Is photography bullshit?

[Refused as fuck]

My face is art.

Only when splattered on the bonnet of a car.

 

[zenie]

with or without a £1000+ camera?

Without, they used to use film remember

 

[Refused as fuck]

stowpirate is your man.

 

[electrogirl]

Who else is going to let us know when B-list celebs forget to put their makeup on?!

electrogirl.

yup

 

[Dreadwear]

It's paying off now. Finally.


I may physically only shoot 5 days for an ad campaign, but you never see the months of meetings & preperation and all nighters pulled in post production that happen on it & when the £100,000 budget buck stops with you, then yeah, that feels like a proper fucking job.
I don't get to screw up. That's my job.

And this is why it must be a 'proper' job. Whatever that actually means!

You probably don't get to photograph exactly what you want, exactly the way you want to. You must have to meet a clients needs and desires. It can't all be about having complete creative freedom and willy nilly shooting anything, like we can as hobbyists, just because it is there and you like it.

It's probably about pitching for projects, client servicing, deadlines, designing to someone elses needs...in fact all the things that ANY 'proper' job is made up of.

In fact, I would imagine that after a while, you might even lose your enthusiasm for even shooting things YOU want to shoot at, simply because when you have to work at something it looses it's shine.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Making a living from walking around pressing a button all day? I mean come on.

I'm in IT. That's all I do everyday. The trick is knowing when to push it.

 

[Pie 1]

And this is why it must be a 'proper' job. Whatever that actually means!

You probably don't get to photograph exactly what you want, exactly the way you want to. You must have to meet a clients needs and desires. It can't all be about having complete creative freedom and willy nilly shooting anything, like we can as hobbyists, just because it is there and you like it.

It's probably about pitching for projects, client servicing, deadlines, designing to someone elses needs...in fact all the things that ANY 'proper' job is made up of.

In fact, I would imagine that after a while, you might even lose your enthusiasm for even shooting things YOU want to shoot at, simply because when you have to work at something it looses it's shine.

That's actually a very good summarization. Except the last bit.
Sure there are times when I get really bored of a subject or a concept gets totally watered down, and my enthusiam for shooting it can wane, but I get it together & get into it agiain - that's the bit I love - the challenge of getting it right for the client.
I also have personal projects that are totally different & seperate from my work stuff, that I enjoy very much & remind me why I love photography when I am fed up with plates of food or the perfect light on a bottle of perfume

 

[ViolentPanda]

with or without a £1000+ camera?

I suspect that a good professional photographer could get a sellable result with £100-worth of 2nd-hand 1960s medium format camera.

Bert Hardy took one of his best-known pictures on a Box Brownie, specifically to prove that it isn't the kit that makes the photograph or the photographer, but rather it's the "eye", the imagination that conceives the picture and makes it a reality that's important.

 

[Refused as fuck]

I suspect that a good professional photographer could get a sellable result with £100-worth of 2nd-hand 1960s medium format camera.

Bert Hardy took one of his best-known pictures on a Box Brownie, specifically to prove that it isn't the kit that makes the photograph or the photographer, but rather it's the "eye", the imagination that conceives the picture and makes it a reality that's important.

You're not stowpirate.

 

[internetstalker]

I suspect that a good professional photographer could get a sellable result with £100-worth of 2nd-hand 1960s medium format camera.

Bert Hardy took one of his best-known pictures on a Box Brownie, specifically to prove that it isn't the kit that makes the photograph or the photographer, but rather it's the "eye", the imagination that conceives the picture and makes it a reality that's important.

I agree, and realise my comment made me look a bit cynical.

But the editor used the example of taking 'a photo of cooked food for a magazine'

I could photograph a plate of food to look professional with my dads £1000+ digital camera

 

[internetstalker]

I suspect that a good professional photographer could get a sellable result with £100-worth of 2nd-hand 1960s medium format camera.

and anyway, why do you only suspect?

are you trying to imply that you are not a good professional photographer?

 

[Refused as fuck]

I could photograph a plate of food to look professional with my dads £1000+ digital camera

O RLY?

 

[internetstalker]

O RLY?

I could do this:

and thats front cover material

 

[Refused as fuck]

Well go on then.

 

[zenie]

pics or stfu internetstalker

 

[internetstalker]

Well go on then.

