Needed: Photographer in Bath this Weds

Russinating

Russinating

Russinating

Soldato
Joined
27 Dec 2005
Posts
17,316
Location
Bristol
I had a small photo gig with Bath Council that I may not be able to undertake anymore. It's a paid gig (tho not a massive amount), 12-3pm this Wednesday outside in Bath.

If anyone's interested then please drop me an email. Thanks :)
 
^^^
He's got some amazing work in his portfolio, and I definitely wouldn't say the guy was lacking in soul, however his portraits definitely are his weakest area, and considering his other work is so strong, maybe he's just not a 'people person' or maybe he just lacks some confidence?
 
It's posts like that which are the reason I don't spend much time in this forum anymore. Wind your neck in! :D
 
I'm just saying there's more to photography than technical perfection :)

Edit: I should also point out I do know the guy, hence the recommendation, and think he'd agree with my words. He's also one of three people I'd like shooting my wedding - all different styles.
 
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robertgilbert86 said:
I'm just saying there's more to photography than technical perfection :)
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Imo truly great photography is all about technical perfection, although because we're organic creatures, true technical perfection (to us humans) actually means or is achieved by a hint of imperfection so the observer can feel the image is real, the technical skill or perfection of a seriously good photographer is to know when the image is too perfect, and the believable level of perfection will obviously vary depending on the genre of photography.

An example would be retouching skin, the best retouchers will retouch the skin perfectly and then deliberately leave a mole or some kind of flaw in the image to anchor it to reality.

Or it would be like a food photographer sprinkling crumbs on a plate of food, this imperfection makes the food appear more real and therefore more tasty.

So to say photography is not about technical perfection, just means your not taking into account all the parts of the equation, especially the parts related to human perception.

Obviously 99% of photography or photographers don't need to worry about such things as imperfection, as imperfection just happens on it's own for them whether they like it or not (obviously I include myself as such a fairly low ranking photographer).

Now with regards to your friend, I'd say his portraits need a fair amount of work in achieving an engaging human/emotional aspect to them, but this isn't due to too much technical perfection, but actually too much imperfection all things considered, what I'm really saying is, he needs to spend some time looking at him self instead of his camera for a while, either to boost his confidence, as well as learn how to be aware of the vibes he transmits to others as they will likely be the vibes he receives back, which will show obviously in his imagery, it's true what they say, the camera looks both ways.

His landscape work however doesn't suffer from the above issues as he is not relying on interpersonal skill which is likely his Achilles heal (currently at least).
On the whole I'd say it's very good, however not the best I'v ever seen, but plenty good enough for me to enjoy looking through his work, even though I'm not 'that' into landscapes, and I would describe some of them as awe inspiring rather than 'lacking sole' although you could apply that term to his portraits I guess, but I'd have chosen different words if he was my friend.


As for some technically perfect works that ARE awe inspiring imo, you might want to browse the below guy's work he did with his 7D.

http://500px.com/alwaysbj182
 
Ejizz said:
...the camera looks both ways.
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My new mantra!

Based on your post maybe we didn't disagree after-all? I think what you're saying is right about some of the all-time greats but there's also a lot of 'f8 and be there' photographers who are equally engaging.

The link you posted demonstrated my personal viewpoint very well though. I look over those images, understand they're good, well shot and processed, a ton of impact, but none of them asked to be clicked or moved me. That type of photo has been done to death and the massively exaggerated pallete is something I'm moving away from (having been very guilty of over-saturated/processed tone-mapped stuff in the past!)

My personal goal now is to make my photos have value. Whether it's just documenting life or a holiday/trip or something that may be useful to society at some point hence starting a blog (see sig). I just don't see the point of long-exposure seascapes.
 
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My opinion is that a great photo, a truly great photo is it's ability to tell a story with 1 frame. It is that element that makes me linger and do a double take. If I see a shot of a flower that's perfectly exposed, pin sharp, it does nothing for me. There is no context, there is no soul.

One of my favourite photo from last year is the black and White shot of a little boy looking back in a church. That photo is not 100% pin sharp, it's sharp enough. But it tells a story, that's my kind of photography.

