The medium is what an artist manipulates to create art. A degree of fluency in the medium is the prerequisite to making art. The medium is something that is learned. Making art is something that one develops from within.
As photographers, we learn the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and sensitivity. We learn how focal length impacts upon perspective and depth of field. We learn how to take a RAW exposure from the camera and extract the best technical quality that it can provide. We learn how to best display the work on the wall or on the web. None of these things makes us a photographer - it only gives us the skills and techniques to employ in creating photographs. If we lack the skill and understanding, we struggle to achieve our vision. It is akin to trying to write poetry in a language we don't understand.
As we achieve fluency with the camera, processing and presentation, we have the tools to push farther and farther into the "art". In essence, we are expanding our command of the language - which is not a verbal language. To a beginner every bit as difficult as a Dubliner trying to write great poetry in Welsh. (Or anyone who is not Welsh.)
In the lighting tutorial, only one light is essential - the main light. All the others open shadows or add highlights or separation. In classic lighting, the main is generally in the vicinity of 45° horizontal and 30° vertical to the subject/camera axis. To a working studio photographer with experience, the main light may be a large soft-box just above the camera, or a sharp silver reflector at 90° to the axis. In one case the light is very soft and flat, in the other, it is sharp and dramatic. The effect is very different but both are "proper" lighting depending upon the goals of the shoot. For the most part, I regard on-camera flash as the ugliest light ever conceived. Since it comes out of the middle of your forehead, only miners see light like that. However, I have effectively used it
because it is so ugly.
http://www.larry-bolch.com/portfolio/models&performers/pages/Rude.htm
The great Brit shooter, Bill Brandt once said "A photographer can become a prisioner of his own rules. Unless he invents new ones, he will soon copy himself, and his work will become stale and repetitive." Which is to say, the less there are rules, the more freedom the artist has to push the edge when creating.
On the other hand, when you speak of the medium, if you don't get the necessary relationship between ISO, shutter speed and aperture in proper balance, you get lousy picture quality. Same if the lens is not properly focused, or the camera moves inappropriately. Technique is there to serve ones artistic goals. The more technically fluent you are, the more eloquent your art can become.
Good technical quality is transparent - poor technical quality screams for attention, and distracts from content.
However, technique is not a goal in itself - it is the means, not the end. Same in any other art form. If you don't understand music, nor how to play an instrument, poor old Beethoven comes off rather badly. If you are fully fluent in music and playing technique, you may find fresh ways to interpret the old master that will excite and move your audience. Even with Beethoven, there is no one "proper" way to play his music.
What is "acceptable" is what you can get away with. Truly great artists are often ahead of the curve, and often are not fully appreciated at the time. In 1910, Picasso may have had trouble trading an art-work for a meal and a glass of wine. In 2010, the same work may sell for millions at Sotheby's. Same work - different era - the world has finally caught up.
In Shakespeare's
"Hamlet" old Polonius advises his son
"To thine own self, be true..." without doubt the best advice that an artist can receive. Learn your chosen medium well and always continue learning. Even after a long life in photography, I am constantly practicing and trying to ever improve my skills. My goal has always been to produce the highest image quality under the given circumstances. Again, not an absolute. If I see the picture of a lifetime and the light is horrible and all but non-existent, I know that image quality will be really poor, but I will shoot because of content.
http://www.larry-bolch.com/bike-week/
Art is not a sport. There are no rotund gentlemen sitting in leather chairs around polished mahogany tables in "athletic clubs", smoking Cuban cigars and quaffing French cognac while making up arbitrary rules for the sport to follow - and blind referees to enforce. (We saw enough of that in the past month!) If you hear of the
"Rule of Thirds" - consider it the
"Suggestion of Thirds" and ignore it if it does not fit. Sometimes the most effective shot is when the subject is in the middle of the composition and right in your face. If it looks right - it is right.
Strive to always extend your technical skills and knowledge. Use them to make the best photographs you can - under the circumstances.
"To thine own self, be true..."
