Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Preparation Comes First  (Read 3625 times)

Steven Draper

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 147
    • http://www.stevendraperphotography.com
Preparation Comes First
« on: March 03, 2010, 09:07:44 am »

Thank you for this essay.

I think what takes many photographers to the next level is the confidence to push the boundaries with the acceptance that if they fail, they can learn and move on.

Many people become cosy with a certain level of performance and do not wish to experience the pressure or heartache associated with a knock. This is especially true with activities that are essentially hobbies / pastimes for many. Thats fine but to move into the big leagues with consistent images of quality you just have to explore, learn and keep going.

I agree many shots need planning, but there is a danger that these can often end up looking planned. My favorite images have an element of spontaneity about them, the energy of recognizing your in the right spot at the right time.

Steven


Logged
image examples are at my website  [url=h

John.Murray

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 886
    • Images by Murray
Preparation Comes First
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2010, 04:38:20 pm »

I personally get a much different take on the article.

Being prepared on all the levels stated has been in my experience quite liberating.  Knowing local sunset and sunrise, for instance, allows you to setup and make any last minute adjustments with confidence.

What I most appreciate is the point he makes on mental prepardness - something that I'm not always good at doing - this with technical prepardness, allow one to handle the spontaneous situations you mention.

« Last Edit: March 03, 2010, 05:27:44 pm by Joh.Murray »
Logged

dchew

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1020
    • Dave Chew Photography
Preparation Comes First
« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2010, 06:27:06 pm »

I think the metal preparedness depends somewhat on the photographer's style.  One of Galen Rowell's workshops was co-led with Frans Lanting.  Anyone who photographed with Galen knows he was the ultimate 'hunter.' He literally attacked the landscape with his camera.  

When everyone got to the coast site for a shooting session, Galen immediately ran off to attack.  Frans went out near the shore and sat soaking in the environment, just as suggested in Jack Graham's article.  Both were/are successful photographers.  Galen wasted little time "acclimatizing," while it is a core essence of Frans' style.

Dave
« Last Edit: March 03, 2010, 06:30:44 pm by dchew »
Logged

stamper

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5882
Preparation Comes First
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2010, 04:45:20 am »


I would have thought that many of the "great" shots that have been captured have been done so by "accident". I don't pretend to be a great photographer - a plodding amateur - but I have found in the past that when I plan something then little happens despite attention to detail. But when I go out on "spec" then surprises appear. I think that in the past Michael has stated that he is a photographer that is mostly on the move as opposed to one who stays in a place for a long time? At the end of the day there is a lot of luck involved in getting a good image that planning wasn't involved in?

Christoph C. Feldhaim

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2509
  • There is no rule! No - wait ...
Preparation Comes First
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2010, 06:07:58 am »

I believe rule #1 is, that there is no real rule for anything in art.

The essence is not something definable, like Saint-Exupéry wrote in the "little prince":

"L'essentiel est invisible pour les yieux"

That said it can make sense to study others pictures, composition, ways  of preparation and so on.
Or to oppose that as well ...

I believe on the long run the only thing that counts is continuous and serious non-jittery effort, be it in studying, practising, preparation or anything else ....
 
my $0.02
« Last Edit: March 04, 2010, 06:09:49 am by ChristophC »
Logged

BernardLanguillier

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13983
    • http://www.flickr.com/photos/bernardlanguillier/sets/
Preparation Comes First
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2010, 06:39:48 am »

A very similar topic was adressed in this article, with a special phocus on outdoor photography away from the roads.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/O...otography.shtml

Cheers,
Bernard

ErikKaffehr

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 11311
    • Echophoto
Preparation Comes First
« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2010, 06:46:06 am »

Great work!

Erik


Quote from: Joh.Murray
I personally get a much different take on the article.

Being prepared on all the levels stated has been in my experience quite liberating.  Knowing local sunset and sunrise, for instance, allows you to setup and make any last minute adjustments with confidence.

What I most appreciate is the point he makes on mental prepardness - something that I'm not always good at doing - this with technical prepardness, allow one to handle the spontaneous situations you mention.

Logged
Erik Kaffehr
 

stamper

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5882
Preparation Comes First
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2010, 07:24:15 am »

ckimmerle

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 441
    • http://www.chuckkimmerle.com
Preparation Comes First
« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2010, 10:51:52 am »

I think it's important to divide "preparation" into two categories: equipment and mental/emotional.

First and foremost, the equipment needs to be ready. That means everything organized, lenses clean, batteries charged, film/cards packed and ready, and all the small extras such as meters, cable releases, levels, loupes, pocket knives, flashlights, reading glasses (sad, but true!), etc. in their assigned pockets. Having our equipment prepared and ready is necessary to allow us to concentrate on the subject at hand rather than equipment issues. Nothing is more frustrating than being unable to quickly locate a piece of needed gear when a great photo opp presents itself. We're not all going to be as lucky as AA with is Hernandez moonrise shot, for which he couldn't find his light meter and had to estimate exposure.

Mental/emotional preparation, on the other hand, is going to be unique to each photographer's personality and style. Unlike the author, I would never even consider sitting around a kitchen table listening to music and thumbing through photo books before a planned outing. That's not my style. I just go. It works...for me.

My emotional and mental preparation, if needed, usually happens on site, either at a found situation or a planned destination. Deep breaths, eyes closed (for few minutes), trying to free my mind of the over abundance of objective distractions (work, lawn mowing, etc) and commune with the subject. At times, if a scene is fleeting or perhaps overly compelling, I skip the foreplay and head straight into shooting mode. It all depends.

