What’s Your Preference?

Biomech · #1 (**permalink**) 10-23-2011, 02:13 PM

:O Shocker! But really, you don't.

I've learnt a few extra things over the last few months and one of them is, you really don't need to be a pro to do back-dropped photoshoots. You don't even need to know how a camera works. It's true.

Like most things I do, once I do it, I find it worthlessly easy. I shoot grad balls and the like, and I get there and setup my lights using a light meter, my camera, my laptop, printer and network. And I literally compose the shot and press the shutter; that's it. As long as the tech stuff works the way it's supposed to, ANYONE could do it.

And that's the critical factor; "When the tech works".

What "anyone" can't do, what it takes skill and knowledge to do is to fix the issues as they arise. If a light breaks what then? (ok you should have a spare bulb...), what about when the wifi link to the laptop breaks?

I was on one shoot and the venue turned all of the lights off. My camera couldn't focus. Why not? What are you supposed to do? What's broken? It was only because I knew WHY it wouldn't focus that I was able to rectify the situation within seconds. I got the subject to hold my phone to her face, focus'd, locked in manual, took the phone away and shot - it was fine. Then we got some lights back on.

So while a monkey could do what I do, only I (you) know how to keep things running smoothly what things go tits up.

Just thought I'd share the ponder.

wingflapp · #2 (**permalink**) 10-23-2011, 03:29 PM

I dunno...

There are many many professions you could say the same thing about, I think.

Anyone can hold a torch to metal. But it's knowing what to DO with that torch afterwards that counts. Anyone can drive a bus, but it's keeping the riders safe that counts. Anyone can fly a plane, but it's knowing what to do when you are in the air that counts.

You had to learn how to set up the lights, why you are putting them in what location, and what effect it would impart. You had to learn where to place your subject. Where to place your camera. Before you could even start on learning what settings you would use you had to learn about those settings and what they do. And that's a LOT of learning. More than the average Joe knows about photography. Knowing what to do with the lights, camera, grip, backdrop, subjects, wifi, computer... That all took a lot for you to learn. I think that sorta puts you in the 'photographer' pile.

But, I concede to this... If I had money, location, equipment, a subject, a camera and a detailed explanation on where to put the equipment and what camera settings to use, then I probably wouldn't need to understand what I was doing.

Biomech · #3 (**permalink**) 10-23-2011, 03:40 PM

Absolutely, I mean, I could draw a picture and write down what settings to set for someone and they could do it.

But that's kind of my point, while anyone can click the shutter with little understanding, it's when things don't work or something needs changing where the knowledge and expertise comes in, and that's what you pay for. If the pictures come out green, a pro will know why and how to fix it, or if there's a big black block across half of the photo - a pro would know what caused it and how to fix it (shutter sync) etc.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying anyone can get a camera and go out claiming to be pro and charging. Quite the opposite, anyone can go out and charge to take photos, but a successful photographer knows why what happens happens

wingflapp · #4 (**permalink**) 10-23-2011, 04:22 PM

Well Said, Bio.

Rentham · #5 (**permalink**) 10-23-2011, 04:35 PM

One of my favorite lines from John Harrington's Best Business Practices for Photographers is "You're paying me to know which screw to turn and how much to turn it."

SwissJon · #6 (**permalink**) 10-23-2011, 05:12 PM

I kinda disagree with everything here..

The thing is, photography ISN'T just about knowing which screws to turn, and how to fix stuff when it goes wrng.. If this was true, you could learn photography from a book.. There's an art form to it, and not everyone "gets" it.. Photography isn't just technial.

I regularly fix stuff in my job. In fact, that's pretty much all I do.. Create problems, then fix them, in the name of progress. I'm regularly asked by my boss to tell him what I did to fix something. When I tell him, he then says "ok, but how did you know to do that?" and the answer is often "I don't know.. I just knew".. I've been in my career for 15 years, during that time I've picked up subconscious clues about what needs to be tweaked to get the results I need, I'm a spe******t.. If it was so easy as just do one thing or another, something that could be written in a book, then they wouldn't pay me what they pay me. On the opposite side of the coin, I fairly regularly get frustrated when I'm telling somone to do something that seems obvious to me, and they "just don't get it" despite being spe******ts in their own field.

You demean your own abilities if you reduce it down to turning a few dials.. When you pose the subject, you can't do that by the book, you need to look and see if the pose works... If it doesn't, why not? What can you do to make the person look more comfortable and less awkward, how can you bring out their best features and diminish their worst. Knowing which dial to turn is the easy part. The difficult part is the bit that happens in your mind.

Biomech · #7 (**permalink**) 10-23-2011, 05:20 PM

Ah see that's why I used grad ball shoots as an example. Posing people requires a whole other set of skills :P

RichardTaylor · #8 (**permalink**) 10-23-2011, 09:27 PM

To me there are three components to photography.

(1) Technical - and this is probably the easiest for some (including myself).
If you "know" the technology then you never ever have a real problem with it.
If you don't know the technology you will have problems when things are not straight forward.

(2) The "art" - If you "know" the technology and have the latest and greatest gear it doesn't mean a thing if you don't have the "eye".

(3) Interpersonal skills - Both with interacting with your subjects (1) and potential clients (2).

Jonbar18 · #9 (**permalink**) 10-23-2011, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

To me there are three components to photography.

(1) Technical - and this is probably the easiest for some (including myself).
If you "know" the technology then you never ever have a real problem with it.
If you don't know the technology you will have problems when things are not straight forward.

(2) The "art" - If you "know" the technology and have the latest and greatest gear it doesn't mean a thing if you don't have the "eye".

(3) Interpersonal skills - Both with interacting with your subjects (1) and potential clients (2).

And that's why I'm mostly into nature stuff (landscapes & wildlife), and still life. Only 2 sets of skills to perfect