Thread: The Joy of Photography

One of the biggest advantages of digital photography is said to be its convenience. It has become much easier to get a technically decent picture than ever before. One can shoot as much as one likes. It won't make any difference, if one shoots 36 pictures or 1000, because shooting digital is cheap. One can be even sloppy, because one can fix so much in post processing.

The technical quality of our gear is great and we are able to do things which we did not dare to dream of when we shot film. Even my tiny Canon G12 makes decent pictures up to 800 ISO (by applying the right tools in post processing). However, I doubt that the technical quality of our digital tools will ever be good enough. No matter how good the gear already is, even higher usable ISO (more MP, ...) will be wanted. We sit in front of our screens for hours and use the newest and best software to get the last 0.1% image quality. Of course we shoot raw to be able to do that. At least we think that we have to shoot raw to be able to do that.

Since releasing the shutter does not cost anything, we tend to shoot much more than ever before and it is a good thing that we can do that. But in our digital age so many pictures are produced. Although I have never been a photographer who shoots an excessive amount of pictures, I used to take a much more pictures than ever before. I have become used to sit in front of the computer for hours, because each picture has to be developed individually (I have never seen any sense in batch processing of raw files and most probably won't ever do). Photography has become work in front of a computer at last.

The result of the high amount of pictures and the intense post processing is not joy but just a high amount of intensely processed pictures which often enough lack interestingness. So I have changed my habits, which is a still enduring process having started in May. When I photograph today, I take less pictures than ever before, but the percentage of keepers is higher than ever before. I am looking for a good balance between flow and control. This needs some discipline, but I am rewarded with joy.

Some weeks ago there was an interesting discussion in the Micro 4/3 User Group about JPEGs vs. raw. Someone said, that many photographers shoot JPEGs because they want to finalize their concept as much as possible when they release the shutter. That found my interest and I tried to shoot JPEG and raw in parallel. I soon realized, that I actually like the JPEGs my Olympus produces, and stopped shooting raw. I have defined the function key to save the raw, if necessary, such that I still have the raw in difficult situations.

My shooting discipline has grown significantly and I am concentrating on making pictures much more than before. The time I needed to develop all those raw files is better spent for improving my skills in making pictures. I have been able to improve the image quality of my pictures, too, although I have heard about a myth which says one had to shoot raw for doing so. But the best thing is, that I am very satisfied with what I am doing now. Photography is pure joy again. Life can be so beautiful!

Christian, I had been wondering where you'd been lately - and now I know! I'm very happy for you and I can see in both these pictures that you've done beautifully. It is a joy to enjoy your picture making - and I can tell by looking at the beauty here!

Olympus definitely has great jpeg colors!

Pictor,
Interesting revelations you discovered.
Discipline is the key to any venture you undergo.

You seem to have stumbled upon the inverse square law. Less is more/more is less.
I will not engage in the raw/jpeg part of your post. To each his own.

For me....when I go out for say 4-5 hours on a walkabout, I carry one camera. Now it's the X100 due to the memories it provides me of my time with my Leica.
I may shoot maybe 15-30 frames. 30 is a big shoot for me in a session.

What I strive for is around 10-20 images that matter in a year. I'm not talking keepers. I'm not talking great images, I'm talking about images that define me.
10-20 in a year is a wonderful crop. I don't always get it but I strive for it.

That's my discipline. The inverse square law shows me that the Less time I have to work, the More productive I become. I make sure that I don't have a camera with me all the time. That doesn't mean I'm not photographing, I'm just not recording.

I don't know what photography means to you. That my friend is a personal journey of discovery you travel alone. I hope you find passengers on that journey that appreciate your vision and support your efforts.

As far as working on the computer, for me it's the same as camera in hand. It's all part of the process, The Joy of Photography.
Don

Amen, to its being an individual journey, Don.

Well, unfortunately not all make the discovery. Pictor has and I look forward to his future images.
Photography means different things to many different shooters. I'm happy and very excited for Pictor.

Interesting Pictor.
I come from a different background in film. I used to shoot B&W exclusively, and worked hard to produce the most stunning prints I could so post processing is not so onerous a task to me.
Esp since there is no acetic acid to set off my Asthma!
That being said I have almost never used RAW till I got my XZ-1. The jpegs out of my F200, E-PL1 and e510 only ever need slight tweeks.
This recent Single in July PAD has reminded me just how much I miss that time and how much I like my PEN.
Shooting more and agonizing less is freeing.

Originally Posted by Streetshooter

Pictor,

I may shoot maybe 15-30 frames. 30 is a big shoot for me in a session.

What I strive for is around 10-20 images that matter in a year. I'm not talking keepers. I'm not talking great images, I'm talking about images that define me.
10-20 in a year is a wonderful crop. I don't always get it but I strive for it.

And there I was thinking I must be weird because when I go out I don't shoot several hundred. I just can't manage that many. Its also why I don't have large capacity cards. I have 2x8G Class 6 just in case I have a temporary aberration and want to shoot some video (hasn't happened yet) and in my other cameras, its 2 or 4G and I never even go close to halfway filling them, even with RAW.

10-20 in a year? Thank goodness.

I remain bemused at those who bought their K-5s at Christmas and have already shot in excess of 10k shots. They must be permanently on burst mode, and finger never off the shutter release.

Getting the best you can straight up is just the best feeling. Sure, some tweaking might be necessary, but for me, if I get one or two decent in a week, I feel like I have achieved something. Quality over quantity every time.

I too over time have taken to shooting fewer and - I hope - better. However, during a recent trip to London all my discipline disappeared mostly because I'm not there very often and felt compelled to take pictures. The result is mountain of average images with a few decent ones scattered around that its going to take me a while to sort out.

But now I'm back on the wagon

Don, thank you for sharing your thoughts about your journey! I am very interested in this.

Originally Posted by Streetshooter

You seem to have stumbled upon the inverse square law. Less is more/more is less.

I have known the inverse square law, but internalizing something is a different kettle of fish than only knowing something.

Originally Posted by Streetshooter

The inverse square law shows me that the Less time I have to work, the More productive I become. I make sure that I don't have a camera with me all the time. That doesn't mean I'm not photographing, I'm just not recording.

That's very interesting, because it's just the opposite of what many idols are telling us all the time.

Originally Posted by Streetshooter

As far as working on the computer, for me it's the same as camera in hand. It's all part of the process, The Joy of Photography.

I want to complement the raw vs. JPEG part a little bit. In general I have always enjoyed processing my photographs, but I have always enjoyed making pictures more than post processing. At the end of the day I want to have got as much as possible right. If I can get what I want by shooting JPEGs, I will shoot JPEGs for convenience. I have some technical and aesthetic reasons I did not mention anywhere, why I have come to prefer shooting JPEGs with my Olympus cameras, but I think that this is not the thread for discussing this. This might be temporary, but at the moment it helps me to concentrate on what is really important to me.

I want to add that I have not lost joy in Photography, but I have found more joy by having started the process of reviewing my photography.

Great post.