Do you see photos in everyday life?

Vince.1551 · Sep 30, 2014

Well I wish you your best in your endeavors. Hoping to see the next Ansel Adams [emoji6]

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photoguy99 · Sep 30, 2014

Pointing out that a lot of work is incoherent isn't the same thing as ruling out every approach but my own. Some would say it's simply stating facts.

MOREGONE · Sep 30, 2014

It is crazy now watching movies and TV. I am always considering the focal length what kinda of lighting they may be using.

And yeah, when I am out and about I cannot help but scout locations or see pics.

mmaria · Oct 1, 2014

photoguy99 said:
If you look at the work of people who do claim to see photos everywhere, you'll find, if you're lucky, a bunch of nice pictures. A photo of some flowers. These rocks. That pretty girl. This guy and his dog.

a bunch of nice pictures.....check. I guess I have some nice pictures.
A photo of some flowers..... check. I guess I can call those "flowers."
These rocks........ check. I guess I can find some rocks in my pictures.
That pretty girl.... check.
This guy and his dog..... Damn! Got to find that guy and his dog!

Vince.1551 · Oct 1, 2014

lol don't forget the milkman [emoji23]

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slackercruster · Oct 1, 2014

OP, I can't get them all. I am (slightly) haunted by many an iconic shot that just didn't happen. I've shot enough other great shots to make up for it. So I can't dwell on it too long.

annamaria · Oct 1, 2014

All the time and everywhere I go I see photo ops. Someone said, the other day, that I was married to my camera ;-)

CameraClicker · Oct 1, 2014

photoguy99 said:
Here is the point:

If you see pictures in everyday life, and shoot them, you might get perfectly good pictures. But what concept or idea do they convey? What is your purpose in making this photos?

Usually the answer is 'I want to make nice pictures' which is fine but pretty unfocused. You're not exactly putting together a coherent portfolio, a body of work that fits together. You're just taking nice pictures. Maybe.

Most people with cameras just want to make nice pictures. Maybe, the ambitious ones, have a sort of documentary goal, perhaps they want a good set of family photos from the birth of the kids onwards. Or the want to document their neighborhood. Whatever.

That's great. More power to you.

Not my thing. I try to make coherent bodies of work, portfolios that carry an idea, that sort of thing. Self evidently you can't succeed at that by taking every photo that you see.

If you look at the work of people who do claim to see photos everywhere, you'll find, if you're lucky, a bunch of nice pictures. A photo of some flowers. These rocks. That pretty girl. This guy and his dog.

It's all over the place.

My work isn't. Whether it works as a coherent body of work or not is almost of no concern to me. I'm doing my best, it works for me. It's all I can do, I can do no more.

The notion is periodically presented that you should focus your portfolio on a specific niche. That way those seeking a photographer will know what to expect. The sports shooter gets sports, the portrait shooter gets portraits, the wedding shooter gets weddings. And those that shoot all three, have three web sites, one dedicated to each!

I'm one of those that likes "eye candy" so I shoot lots of what I consider to be pretty pictures. Flowers, street scenes, landscapes, water drops, people, weddings, cars, bottles of cooking oil, ... Everything. Mostly I do it for me. It gives the opportunity to show others what I see, perhaps how I see. To me, photography is writing with light. That is the specialty. There is no need to subdivide it more than that.

If someone else is paying, I shoot what they want. The rest of the time I shoot what I want, and that varies a lot.

AlanKlein · Oct 1, 2014

slackercruster said:
OP, I can't get them all. I am (slightly) haunted by many an iconic shot that just didn't happen. I've shot enough other great shots to make up for it. So I can't dwell on it too long.

You talk a good portfolio. I would love to see it. Where?

AlanKlein · Oct 1, 2014

photoguy99 said:
I try not to. People who brag about seeing photos everywhere generally have no clear concept. Their work is just stuff. It might be excellent stuff, but it's just stuff.

For my work I'm usually working a pretty specific and clear concept, and I consciously avoid all those other photos.

Another poster without a portfolio to show. Am I missing something here?

rexbobcat · Oct 1, 2014

photoguy99 said:
Pointing out that a lot of work is incoherent isn't the same thing as ruling out every approach but my own. Some would say it's simply stating facts.

But you give the impression that you're looking down on photographers who don't have the same principles as you by calling their photos "just stuff."

Coherency doesn't necessarily mean good. I've see. A lot of coherent work that relies solely on the concept, and if you don't think it's good you "just don't get it."

I would like to see what coherent pieces you've done though.

photoguy99 · Oct 1, 2014

Yeah I got kind of snotty there. I was thinking about some specific examples of people who see photos everywhere and do awful work. Then I applied this broad brush perhaps too liberally.

See my later remarks for a more even-handed exposition of basically the same things, though.

Alan, I don't put photos publicly online any more. Unless you'd care to stop by and look at prints, you're just going to have to evaluate my ideas based on my words. I don't make any claims about my work, only my process, and I don't see how seeing my photos would contribute to that discussion.

rexbobcat · Oct 2, 2014

photoguy99 said:
Yeah I got kind of snotty there. I was thinking about some specific examples of people who see photos everywhere and do awful work. Then I applied this broad brush perhaps too liberally.

See my later remarks for a more even-handed exposition of basically the same things, though.

Alan, I don't put photos publicly online any more. Unless you'd care to stop by and look at prints, you're just going to have to evaluate my ideas based on my words. I don't make any claims about my work, only my process, and I don't see how seeing my photos would contribute to that discussion.

People don't like to be lectured by the man behind the curtain. That's why I think it's important. But it's an Internet forum so it doesn't amount to much anyways.

photoguy99 · Oct 2, 2014

I didn't invent this. You needn't look at my efforts.

Go to any bookstore or library and find photo books by single artists. If you avoid survey style books, the majority will be exactly what I am taking about.

Focused projects, often pretty short term, shot over a few months or years.