You'll have to wait!

my old mans camera is in South Africa for 2 months

 

[internetstalker]

my I add that in no way am I trying to say that (good) photography is easy or anything. But Editors example of photographing ' a plate of food' wasn't a good one IMO

 

[Pie 1]

my I add that in no way am I trying to say that (good) photography is easy or anything. But Editors example of photographing ' a plate of food' wasn't a good one IMO

I think you may be suprised.

 

[kerb]

Photo made out of food.

 

[strung out]

electrogirl.

made me lol!

 

[Herbsman.]

See editor, it's easy

 

[Herbsman.]

Look, it's even got a professional colour cast due to the vomit-coloured walls in my house

And professional distraction of really dark bits at the top of the frame that I should have covered up with the cream-coloured throws that cover the settees in the other room

And professional Vimto thats about 2 years out of date, instead of wine.

 

[Mr Moose]

their have been numerous dark times

Better now its all digital innit

 

[Mr Moose]

Photography done well is a technical business and requires a lot of skill.

I could do plumbing, but I can't and I don't and I respect the knowledge of those who do and likewise good photographers.

Photographic art is where I depart the scene. Its almost an oxymoron.

 

[Stanley Edwards]

...
Photographic art is where I depart the scene. Its almost an oxymoron.

My own 'working' life/'proper' jobbing seems to have gone from playing with cameras to playing with computers to playing with ideas to playing with art. No-one will ever recognise the effort

It hurts, but the rewards are rich.

 

[Pie 1]

OK, I'm a few beers down. I've decided to be candid

Oct.2008:

Big ad agency that I do a fair bit of work for (client A) call:

‘We need another ad for Client A, the 2 year renovation of their building is finished and they want an ad to publicise that there are now nice shops in the bit they’ve rented out. It needs to be in the can, including final retouching in 8 days from now.’

OK, what’s the concept?

‘We want a shot of the new building in the background with 5 red ribbons – the sort someone cuts for an opening – as if they are about to be cut, with the logo of each outlet on the ribbons.’

OK ?

‘We want you to do it with the ribbons actually in front of the building in the shot. Realistic. For real.’

Discussion about dates: i.e. basically shooting on Sunday coming up at 8am so there are no general public around at the location. Fine.
But…
Situation 1 arises:
In order to light the ribbons in front of the building we’ll need a portable lighting rig. City rules only give us 45 mins without a permit to shoot pro stuff & this rig will be very obvious.
Also, this will take longer.
Permits to shoot/film here take an application and a minimum of 10 days to be issued. We don’t have that.
We will need a permit. If we wing it, sod’s law dictates that we’ll be busted and thrown off.
I’m not going there.

Plan B:
We shoot the building separately within the 45 mins, then shoot the ribbons in a studio using HMI natural lights to replicate the effect. Re-toucher will put it together in post.
This will now add 1000 to the cost, but it’s the only way given the time frame.
Client & agency agree.

Me to myself ‘You’ve only had the last year to come up with this.’


We do it this way. My retoucher, the AD & I pull an all nighter, putting it all together & everything’s done on time. Job done.

Two days later Client A calls & says “don’t stress about the ad, we’ve had to move the opening back a month now”

 

[Pie 1]

See editor, it's easy

That actually, ain't bad

Is that really yours?

E2A: the pro trick with red wine is 1/3 wine, 2/3's water to get the luminescence

Night folks

 

[snakeseare]

.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Try and take, say, a photo of cooked food for a magazine and see how easy it is to match the work of pros.

They should be doing something more useful than taking photos of food.

 

[Herbsman.]

That actually, ain't bad

Is that really yours?

Yeah, but by the time I got that shot I had already taken 164 shots which involved various compositional rearrangements of the salt and pepper pots, the fork and the wine glass, and a bit of experimenting with a wider lens. This means I have wasted about 1/300th of my camera's shutter life (approx estimated 50,000) by causing needless wear and tear to it, just to get one photo that I didn't have to take. This was exacerbated by the fact that my cheap Povertywizard™ radio triggers off extortionBay misfired for about 1 in 5 shots, which wouldn't have been a problem for you and your Pocketwizards, a single unit costing more than my camera (I would need 4 units for this lighting setup, which would cost more than a month's wages if purchased seperately). Also, my camera now stinks of tuna because I didn't wash my hands properly after cooking. The worst part is that my fucking dinner was cold by the time I'd got a shot I was happy with.

I suspect pro's like yourself would have nailed the shot in about 2 minutes and then eaten what would still be a nice hot plate of pasta.

Bastards