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 Post subject: Is it time to slow down?
PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:23 pm 
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From slate.com, on the "slow photography" movement:

http://www.slate.com/id/2279659/


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 1:07 am 
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That was something we used to do when we shot film. Can't go wasting shots for nothing. Now with digital, it seems it's shoot lots and hope for a good one.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:12 am 
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I get what the author is trying to get across.

HOWEVER, I see digital as opening up the photography world for many, and the benefits outweighing the cons BECAUSE I can shoot without worrying about the cost of each shot (other than being 1 actuation closer to the death of the camera with every shot).

I know I've shot more in the past 9 years with digital, than the rest of my life (since I was a young child) with film. I've shot things with digital that I would have never wasted film on, like doing glamour and nude shoots, painting with light shots...actually I would never have used a film camera for ANYTHING beyond recording things I want to remember on holidays or special events.

Also because of digital I've done experiments and practising of photography that I have never done with film due to the cost of each shot...I'd only look at the examples from books from the library on what happens when you do certain things with a camera. Now that I've gone digital I feel I learned a lot more having done the different shots myself rather than just reading about them.

I'm having more fun with digital photography now than I ever did with film!

To me the shot(s) I would take at a location, or event are to remind me that I was there. I couldn't care less what someone else (a photographer or not) would think if I now take dozens of shots of a landmark. It's for my enjoyment, or maybe wanting to study it closer later.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:28 am 
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nobody is forcing you to shoot like crazy and hope for the best, take your time fine-tuning all aspects of a great photograph when taking it. That just says I can't keep up with the rest, so I am going to bash them for not being me :lol:


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:44 am 
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If shooting fast works for you, then by all means. Digital has opened up that option cheaply.

For me, my goal is to shoot less and less per session. I find that the slower i go, the better the shots become.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:49 pm 
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He starts off good with all the zen stuff: being there in the moment, using your eye and brain, then he degrades his thesis into some equipment crap trap. Digital, film or type of camera all irrelevant.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:11 pm 
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Metrix wrote:
He starts off good with all the zen stuff: being there in the moment, using your eye and brain, then he degrades his thesis into some equipment crap trap. Digital, film or type of camera all irrelevant.


+1


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:44 am 
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For me, the appeal of digital ended in summer 2008 when over a week I shot about 900 photos, and liked about 12 of them. Over the same week, I shot 1 roll of 120 film, and liked 11 of 12 shots. Digital was allowing me to be sloppy and I wasn't improving... so I sold my digital gear and haven't looked back.


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 8:00 pm 
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take it to the next logical step and don't use a camera at all. just enjoy being in the moment. why use a camera as a vehicle for the experience if there's no point in taking a photograph ? this is why I don't have a camera with me 24/7, it gets in the way of living


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 11:53 pm 
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smlg.ca wrote:
For me, the appeal of digital ended in summer 2008 when over a week I shot about 900 photos, and liked about 12 of them. Over the same week, I shot 1 roll of 120 film, and liked 11 of 12 shots. Digital was allowing me to be sloppy and I wasn't improving... so I sold my digital gear and haven't looked back.


that's really not the technology's fault :lol:


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 12:31 am 
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labgrunt wrote:
take it to the next logical step and don't use a camera at all. just enjoy being in the moment. why use a camera as a vehicle for the experience if there's no point in taking a photograph ? this is why I don't have a camera with me 24/7, it gets in the way of living


I think you're being facetious, but I believe that to be true. This is just a phase, a fad, a hobby. When I'm older, I hope to say that I've lived an interesting life.


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 12:48 am 
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Taylor wrote:
I think you're being facetious, but I believe that to be true. This is just a phase, a fad, a hobby. When I'm older, I hope to say that I've lived an interesting life.


that will probably depend on what you mean by "This" 8)


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 1:02 am 
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not being facetious but can see how it could be seen this way. I just don't believe a camera is essential to experiencing life's important moments.

I also think he should have stopped before he veered into gear talk.


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 4:32 pm 
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PotatoEYE wrote:
smlg.ca wrote:
For me, the appeal of digital ended in summer 2008 when over a week I shot about 900 photos, and liked about 12 of them. Over the same week, I shot 1 roll of 120 film, and liked 11 of 12 shots. Digital was allowing me to be sloppy and I wasn't improving... so I sold my digital gear and haven't looked back.


that's really not the technology's fault :lol:


I'm not blaming the technology. But if one has a proclivity towards not moving slowly and being contemplative in one's approach, digital is a great enabler. With film, I have a natural limitation that is hard and fast and always in the forefront of my mind.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 2:01 pm 
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I learned with film, so my digital use is still to try to gt it right in the camera. BUT... there are occasions where I shoot lots and pare down the final #. Even then my waste ratio is still low.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 2:04 pm 
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Seems to me that this discussion is totally relative to each individual. Some people spray and hope for the best when shooting digital, others do not. Some people wish to shoot a ton of photos, others do not. At the end of the day, it's all about what works for you.

If you find that you're not able to shoot a certain way with certain gear, then by all means change. However, that's not inherently a shortcoming of the system. It's one person's perceived shortcoming of the combination of shooter + system.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 4:52 pm 
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qualdoth wrote:
Seems to me that this discussion is totally relative to each individual.


Very "True".
....and also the discussion

http://www.tpmg.ca/forum/viewtopic.php? ... highlight=

and many other discussions here, there is no right absolute answer, however there is something about what Socretes said, something about the unexamined life.


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 11:05 am 
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With respect to motorsports shooting....

When I slow down, my keeper rate is something north of 80%.

When I rapid-shoot my keeper rate drops to 60-70%, but my volume of shots triples. As I'm trying to shoot for sale, this makes rapid-shooting the obvious winner. If I don't have a shot of a particular racer, I can't sell a shot to that racer.

I tend to try and slow down in other types of photography.


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 11:41 am 
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qualdoth wrote:
Seems to me that this discussion is totally relative to each individual. Some people spray and hope for the best when shooting digital, others do not. Some people wish to shoot a ton of photos, others do not. At the end of the day, it's all about what works for you.

If you find that you're not able to shoot a certain way with certain gear, then by all means change. However, that's not inherently a shortcoming of the system. It's one person's perceived shortcoming of the combination of shooter + system.


This discussion is identical to the photoshop discussion. Same shit different pile.


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:18 pm 
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some piles smell more than others


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:37 pm 
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fionah wrote:
some piles smell more than others


I smell dead people...


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:47 pm 
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maybe it's time to do your laundry? :D


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