A Different Emphasis

[GeneW]

Not sure where to classify this one, so I poked it in here!

Here's a gallery-based 'tutorial' that I often send to photography newcomers (most of them starting off with digital). The author, Phil Douglis, is a travel photographer now in his 70's and I admire his work.

www.pbase.com/pnd1

When Douglis reached his mid- to late-60's he found his expensive pro gear too heavy to carry around (Phil is principally a travel photographer). So he up and sold it all and embraced small P&S digitals (high-end ones). He now usually travels with two lightweight P&S digitals -- one small one that has 28mm equiv for photographing in tight spaces, and one superzoom (Panasonic FZ30) for the long shots (420mm equiv).

It's not a decision everyone would be comfortable with, but I like the integrity of his images, and I think his example provides food for thought. At the very least, his tutorials provide a good grounding in picture making.

Gene

[PeterW]

Hi Gene,

Thanks for posting that link. I just spent a LOOOONG time looking at the pictures by Phil Douglis - longer with some than with others because not all of them appealed to me. Some I liked very much and these were the ones on which I spent the most time, but others I more or less skipped through because they didn't 'say' anything to me. But then as Douglis says in his introduction, looking at pictures is an entirely subjective thing.

I hesitate to say this about a photographer of Douglis's ability and stature but I got the feeling that at times he was getting a little too introspective. This started me asking myself why I take pictures.

At times I like taking pictures 'just for me', but I seldom show them to anyone else. I take them to try to capture the emotion I feel at the time, and don't expect anyone else to feel that same emotion because very often it is triggered by my own memories and feelings. I also like to experiment with available light to show moods and textures, but again these are for me.

I also take more than my fair share of family pictures and 'pretties'. I don't take many landscapes because quite frankly other people are far better at them than I am. I'm also fond of taking pictures of abandoned and neglected buildings and machinery, a sort of nostalgic sic transit gloria picture.

But the pictures I like best, and the ones I really enjoy taking, are pictures that tell a story, sometimes through buildings or streets or the countryside but preferably also through people in those places (probably the photojournalist in me showing). I wish I'd taken a lot more pictures in the late 1940s, the 1950s and 1960s because those decades had an atmosphere that's now gone for ever, and neither I nor anyone else can go back now and take photographs that capture it.

If could think that some of my pictures might survive, and if someone years from now were to look at some of them and say "So that's what it was like in 19XX or 20XX", that would make me happy, and taking the picture would have been worthwhile. Otherwise they might as well die with me.

Anyone else like to ponder on why they take the pictures they do?

Peter

[GeneW]

Peter, thanks for taking the time to look at Phil Douglis's work. I agree, not everything he posts is a keeper, but I think he gets a higher ratio of keepers than I do.

But what a difficult question you've posed. Why, indeed, do I take the pics I do? I don't have a ready answer. I'm tempted to quote the Gary Winograd line that "I take pictures of things to see what they look like when I've photographed them." That's often not far off for me either. I'll have to ponder this question for awhile...

Gene

[Just Plain Curt]

I take the pictures I do for several reasons:
1. I test expired films by maker, ISO/DIN, and format.
2. I test cameras, SLR bodies and lenses or accessories I've purchased lately.
3. More importantly to me, I try to capture the feeling of the moment, the pictures never really do justice to the sounds, smells or emotions I felt at the time, but they're the best way I can store these for posterity and share with those people I think can appreciate what I'm after.
4.Also to get my lazy buttocks out there into the real world and get some fresh air if not exercise.

[GeneW]

weirdcollector said:

4.Also to get my lazy buttocks out there into the real world and get some fresh air if not exercise.

Now there is as good a reason to take pictures as I've ever heard! Bravo!

Gene