Another shot from my trip, this one taken on the road from Berkeley Springs to our rental cabin.
Ok, now it's time to prepare yourself for a pseudo rant. Ready? Read on.
So I once read an interview with a photographer saying that with the proliferation of inexpensive digital cameras many folks fancy themselves to be good photographers without having any actual training or skills. To him, a proper photographer understands how to set up a shot and takes the time to do so, whereas those of us clicking away with our cameras hoping that one shot out of ten will be usable aren't real photographers. I believe it was the same guy who said that if a photo is taken from a moving car while driving down the street it's not going to impress him as any idiot could take the same shot. I'm not terribly offended by this assertion but I do have to wonder if what he's talking about is all there is to photography. I will admit that I took over 50 photos while my husband was driving down the road as much of our trip was spent in the car. I will also admit that most of those were blurry, composed badly, focused on the wrong thing, etc. But doesn't it take some sort of skill, some sort of artistic eye to be able to sort through the duds and find one worth using? I feel like I managed to do that with a few of my shots, figuring out how to crop or process it to bring out the beauty of the scene. Which I hope is what I did here. Anyway, rant over. I'll go back to my haphazard method of photography and hope there's some merit in my work after all. :)
Their is merit to your photos, this one is very well composed using the fence to open up our eyes to the whole scene and the lighting plus the shape of the hill bringing us over to the tree
I doubt it matters how you take your photo - the main thing is whether your photos can evoke some kind of emotional response from a viewer. I think your photos are very powerful! Love the editing and this beautiful oak tree.
Meh, it's the same in any technologically advancing, or expanding, industry, an element of elitism in the old guard, which if you want to get psychological, can be seen as a fear of the new stuff and "Oh Can I Keep Up?!" style thoughts in his head.
There's an element of truth in it too, of course, but it's nothing to get too het up about :)
@eyebrows Well, I know you're more of a serious and skilled photographer than I so I wouldn't necessarily expect you to agree 100%. Thanks for all of your comments today!
@sourkraut ok if I count as "serious and skilled" then, 1. It's time to :D a bit, and 2. Actually I don't have a second point lined up. I'm just kinda :D-ing
I'd say I was agreeing about 80% :P Maybe 83...
I'd noticed your profile around and assumed I was following you, but turned out I wasn't. ho hum!
Personally I think your "haphazard way" is working very well for you. Most of us do it the same way. I am not, nor will I ever be a professional. But I do enjoy trying to take a good pic once in awhile. So I say, let that guy do all the still, set up, perfect shots, which is working for him, and the rest of us will cover everything else. Now thats my rant lol. I love this shot because of the feeling it gives you. So peaceful. And lets face it,,,,,thats real life as it is. Nuff said!!
Now this is lovely, and I've seen many people 'photograph' haphazardly... and never get a good photo.... so to that, me thinks there is still some skill to take a good shot haphazardly :)
There's an element of truth in it too, of course, but it's nothing to get too het up about :)
@eyebrows Well, I know you're more of a serious and skilled photographer than I so I wouldn't necessarily expect you to agree 100%. Thanks for all of your comments today!
I'd say I was agreeing about 80% :P Maybe 83...
I'd noticed your profile around and assumed I was following you, but turned out I wasn't. ho hum!