Snapshot?

[Chewbecca]

I read here often that pictures appear like "Snapshots" or "snapshotty".

What do you all mean? I'm slightly confused, I guess.
I guess I shouldn't be, but what do you all mean when you say a picture is of "snapshot quality"?

Can you give me an example, please?
Thanks.

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[ann]

this is my definition. a snapshot image appeals only to the people involved or the person who took the image.

a Photograph, or fine art photography appeals to a wide based audience who can relate to the emotion , scene , etc

[Chewbecca]

I guess I'm kind of unclear on how that would be judged, though.

Or maybe I'm still so new to photography that I can look at and things like sharp color, nice bokeh (or appropriate bokeh), or overall sharpness, etc...
and it can make me appreciate a picture and even like it.

[julie32]

A snapshot is when you take a quick photo of your parents next to the statue of liberty...most people don't really want to see that photo, except for you, and your parents. But if you took some cool shots of the statue of liberty from some different angles....that would be more of a photograph. Think snapshot--think quick, point and shoot type. Photograph--think takes a little more time.

[tirediron]

My definition is rather close to Julie's. A photograph is an image which you capture after some thought, with a specific result in mind, accounting for things such as composition, exposure, that annoying leaf in the corner, and which will generally speaking, appeal to most of the people who view it to a greater or lesser degree.

A snapshot or picture is something which was taken solely to record a particular scene or event without regard or concern for the background, surroundings etc and is normally meant to appeal only to you and/or a select group of people (family for instance).

[Mike_E]

A snapshot is the form of photography which not only is one of the most maligned but also is the foundation of modern photography.

Yes boys and girls I said "foundation of modern photography"! For every one of the "Artsy' types and wanna be pros, there are ten thousand moms and pops willing to spend on a camera to take -you guessed it- snapshots. The next time you look down your noses at a "snapshot" look down at your camera and wonder what you would be using if the snapshooters of the world hadn't funded the research and payed the wages of the camera makers of the world.

By the By, bad photography is just bad and has nothing to do with snapshots. If you see poor craftsmanship call it for what it is.

[kellylindseyphotography]

snapshot:
(playing w/grandma in the yard, cluttery background, fun expressions, not great composition, focus or clarity)



Photograph:

(picture chose at specific time of day to get specific lighting, prop used purposefully and pose chosen carefully. clarity, focus and exposure are exact. picture gives a mood and feeling to those that do not know the child)

[Chewbecca]

Ok, so snapshots can still be of good quality, though, right?
I guess what I take is a lot of "snapshots" then.

I mean, I take a TON of pictures of my son doing random things, like, playing or building something. I usually end up with over 200 shots of him playing in the yard, but I go through and determine which ones are best. Like, I wouldn't do much with ones that have his eyes shut, or half shut, over-exposed, or just stuff like that.
I guess I just take REALLY GOOD snapshots then.

Oh, and I like drool and dirty faces on babies/toddlers, too.
I wouldn't pay a ton of money to have a professional take pictures of a dirty baby/toddler of mine, but if I took a great shot of a baby of mine with an after dinner dirty face, it'd be a keeper in my book. Even if the kid wasn't mine.

[mrodgers]

Not a great example here, but this is a little bit of an example between a "snapshot" and a "photograph"....

Images of my daughter at the bowling ally. Both taken from the same spot and both taken with the same camera. Note, this was long before I had learned much here since starting 6 months ago. I think I was still using only Program Shift mode as I hadn't figured everything out yet. And yes, I know I cut some of her feet off......

How they were shot... My wife uses the back panel LCD, holding the camera at arms length between her index finger and thumb, and at arms length. I use the viewfinder, tucking my arms in to stabilize the camera and will kneel down, stand, or whatever putting a little more thought into taking the picture.

My wife's "snapshot" of my daughter bowling.



My "photograph" of my daughter bowling.




You can see the difference in framing and how there was a little more thought in the composition with the rule of thirds and filling the frame by zooming in. As I said, it's not the greatest example, but it works a little bit.

EDIT: And now I see that I was quite a bit late on the shot and got the pins being raked by the machine rather than getting any action of the ball rolling down the lane, LOL. I guess it took me too long to set up the shot since I also had to set up the other shot, setting up her little bowling stand so she could get the ball down the lane

[manaheim]

Another way to think of it is a picture without much (or any) thought put into the composition of the shot.

[LaFoto]

When I worked on commission and my task was to capture photos of the atmosphere and general development of several dance classes of one and the same dance school putting together a large, one-hour project in the end, I had to be in their rehearsal room with them, trying to be as unintrusive as I could possibly be, since their work had to go on as is I had NOT been there, and I had to be QUICK. I had to very, very quickly get an idea of both the music AND the choreography their teacher had developed for them, so in the end my photos would express clearly their ideas, postures, facial expressions, movement and whatnot (all that goes into dancing, you know).

Given the fact that I had to be so quick, and taking your definition of snapshot into account, all I ever took in those 8 sessions that accompanied with my camera were SNAPSHOTS.

They ended in an exhibition called "Practised 1000 times", and it were exactly 1000 photos - or, if "not planning", "just pointing and shooting" is the definition for snapshot - nothing but snapshots.

Where they only snapshots?
I am not sure.
It was "spur-of-the-moment"-photography, since nothing else would have worked. There was NO CHANCE to repeat a scene (other than when the dance teacher had them repeat something because it didn't work out the first time), they never posed for me, either, as in: stop in their movement and wait for me to get ready.

The room was a gym, so I had no choice of nice or neutral backgrounds. I had to make do with what light there was, and most of all be very quick. All the time.

Was I taking nothing but snapshots?
"Carmina Burana" (big 56k warning!)

[ANDS!]

"Snapshot" as its used here and elsewhere, is just the "Crowds" way of denigrating the efforts of new hobbyists or "P&S" camera users. Fact of the matter is, a snapshot is just as much a photograph as a "photograph". Im some instances, snapshots have more heart than some of these over-processed over-staged "photographs". I have quite a bit of both on my computer - why? Because more often than not you ARENT out there looking for the perfect shot and instead see something you want to see again - bam, hit that shutter-release and grab it. Who cares about white balance or "the rule of thirds" (rules in creativity, hilarious) - you got the moment.

As they say in the motorcycle world: Ride your ride.

[julie32]

nicely stated Ands!

[TamiyaGuy]

I'd say a snapshot is a pic that the owner didn't put much thought into. Just a point 'n' squirt photo. A photograph, however, is a pic that the owner did put time into the framing, zoom, effects, etc. You can still have bad photographs, though. I should know, some of mine are awful!

[LaFoto]

THIS - I think - is a snapshot, and the world better be saved from photos of the kind (sorry, Alex, Sky and Hertz)!