Gary Ayala
Well-Known Member
I've given the above some thought and ...
Over the course of a very long life, I have learned to accommodate/tolerate differences. Wanting cream and sugar in your coffee is not bad ... nor is it good ... it is merely different and one's taste. If that is how you prefer your coffee ... why should I care as long as my coffee is black. Wanting digital film simulation as an external dial on a camera ... while not my cup of tea, obviously, is another person's desired flavor. As long as the difference(s) does not harm anyone ... then what the hell ... live and let live. If you want your scotch with soda water ... does that make you beneath me because I take it neat?
On the flip side ... a photog shoots manual and captures an award winning photo ... another photog shoots on automatic and captures an equally award winning photo ... does the auto photo have lesser impact because it was not shot on manual? Is the auto shooter not a 'real' photographer because the camera does all the work? Or is the manual shooter just a fool because they don't know when to trust the camera?
Does a digital photo have lesser impact or value if it is manipulated electronically than an identical photo captured on film and manipulated mechanically/chemically?
For me, (not that what I think is worth a damn), I have a code and adhering to that code is how I judge/qualify myself and my photography. It is my code ... not your code or the cream and sugar person's code, or the manual shooter's code ... my code. I constantly try to remember that it is, my code and to be judgmental on stuff that is more objective than subjective. (Judge more on 'universal standards' than 'individual values'.)
For example, I shoot a lot of 'Street', but I won't shoot people who live on the streets ... in processing my digital images I won't exceed what I could/would do in a wet darkroom. (I want to think of myself as a photographer and not cross a line and become a graphics artist. Additionally, I'm lazy ... and learning all those "Photoshop" wizardry will require work. *sigh* ... I digress ...)
But this is my code, it is neither right nor wrong ... it is a set of values for judging myself ... not others. If others want to shoot the homeless from the hip, conceal their camera and intentions ... as long as it doesn't harm anyone, that's your business, but not my cup of tea. If you want to add layers and subtract or add elements to your image, go ahead ... I don't care. But for me, I want to get it "Right-In-The-Camera", keeping the image a documentation of that time and place.
My $.02
Over the course of a very long life, I have learned to accommodate/tolerate differences. Wanting cream and sugar in your coffee is not bad ... nor is it good ... it is merely different and one's taste. If that is how you prefer your coffee ... why should I care as long as my coffee is black. Wanting digital film simulation as an external dial on a camera ... while not my cup of tea, obviously, is another person's desired flavor. As long as the difference(s) does not harm anyone ... then what the hell ... live and let live. If you want your scotch with soda water ... does that make you beneath me because I take it neat?
On the flip side ... a photog shoots manual and captures an award winning photo ... another photog shoots on automatic and captures an equally award winning photo ... does the auto photo have lesser impact because it was not shot on manual? Is the auto shooter not a 'real' photographer because the camera does all the work? Or is the manual shooter just a fool because they don't know when to trust the camera?
Does a digital photo have lesser impact or value if it is manipulated electronically than an identical photo captured on film and manipulated mechanically/chemically?
For me, (not that what I think is worth a damn), I have a code and adhering to that code is how I judge/qualify myself and my photography. It is my code ... not your code or the cream and sugar person's code, or the manual shooter's code ... my code. I constantly try to remember that it is, my code and to be judgmental on stuff that is more objective than subjective. (Judge more on 'universal standards' than 'individual values'.)
For example, I shoot a lot of 'Street', but I won't shoot people who live on the streets ... in processing my digital images I won't exceed what I could/would do in a wet darkroom. (I want to think of myself as a photographer and not cross a line and become a graphics artist. Additionally, I'm lazy ... and learning all those "Photoshop" wizardry will require work. *sigh* ... I digress ...)
But this is my code, it is neither right nor wrong ... it is a set of values for judging myself ... not others. If others want to shoot the homeless from the hip, conceal their camera and intentions ... as long as it doesn't harm anyone, that's your business, but not my cup of tea. If you want to add layers and subtract or add elements to your image, go ahead ... I don't care. But for me, I want to get it "Right-In-The-Camera", keeping the image a documentation of that time and place.
My $.02
