PHOTOGRAPHY

                     Image via WikipediaI attended a photography workshop recently. There were two speakers, both very talented photographers. The first speaker gave us an overview of composition accompanied by an excellent slide presentation with examples and diagrams. He was very knowledgeable and had obviously worked hard on his presentation, so I felt kind of guilty that I was bored. The thing is, I'd probably never take a photography course because I know I don't learn well by listening. I prefer learning by doing. Although I'm seriously considering subscribing to  Kelby Training, because the 'lessons' are in video format, showing professional photographers on location doing real photo shoots and explaining what, how and why as they are working. And I have picked up a lot from David Peterson's Photography tips. They're written in plain everyday language, only tackle one topic at a time, never take more than two minutes to read, and yet they've helped me understand my camera modes much better, and given me lots of practical ideas that are easy to remember.

The second speaker talked about why he believed film was better than digital format. He did have a good point. Because film is more expensive and time consuming than digital, there is a tendency for the photographer to take more care with each shot. He believed that extra care would lead to better photography. It really made me think about the way I take photos. I typically shoot hundreds at a time, and quite a few of them don't work out. As a photographer, I'm not in the same league as the speaker by a long way, but I never could have afforded to progress to where I am using film. Digital cameras give everyone an opportunity to enjoy photography.

Also, I think it's a mistake to assume that the aim of photography is to produce art. Different people use photography for many different purposes. Some people use photography to create fine art. Some people use photography to record history. Some people use photography to document injustice and suffering. Some people use photography to share their experiences. And digital photography makes it all easier and more convenient.

Better photography... better for what? Better for who?

A long time ago I listened to another talk which criticized the digital photography revolution. The speaker said that one side effect would be the loss of the shoe-box of out-takes. You know! Your parents probably have one, tucked away in a closet somewhere, full of embarrassing frozen moments, unflattering angles and lighting, bad hair days and headless wonders....

With digital cameras we just hit the delete button and those out-takes are gone forever. Or we upload them to our computers and 'fix' them. Goodbye acne outbreaks! Goodbye dark circles under the eyes! The problem is we're erasing our humanity. Future generations might be able to look on our perfected images, but they won't have a record of who we truly were.

Maybe I'll make a new folder called 'Shoebox'