Modern photography technology is subject to an age old debate - are the pictures good (or bad) because the technology is good (or bad)? Or is it the photographer's talents and skills? This gets discussed all the time - usually following a comment to a photographer something along the lines of: "That camera takes great pictures" or "I could take great photos with gear like that."
I see the answer as a combination of three things - tools, skills and talent. Yes, the better tools are CAPABLE of producing better photos. I have no doubt in my mind that my Canon 5D is versatile, can focus and shoot well under adverse conditions and is able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! However, it is also very capable of missing a shot...I keep proving that point- ;)
It takes two more factors to make it all work together - skill and talent. The skill part as I define it involves the knowledge of the technology-it is VERY complex. How I know which combinations of aperture, shutter speed and ISO to use, along with selecting white balance, AF mode and a zillion other parameters is a question of skill. Tons of practice with an understanding of what the different permutations will do to the image in the end.
The talent part relates to composition - the photographer's "eye" - aka the use of light.
Many many photographs (and still lots of mine) are either cliches - similar to shots taken millions of times by thousands of photographers before- and/or merely snaphots - photos taken purely to capture a memory of a person or a place on film with little artistic interpretation involved. Here is where talent will out- can I be creative in my expression? - revealing a unique vision of the world? Can I bring the viewer to a new interpretation of something beautiful? Does the photo capture one's interest? Does it tell a story? These are, in my humble opinion, the questions that are really important and that are impacted only AFTER the technology and skill questions have been transcended. I only hope that 1% of my work reaches this level.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
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Some personal facts
- Richard S (RCCL)
- Hi. Just a few words about me. I am a native New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY (with a short stopover on Lawn Guyland). I spent most of my adult life working in the NYC and NYS criminal justice system, holding a variety of positions in the New York City Police Department, the New York State Crime Victims Board, the New York City Department of Probation and finally ending that phase of my life as Associate Commissioner of Correction for the City of New York. For almost all of those years (more years than I care to admit to), I was an administrator - acting as a planner for the implementaton of technology with the various agencies. Now that I have come to paradise, I have begun a second career with Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd, certainly one of the best companies in the world to work for, and with absolutely the greatest fringe benefits imaginable. Since coming to RCCL, I have traveled throughout the world, discovering things I had never dreamed of seeing in person. The journey gets more interesting as I go.
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