I wrote a post in the Nikon forum a while ago about losing my love of photography.
That's because I'm a luddite, I suppose.
I also drive a manual transmission sports car because I want to interface with the machine. (It's me that executes a perfect heal-and-toe downshift in a turn, not the microcontroller responding to the flippy-flappy paddles behind a steering wheel.) Ferrari no longer makes manual transmission cars since 2009 or so. The new Ferraris are dead to me.
Thus, I am concerned about where camera manufacturers and their technological arms race are heading.
Let me explain.
If you look at the progression of autofocus tracking, through face and now eye detection, you see a trajectory where machine learning will take over creativity.
Imagine if such AI were integrated into autofocus systems? All one would need to do is waive a camera around until the system detected a pleasing image, and then it would snap the picture. (There have been such systems for snapping a picture when someone smiles for about 5 years now.)
Photography goes only as far as you take it. If you don't want to use the advanced features...don't. I shoot with a whole assortment of cameras from things purely manual ( don't even have batteries ) to my A7R3 and each type of camera excels for different shooting situations. No one is forcing you to use any advanced feature...but try them out, there might be something there for you.
it only interferes as much as you allow it. and no it can't tell what pleases me. for the most part a great many of my images carry with them a story and its one that only i can tell. and that makes up the whole entity.
Shoot film. Seriously. A few years ago, I sold all my digital stuff and bought a few Contax RX cameras, and bought a NIB Nikon Coolscan V ED, and found Fuji film that I used to shoot back when they still made it. It wasn't easy to find the film (eBay for months ), but the results I got were really something.
I have since sold all my film gear because I wanted a larger format if I was to continue that road. However, the costs to drum scan negatives is not cheap; especially for someone that doesn't print my own work.
There still is editing in photoshop. I don't do the automated features, other then auto-align. If I am focus blending, I do it by hand with my wacom tablet and brushes. I don't use auto settings for luminosity masks either, but that is my preference. I feel more connected to the end result. Just my experience
sjms wrote:
i don't know, was that supposed to be impressive
Yes, it was supposed to be very impressive. Weren't you impressed?
That's what can be done today. These technologies are in their infancy. Give it a couple years. It's not hard to imagine whole fields of photography people practice today disappearing. For instance, how hard do you think it would be for the people faking up those head shots to fake up birds in flight? If there was money to be made doing that, they'd be doing it already.
Anyway, two fleas arguing about who owns the dog they're living on is always amusing. Whether or not photographers like it, these technologies are here to stay, and will change just about everything (and not in good ways I believe).
its already been done well. and yes it is going to get better. will it change the "value" of the "real thing"? that all depends on what is wanted and for what reason.
rdeloe wrote:
Yes, it was supposed to be very impressive. Weren't you impressed?
That's what can be done today. These technologies are in their infancy. Give it a couple years. It's not hard to imagine whole fields of photography people practice today disappearing. For instance, how hard do you think it would be for the people faking up those head shots to fake up birds in flight? If there was money to be made doing that, they'd be doing it already.
Anyway, two fleas arguing about who owns the dog they're living on is always amusing. Whether or not photographers like it, these technologies are here to stay, and will change just about everything (and not in good ways I believe).
If "faking" a photograph is what drives a person...then good for him. I personally get the enjoyment of being there, experiencing the moment and trying to duplicate what I experienced by photographing it. If all I want is a photograph without the experience behind it...I'd just go buy one.
chez wrote:
If "faking" a photograph is what drives a person...then good for him. I personally get the enjoyment of being there, experiencing the moment and trying to duplicate what I experienced by photographing it. If all I want is a photograph without the experience behind it...I'd just go buy one.
Well of course! That's why we're all here. But the OP asked "where is this all going?" And I posted a link to show where this is going.
I am not a fan of "where this is going". I think it's awful. Any tiny amount of trust that ordinary people still have in the idea that photographs are images of real things is going, going, gone...
So it goes. Those of us who enjoy photography because of the experience will continue to do so long after developments in machine learning have turned everything upside down. Sites like FM will become the digital version of the Large Format Photography Forum: a welcoming home for people who still enjoy using anachronistic, old fashioned technologies. That will be me.
rdeloe wrote:
Well of course! That's why we're all here. But the OP asked "where is this all going?" And I posted a link to show where this is going.
I am not a fan of "where this is going". I think it's awful. Any tiny amount of trust that ordinary people still have in the idea that photographs are images of real things is going, going, gone...
So it goes. Those of us who enjoy photography because of the experience will continue to do so long after developments in machine learning have turned everything upside down. Sites like FM will become the digital version of the Large Format Photography Forum: a welcoming home for people who still enjoy using anachronistic, old fashioned technologies. That will be me. ...Show more →
Me too. Many times I go out have a great experience but bring back nothing good photography wise...but it still was a great outing.
Well, automatic transmissions allow you to keep both hands on the wheel all the time. Nine and three. Nine and three. It's all good to me. Bought my first auto transmission vehicle a couple of years ago and love everything about it and still have the all manual everything 911, which is actually very difficult to heel and toe unless you're going really fast. Having shot many famous photos with all manual cameras and rarely missing focus, I'm thrilled that that part of the equation now let's me focus (pun intended!) on what's important - keeping both hands on the wheel.
One doesn’t exclude the other. You can buy a Mazda Miata with stick shift or in automatic. Here most people may prefer automatic, in Europe they prefer stick. You can turn off features, just like you don’t have to use the video capabilities of your camera. To each his own.
Whether others like the results of your photography should only matter if you shoot for others. If you don’t, why bother. You have to make yourself happy. Since I started photography many years ago, HDR has become popular and I couldn’t care less; astrophotography is a big thing and I’m not interested and people are craving as much dynamic range in their sensors as possible and I’m already fine with what I have. None of that is gonna make me get likes on Instagram, but I don’t care about those either.
rdeloe wrote:
Well of course! That's why we're all here. But the OP asked "where is this all going?" And I posted a link to show where this is going.
I am not a fan of "where this is going". I think it's awful. Any tiny amount of trust that ordinary people still have in the idea that photographs are images of real things is going, going, gone...
So it goes. Those of us who enjoy photography because of the experience will continue to do so long after developments in machine learning have turned everything upside down. Sites like FM will become the digital version of the Large Format Photography Forum: a welcoming home for people who still enjoy using anachronistic, old fashioned technologies. That will be me. ...Show more →
Two different discussions, both interesting. One is about the enjoyment of photography, the other about the role of photography in society. Or, beyond photography, of cameras, as cameras are increasingly everywhere.
Tom Conte wrote:
If you look at the progression of autofocus tracking, through face and now eye detection, you see a trajectory where machine learning will take over creativity.
Imagine if such AI were integrated into autofocus systems? All one would need to do is waive a camera around until the system detected a pleasing image, and then it would snap the picture. (There have been such systems for snapping a picture when someone smiles for about 5 years now.)
I don't like where photography is going. Do you?...Show more →
Oh Wow! An automated system dedicated to taking banal snapshots. Do you really fear this? Creativity is in your head, not in your gear.
I had a C1 Corvette race car with a 4 speed trans. The C8 has an 8 speed trans with paddle shift. Left-foot braking is a lot easier with a paddle shift (left-foot breaking allows one to load and un-load the chassis as needed—allowing for faster lap times. I always pick speed over style ...YMMV.
BTW Two time F1 Champion Jim Clark didn't heel-and-toe.
), but the results I got were really something. 