There needs to be a level of quality in technical ability but after that, it's all about the emotion.
 
robertgilbert86 said:
My new mantra!

Based on your post maybe we didn't disagree after-all? I think what you're saying is right about some of the all-time greats but there's also a lot of 'f8 and be there' photographers who are equally engaging.

The link you posted demonstrated my personal viewpoint very well though. I look over those images, understand they're good, well shot and processed, a ton of impact, but none of them asked to be clicked or moved me. That type of photo has been done to death and the massively exaggerated pallete is something I'm moving away from (having been very guilty of over-saturated/processed tone-mapped stuff in the past!)
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Sounds like what happens if you over indulge in chocolate...

robertgilbert86 said:
I just don't see the point of long-exposure seascapes.
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Because the best quality landscapes are beautiful and inspiring Art.

"In order for something to be art, it must have no function other than itself."

Jeremy Clarkson (quoting man from the Tate gallery)


robertgilbert86 said:
My personal goal now is to make my photos have value. Whether it's just documenting life or a holiday/trip or something that may be useful to society at some point hence starting a blog (see sig).
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You sound like David Hobby in 'Lighting in layers'.

As for the blog, I like the idea, and recently set up a similar thread on this forum.
tbh, I thought you would have contributed to it, although I must admit I didn't expect many contributions from others.

It was pretty scary for me at first, but then it soon became really fun (which was what I expected going in).
However it was also a marketing experiment, looking at free ways to boost local awareness of my photography and brand, while providing a local service.

It's also very good for working on the personal interaction side of your photography, and learning which 'vibes' you put out get's the desired results your looking for.

Currently waiting on the return of my 50mm and business cards, and then I'll be going on another adventure...

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18300102
 
Raymond Lin said:
My opinion is that a great photo, a truly great photo is it's ability to tell a story with 1 frame. It is that element that makes me linger and do a double take. If I see a shot of a flower that's perfectly exposed, pin sharp, it does nothing for me. There is no context, there is no soul.

One of my favourite photo from last year is the black and White shot of a little boy looking back in a church. That photo is not 100% pin sharp, it's sharp enough. But it tells a story, that's my kind of photography.

There needs to be a level of quality in technical ability but after that, it's all about the emotion.
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Imo, great photography can be allot of things, it can be telling a story, it could be telling a layered hidden story, it can be capturing a powerful moment or expression/emotion or particularly with landscapes it can be demonstrating the shear beauty of something, as beauty itself is a very powerful thing that has huge influence in our life, however imo truly great photography incorporates two or more of these factors in a single frame.
 
Yes, true. Obviously.

Though it would take a hell of a landscape photo to move me. Most of those long exposure on the beach are done to death, and really are a dime a dozen. I think that's the point Rob was getting at in his original post.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Yes, true. Obviously.

Though it would take a hell of a landscape photo to move me. Most of those long exposure on the beach are done to death, and really are a dime a dozen. I think that's the point Rob was getting at in his original post.
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I get that point, but the point I made about chocolate, was to me or any other casual viewer, they haven't been done to death.
It's the same with anything in life, for more your exposed to something the more it loses it's emotional impact on us and the more mundane it becomes, and worse you may even become sick of it.

The only reason you like your shot of the boy so much is because things rarely line up so perfectly for you to capture such a moment, if this happend every week for you then it would probably lose it's appeal to you and most other photographers who see people keep posting up the same kind of image.
However that doesn't mean to say your client or any other non-photographer observer won't be moved by it.
 
Can't say I'm a fan of what Clarkson says in general and discussing art here is likely to be counter-productive. If people like those landscapes/anything else it really doesn't bother me. I was just talking about my preference and values in photography.

Regarding the chocolate theory I moved away from over-processed images because they were rubbish rather than boredom. A few years ago I would have also raved about the links posted above but I've since changed. I look back at my work and shudder but can at least see a progression.

I think Raymond's story objective is good, something I'm trying to work towards but barely achieve in a set let-alone a single image!

Sorry I missed that Strangers post, I'd just returned from holiday and was pretty exhausted. /Heads over to start another argument...:rolleyes:
 
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