Jayem1 wrote:
I have no talents in photography, and I have accumulated some nice gears. What should I do?
D800E, super tele; say 800mm, 2x converter, no VR, no tripod...handheld
Seriously, get out and shoot, find what makes you happy, take a local college class, go on a photo seminar...exploit every last bit out your current gear...then exploit/use/leverage you creativity and old gear even more!
Every time i've bought a new lens or camera i've found myself having ideas and taking photos that i hadn't envisaged before i got them: New gear doesn't just enable me to realise my current unfulfilled vision, it improves me and provides a sort of creative vacuum and actively pulls me into it.
Thanks for the advice, but I fancy by getting more nice gears, my photographic talent will grow. However, that has not materialized yet.
BobbyTan,
We are all hopeless then ...
Jay, give yourself time to grow, be critical of your work, but understand failure breeds character, success breeds satisfaction, as with most things practice, exploring not only your subject but yourself, feelings, will allow your personal style and passions to materialize...keep shooting, keep looking
You people talk as if success/talent is a single measuring stick that you can apply to a photograph (or a photographer) and say "OK, this one is 5.7. Done. Next!"
There are HUGE differences in the perception of how good a photograph(er) is -- both across different people and across different times. To someone a particular image might be a life-changing revelation, but to another someone it won't be worth more than a yawn.
Let's even say that you can measure success in terms of dollars, eyeballs, exhibitions, books published, etc. But I have no idea how you can even begin to measure talent.
Yup ... there is just no hope for me. No eye, no skill/talent and no taste.
KaaX wrote:
You people talk as if success/talent is a single measuring stick that you can apply to a photograph (or a photographer) and say "OK, this one is 5.7. Done. Next!"
There are HUGE differences in the perception of how good a photograph(er) is -- both across different people and across different times. To someone a particular image might be a life-changing revelation, but to another someone it won't be worth more than a yawn.
Let's even say that you can measure success in terms of dollars, eyeballs, exhibitions, books published, etc. But I have no idea how you can even begin to measure talent. ...Show more →
unquestionably,the ability of the photographer is the primary asset one has...that said...there are certain situations where equipment will indeed play the determining factor....if one is photographing a high speed car race or a sporting event and has a 1D4 and another photographer has a point and shoot I dont care how good the guy with the point and shoot is he will not be able to compete...given equipment of somewhat equal ability the better photographer will get better pictures 9/10 times...
bobbytan wrote:
Gosh, I have always felt that failure breeds losers. I need to fail more often.
Failure is, indeed, important. Anyone who thinks that they will get better at something, especially something like photography, without any failure along the way is either deluding themselves or superhuman or simply repeating precisely what someone else did and calling that success.
The very best photographers - pick your favorite photographer, your favorite genre, etc. - almost certainly made many more photographs that did not work than photographs there were good enough to share. Each failure is part of the practice cycle and each is something to learn from.
When people ask, I tell them that I make thousands of poor photographs. If I hadn't I would never have made a single good one.
