Do you think photography can be done by anyone?

[ferox femina]

Hello. This is my first post.

I've recently begun to reintroduce myself into my passion for photography. It's been a few years, and the lack of a camera kept me away from it. I recently bought myself a Canon Rebel XTI - and I've never looked back.

I get a lot of compliments about my photos (which I've always had problems taking compliments, but that's another issue) but sometimes I wonder, if it's luck (which, lets be honest, sometimes it is in everyone's case), or an eye for photography?

Can anyone just be good at photography? Or do you feel that you have to have an eye and imagination?

I want my photos to be good because I'm good, not because they're good photos. I hope I'm making sense.

 

[DigiJay]

Why don't you post some examples, I'm sure after a bit of critique, you will be able to answer your own question.
Good or bad, you will get some honest feedback on your photos here from some good photographers.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Chances are you have a specific eye for something, and photography is your chosen medium for capturing that.

Heck, I sing pretty good in the shower... but I will spare everyone the audio file!

 

[skieur]

Anyone can snap a shutter, but only a good photographer can compose a shot with visual impact and technical excellence.

skieur

 

[ferox femina]

My examples lie in this thread:

http://thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118321

 

[That One Guy]

Hello ferox

I have looked at your photos and I will say that you do have a very good understanding of what you are doing. Compositions look very good. Colors are very well reproduced. Lighting is very good. Photos are sharp.

You are wondering if you have an eye for it. Let me answer your question with a question.

Are you able to see the shot BEFORE you press the shutter button?

 

[ferox femina]

I believe so, yes.

Because I'll see a shot I want so bad, and find myself hurrying to capture it before it's gone, or anything changes.

 

[christopher walrath]

IT’S NOT THE GEAR
It's not the gear that makes the image. It's the eye that looks through it and the mind processing the visual and otherwise information that lends to the mood of the image.

We constantly have this drummed into us. You can take a masterful photograph with a 35mm one use point and shoot and you can get you thumb in front of the lens with a Hasselblad. I reminded myself of this today. I have just acquired a lens and some other trinkets to get a Mamiya medium format camera up and running that was only giving the mothballs in the back of the closet company just a month before. I had been able to take some pictures with it before but since all I had used for serious stuff were my Minolta 35's I never concentrated enough with the Mamiya that all I had were a few snapshots.

But the skill was there all along. So why didn't I have a high percentage of keepers with the more expensive camera. I DIDN'T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY. I didn't use it so it was a novelty camera to me. Just a passing fancy until I got it going and realized that I had not made any serious images with it. You know, sometimes I don't have to get hit in the head too many times to get the idea.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that if you want every image to be worth keeping and showing then you need to take every photographic opportunity seriously. To do otherwise is a waste except to teach you to take every photographic opportunity seriously. Once you do that, you can truly move forward in your craft.
Christopher Walrath – April, 2005


I wrote this 'article' a while ago but it is so true. A snap shootist will get a fancy automatic camera that will take pictures. A photographer may start with humble equipment and study and practice and learn and read and go out and do so that it is, rather, the photographer that takes the picture.

 

[Garbz]

The ending of "Rattatoule" comes to mind. The reviewer was talking about Gustav's motto "Anyone can cook" and said something which could be translated into photography terms like so:

Not everyone can be a photographer, but a photographer can come from the richest, or most humble backgrounds. It is after all an art form.

 

[craig]

Anyone can take a good photo. Being able to do it frequently better determines your skill level.

Love & Bass

 

[mrodgers]

I really want to say yes to the "can photography be done by anyone?" Anyone can do anything they set their minds to. Unfortunately, my wife is proof that it can't be done by just anyone. I can't even get her to prefocus with holding the shutter down half way. It's almost as if she wants her finger to get a running start by slapping down on the shutter from about 5 inches above it to snap a picture.

Then again, I guess she isn't exactly "setting her mind to it" either.