Has your love of photography spoilt your appreciation of pictures?

ChrisHeathcote

ChrisHeathcote

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This may seem a strange question but I will explain. As my love of all things photographic has grown and I have started to push myself in improving my own images, I have found that I now struggle to look at other photos without critiquing and trying to understand the lighting, techniques, lenses etc that were used to take the picture, which has meant that quite often my friends or family will show me a picture and ask tell me about how good it is and all I can think is really! What about the light etc, the highlights are blown etc. This became apparent recently when a very close friend brought round some pictures of their newborn. My wife and everyone was saying how beautiful they were and all I could see was a couple of very awkward poses, (baby obviously placed in what I would think be an unnatural position, missed focus (nose not eye) and a few with blown highlights. I find the same with the pictures people share on Facebook etc. However I do see a lot on here that I think wow to :thumbs: :cool:
 
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I definitely look at photography in my field (angling) and critique first, appreciate later. There are obviously some images that stop me in my tracks (Henry Gilbey does some amazing stuff) but many I look at and assess what i've have done and if I'd have done a better job.

In terms of family pics from mates and family members, I switch off my photographer's brain and just appreciate them, probably because most of the pics they show me are of their kids (etc) and as a Dad they 'speak' to me on that level.
 
No. I think the more I appreciate pictures the better I approach photography. It's easy to become too focussed on technical perfection and forget to step back and consider wider aesthetics and emotions that photography can achieve.
 
You make a good point Alastair, I'd never thought about it that way. I guess in my pursuit of improving my technical aspect of photography, I've forgotten the emotive side.
 
I have photographs of the grandchildren, not 'photographically' perfect, but that isn't the point it captures a memory, a moment in time never to be repeated, what price is that memory. You can make a trip in an old car, break down, be uncomfortable, but get there, and you are pleased to be at your destination, or would a Rolls Royce arrival made your destination any better, probably not.
 
I think I need to step away from critiquing and start looking for the emotion. I find this difficult with a lot though, because to me some of them look either like snapshots or awkwardly posed, which I then find it hard to link with.
 
Bluedog said:
Memories and 'feelings' are easily lost in the digital age. And that's a shame. A lot of images on forums are about the technical aspect and we can forget the soul and proper emotion of a picture.
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Would agree with you,it seem everything has to be technical prefect and if not use pp to make it so :shake:

Yet there are many great photos out there that are not technically perfect

:)
 
Jayst84 said:
There's a big world out there, blown highlights in family happy snaps are not important.
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Blown highlights are only a problem with photography done for the viewing of other photographers, who generally look only at the technical details.

Ask a photographer for critique and you'll be told about the blown highlights before you're told whether the image is interesting or not - if you get any comment on the interest of the image at all. That sort of critique has very limited value.
 
I do find myself looking at the photography before the photo...I see a photo and think seriously...most things don't bother me but the amount of OOF I see as profile photos is unreal :eek: I'm of the school of though that its only healthy that if you love photography that is what you consider first....but it's important if a little sad to remember that to almost every other person it's the moment or memory that is captured rather than the quality of said photo that is important :shrug:
 
I think it's a process you go through. It's too easy on forums to discuss the technical aspect, but studying an art based degree I find I'm learning so much more about the the thoughts beyond the image qualities itself
 
MWHCVT said:
I do find myself looking at the photography before the photo...I see a photo and think seriously...most things don't bother me but the amount of OOF I see as profile photos is unreal :eek: I'm of the school of though that its only healthy that if you love photography that is what you consider first....but it's important if a little sad to remember that to almost every other person it's the moment or memory that is captured rather than the quality of said photo that is important :shrug:
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^^this^^ sums my current approach exactly. Well put Matt. I've seen some seascapes this morning and whilst the general composition is OK, the first thing I noticed was that the horizon wasn't level. This person is a semi pro photographer and uses Facebook as a blog. As usual lots of likes and all I see is basics being missed! Yay, whilst typing this I've had a eureka moment. Stay off Facebook!! :thumbs: problem solved
 
I tend to loosely divide photos into two camps.
Those that capture a moment and those that create a moment and say ohh that's nice or look at it from a more technical point of view.
 
I found myself looking at my wedding photos with a photographers eye rather than a customers point if view, which pee'd me off a bit lol.
 
Sometimes I think that something could maybe have been photographed in a better way, but that for me does not distract from the appreciation of the good aspects of a picture (if there are any).
 
Because I'm an amateur meteorologist, I have the ability to analyse and remember every aspect there is about the weather but it doesn't mean everyone else do think the same way as me. All the general public want to know if it is going to rain or not?
It's the same with photography, we may have the gear and know-how to take quality images, heck, we are even our own worse enemy when it comes to criticising our own stuff. But the general public aren't interested in lighting and composition when it comes to taking photos, all they want is just a snapshot for memory's sake and for close friends and family to coo over.
As a result I like to think I'm "easy going" when it comes to the world of photography and just let everyone get on with it, especially since we are in an era where every man and their dog owns a camera. If they are blissfully happy with what they have taken then so be it . . .

. . . Mind you, if that person then go onto saying "So, what do you think of this photo?" . . .

. . .

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Some of my favourite photos are family snaps that are blurred, at wonky angles, with blown highlights or badly underexposed. Ive never thought about them technically, only emotionally. As someone said, theres a difference between snaps and intentional 'photography' images.
 
Cagey75 said:
Some of my favourite photos are family snaps that are blurred, at wonky angles, with blown highlights or badly underexposed. Ive never thought about them technically, only emotionally. As someone said, theres a difference between snaps and intentional 'photography' images.
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Are these your family snaps? if so you will immediately have an emotional connection. This is partly why I never post shots I've taken of my son for critique.
 
ChrisHeathcote said:
Are these your family snaps? if so you will immediately have an emotional connection. This is partly why I never post shots I've taken of my son for critique.
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Mine and my extended family yeah. From years back. But since getting into photography [though, I guess I always was in a way] I've never thought to look at them from a technical point of view. Some of them straight up I think my Dad, or whoever took them, was drunk/high/falling over while shooting :D But it matters not.
 
I think what we do to some extent is to put ourselves in the place of the photographer and think.....well I would have done this, and used this technique, or that lens or filter, and processed it in a slightly different way.

It is perhaps more difficult for us to appreciate an image without trying to improve it somehow.

As for the title it IS possible to love photography without being a photographer. Such a person would probably be able to appreciate images with a more balanced viewpoint.
 
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