Where are we going

The other week I was chatting to a good friend of mine and he started ranting about the photography he sees on many of the photography websites. How many of the popular shots seem to owe little relationship to the real world and seem to suffer from cartonification.

I suggested he put his thoughts down and make a blog out of his thoughts. Below is what my friend, who wishes to remain anonymous, came up with.  I hope you enjoy reading his thoughts on the state of popular photography today.

---

The Basics of Photography


A few years ago I enrolled on a one year course to study photography. One of the first lessons I learnt was that 'photography' meant writing or painting with light, the ability to capture a moment in time with the prevailing light was the essence of photography. Little did I realise then what could be achieved without such illumination.

I feel a photograph should represent what the photographer saw at the time of capture, using the skills he has learnt and fashioned to manipulate the camera by adjusting exposure or shutter speed and balancing light by using filters. Gaining a fundamental knowledge of these tools of the trade, with equal importance to how light interacts with the equipment, will lead to better and more honest results. In a recent internet forum thread, about this very same subject, one photographer alluded to better photography results would be achieved with "patience, planning and understanding in the field in the right conditions" I fully endorse these comments.

I had been trawling my way through various popular photography sites recently with a fairly glum outlook to the future of my beloved hobby. It seems an image has to go through a Photoshop metamorphous before it is appreciated and applauded. One such image so infuriated me it prompted this blog.

The image in question is from a popular photographers spot, shot many times, in fact I had been there recently, what grated me was not so much the photoshop manipulation, (well actually it did) but more the comments and accolades it received.

• "Lovely colours"
• "wonderful colours captured"
• " love the winter colours"

couldn't anyone see what I was seeing? The shot was straight out of a Pixar movie and nothing to do with real colours. It was a cartoon still, a make-believe impression from the time it was taken. No one mentioned manipulation, not one mention of

• "nice Photoshop work"
• "good use of the saturation sliders"
• "love the cartoon effect"

It certainly wasn’t in the photographers' description. It was as if the image had the emperor’s new clothes on and what pains me is this seems to be becoming the norm. With more and more images sent through the Photoshop grinder coming out appearing total unreal from the original "painting with light" concept than ever before.


A photographer I have huge admiration for wrote

I want to recreate the scene that you would have witnessed with your own eyes had you been standing next to me at the moment I fired the camera's shutter.

This is a poignant statement to those in the modern era of photography that the basic concepts of photography should be learnt and not everything should be resolved after the occasion via the PC.

---

So, what do you think? Have we forgotten the essentials of taking pictures? Has manipulation taken over from craftsmanship or is it all part of a broad church called photography and everything is valid?

Black and White Photographer of the Year Competition 2011

I recently had 3 photos short-listed for the Black and White Photographer of the year competition 2011.  Unfortunately I didn't come anywhere in the final judging, but I am just happy enough to be short-listed.

For those that asked here are the three shots that were shortlisted.

Gormley Towers

Lunch Time

Smudge

Tm Daniels is photographer of the month for October

Our photographer for October is Norfolk based Tim Daniels. Covering a range of subjects, often in a carefully stylised way, his website is well worth a visit.

  The Underpass

by Tim Daniels

---

Previous  Photographers of the Month

Summer on The Southbank

This summer London's Southbank centre has held a summer festival to commemorate 60 years since The Festival of Britain.  I managed to get down there a couple of times,  the atmosphere on a hot summers day was fantastic and the picture opportunities nuerous.

Here are a few shots from the festival, I seem to be in a B&W mood at the moment.  I hope you enjoy them.

Standing in the Rain

Mine all Mine

A snack on the steps

Monsoon Season

Prisoner of Love

Run from the Rain

Life Stories

Cathy Taylor is photographer of the month for September

Our photographer for September is Dorset based Cathy Taylor, covering a range of subjects her website is well worth a visit.

 

by Cathy Taylor

---

Previous  Photographers of the Month

Dennis Bromage is photographer of the month for August

Dennis Bromage is a Teeside based photographer that produces some breath taking images.  His website features many great images but I just couldn't resist these cute Polar Bears.

Curiosity

by Dennis Bromage

---

Previous  Photographers of the Month

Vision and Voice: Refining Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom - a book review

I have just finished reading Vision and Voice: Refining Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom by David DuChemin and found it to be a generally excellent book.

The book is not a full blown guide to Lightroom, you won't find any thing about the library module, printing or slideshow.  Tthis is a book dedicated to getting the best out of your pictures using the development module. The book begins with some text which basically boils down to "develop a view of the world you want to communicate" and then it is straight into an overview of the development module.



The overview is then followed by the real meat of the book, where David takes 20 images and explores how to develop them in Lightroom. Each image starts with a zeroed raw file of one of David's shots,which you can download from the web so you can try the instructions out yourself. Once you have the raw file it then shows each of the steps David goes through to achieve his desired result. The style is always to talk about what it is he is try to achieve in visual terms and how to achieve it rather than to get obsessed with the options. It gives you a pretty good idea of what a slider does and why he decided to move a particular slider at that particular time.

What I really liked is the way he takes a raw file, which is already pretty good, and just tries to get the best out of it. There is no manipulation just for the sake of it or rescuing a poor image here, just the digital equivalent of developing a shot in the darkroom. As the lessons progress, he gives the Develop module a pretty good workout and took me in to areas like HSL & split toning where I had never really seen much point in going to before.

The only downside I could find with the book was that the lessons can get slightly repetitive as most pictures need the same beginning adjustments. But if you work along with each picture or try them out on your own images this is needed (and helpful) to make sense of the process.

Overall this is an excellent book and recommended for all those Lightroom users who want to get the best out of their images.