy"
or just plain no nothing pictures will increase simply because the auto
camera allows one to make incredibly perfect "exposures!" Not interesting
photo moments. And many do not know the difference relating to the fact
it's a nothing moment of garbage no matter how good it looks on camera or
computer screen.
I would say the on list photography with digital or auto everything camera
is far superior because the majority of shooters were "Film photographers
first" where they had to know more about taking/making good pictures first,
rather than "click, look at screen of today."
Dr. ted
Fellow Flexers:
Last weekend I had the pleasure of judging a nation-wide nature-photo
competition, with 131 entries - the best from 22 camera clubs across
Canada. As you might imagine, some of the work was absolutely
spectacular.... the shot which won, a "portrait" of a polar bear
sleeping on the shores of Hudson's Bay, would easily warrant a full
page in National Geographic magazine.
My disappointment stemmed from the fact that of the 131
images, almost 40 were downgraded simply because they were not sharp.
As we all know, in shots of living beings, the plane of focus should
be on the eyes, first and foremost. Yet, that basic fact seems to be
lost on many photographers, in this age of auto-focus.
We three judges saw many photos where the plane of focus would be on
the chest feathers of the bird, with the eyes just slightly
fuzzy. Such shots never garnered more than a 5 out of 10 points....
and, often, less. Despite the high standards shown in most of the
work, the large percentage of flawed entries reflects poorly on the
quality of work in many Canadian photo clubs. And, I suspect, that
Canada is not alone, in this.
After viewing Steve's Snake, Doug's Wren and Howard's Panos, it
brought home to me how fortunate we all are, on this list, to have
the opportunity to view such high quality work on a regular basis.
I don't mean to single out, Doug, Steve or Howard. They were only
this morning's contributions. The work from all who show on this
list is of a remarkably high calibre, and I want to thank all who
contribute.
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