The bottom line is, at least for me, preparation starts with equipment. That's the foundation. The constant. Preparing my heart and mind, on the other hand, is an ebbing and flowing process which changes with each shoot. Works for me.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2010, 10:58:14 am by ckimmerle »
Logged
"The real voyage of discove

larsrc

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 173
    • http://
Preparation Comes First
« Reply #9 on: March 04, 2010, 11:34:57 am »

Thanks everyone for the extra links. The main article was a bit thin on "the meat", spending much more time pointing out the importance of being prepared than on how to actually prepare.

-Lars
Logged

barryfitzgerald

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 688
Preparation Comes First
« Reply #10 on: March 05, 2010, 05:37:26 am »

I'm starting to wonder about the merits of such articles, I've no problems with opinions and views, each to his own. But I much prefer the more technical ones. The "other stuff" is so open to debate..it's almost self defeating publishing an article on your own views, most likely they won't be the same as others.
The article made some decent points, sure technical skills alone are just a small part of it. Yes, being prepared is a good thing.

It is a good idea to walk around, spend some time enjoying a place, not just grabbing the camera, agree on that.

Disagree about the light, one of the most important aspects of landscape photography, and you have no control over it at all! There are times it can work wonders, other times..I would not even pull a camera out. It's got little to do with blaming the light or other stuff. Photography is "instinct", least to me..not a lot to do with foggy mists of time and being part of the landscape (if you can do this, great!)
And without exception, the best images I have produced, had no preparation at all, something clicks or it does not. Not a bad read, but a bit over analytical for my own tastes.
Logged

larsrc

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 173
    • http://
Preparation Comes First
« Reply #11 on: March 05, 2010, 12:16:01 pm »

Quote from: barryfitzgerald
I'm starting to wonder about the merits of such articles, I've no problems with opinions and views, each to his own. But I much prefer the more technical ones. The "other stuff" is so open to debate..it's almost self defeating publishing an article on your own views, most likely they won't be the same as others.
The article made some decent points, sure technical skills alone are just a small part of it. Yes, being prepared is a good thing.

It is a good idea to walk around, spend some time enjoying a place, not just grabbing the camera, agree on that.

Disagree about the light, one of the most important aspects of landscape photography, and you have no control over it at all! There are times it can work wonders, other times..I would not even pull a camera out. It's got little to do with blaming the light or other stuff. Photography is "instinct", least to me..not a lot to do with foggy mists of time and being part of the landscape (if you can do this, great!)
And without exception, the best images I have produced, had no preparation at all, something clicks or it does not. Not a bad read, but a bit over analytical for my own tastes.

I would love to see more articles on the "soft" sides of photography. There are mountains of magazines and terabytes of web pages about the technical stuff - exactly because it's so easy to talk about. We need somebody who can talk about the harder things like composition, preparation, how to deal with clients, how to react when a gang of mobsters or police officers react badly to your taking mugshots of them etc. Any schmuck can set up a test target or fire a camera until it breaks.

What I didn't like about this article was simply that it took so much time to say how preparation is absolutely essential and then hardly any time on what he actually does. It'd have been a better article if he'd just described what he goes through to get good pictures with the attitude of "this is how I work".

-Lars
Logged

Rob C

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 24074
Preparation Comes First
« Reply #12 on: March 05, 2010, 04:02:57 pm »

I think that Barry is right: there is ever less that I am willing or able to accept in the realm of 'one photographer tells another how to think' scenarios. As lars said, the world is full of technical writings too, but what he doesn't mention is the undeniable fact that many of those actually do serve a purpose in teaching what they set out to teach: technical routes. Magazines etc. survive on that appetite. I learned most of what I needed from looking at magazines; I learned least of all in photo-school except that it was irrelevant to where I wanted to go.

Where people start to get into personal mysticism and want to spread/market 'how I think' messages, then they are awfully close to touching on the boundaries of the faith healer. Let's be straight here: most of the creative things we do are from instinct; take a couple of steps away and they are no longer creative at all but formulaic, though that's not to deny that they might be both formulaic and instinctive at the same time, sometimes, but for he who follows such advice from another, they can only ever be formulaic. Do you want to be yourself or a very pale copy of somebody else?

Having written this, it's not to deny that reading such material  might be a handy comfort blanket, a rub on the shoulder or a pat on the back in times of great personal doubts. But hell, you could always just accept your fate and click your own pics to suit your own tastes, which is what I would always suggest to anyone not having to do it professionally - just please yourself. Unless, of course, that means reading ever more instruction manuals on how to think.

Why is it that people believe they can read how to become great photographers while never thinking that they can read how to become great singers? I think I know why: everybody thinks it's so damn easy simply because they can own a camera and that there's nothing more to it; somehow, you should just be able buy it along with the box.

Rob C

Paul Sumi

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1217
Preparation Comes First
« Reply #13 on: March 05, 2010, 05:21:31 pm »

Quote from: Rob C
Why is it that people believe they can read how to become great photographers while never thinking that they can read how to become great singers?

The one thing that I find best to prepare myself for photography is to actually DO it.  Musicians practice, singers practice, athletes practice, why not photographers?

Particularly for those of us who are amateurs - I don't expect to take a "good" picture after not picking up a camera for a couple of months any more than I would expect to play a good game of tennis after a similar hiatus.

Part of it is muscle memory - making camera operation instinctive so I don't have to think about it.  But it's also the mental part, to get used to looking at the relationships of light, color and forms in a photographer's frame of mind.

Paul
« Last Edit: March 05, 2010, 05:22:57 pm by Paul Sumi »
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up