Bugbears

theoldsmithy

Hall of Famer
Location
Cheshire, England
Name
Martin Connolly
The more time I spend looking at the likes of Flickr, 500px, Viewbug, the more convinced I am about what I dislike in a photo. Much more so that what I like, to be honest. Here are my suggestions for some stupendously cliched themes that should be banned from public display. Feel free to add any others. I may run a poll just for the hell of it if we get enough entries. No particular order apart from the first one!

1 - Kirkjufell in Iceland. It must be impossible to move anywhere near that mountain without tripping over a tripod or a discarded ND Filter case.
2 - any photo with a very long exposure treatment of moving water. It's moving water, I don't want to see it look like cream.
3 - moody young lady with inappropriate levels of clothing for her (often industrial) surroundings. I always want to ask "why is she there?"
4 - head-on view of a bunch of pencils/crayons
5 - clothes pegs (been there myself mind you, but I'm over it now)
6 - the church at Vik in Iceland
7 - the church in Kent that looks a bit like the one at Vik
8 - Skogafoss waterfall in Iceland
9 - anywhere else in bloody Iceland, I mean it, it's ruined for me now by rampant scenic photography
10 - Golden Gate bridge (from any angle)
11 - a horse looking over a barbed wire fence
12 - Corfe Castle peeping above the swirling mists of a Dorset sunrise while Hardyesque locals presumably swill cider or bale hay somewhere just out of shot
13 - young girl in floaty dress walking away from the camera into an impossibly colourful and slightly abstract background
14 - close up of a computer keyboard. Ooh I bet that took so much effort to think of. Bored at work were we?

I could go on for hours.....!
 
Picture weary. I don't brows picture sites. And, don't even use my camera very much any more, for the same reason. How many pictures have I taken of the same (similar) things, in the last 50+ years? Even though, we have traveled and moved to so many places. I rarely see a picture that "grabs" my attention, strongly enough to spend time to really look at it carefully. But, I keep my camera ready, and battery charged with an empty card in it, just in case. Who can say, I might actually capture one of those special ones some day?
 
I have always wanted to visit Iceland... If I ever do I have to remember not to post any photos on this site ;)
To be honest I see your point, but that still seems a bit harsh and discouraging to me.
 
I spent four weeks in Iceland last year (two separate trips) and have another two weeks planned in July this year. Both times i had an amazing adventure. First time trapped in a snow blizzard, the second time almost blown off a cliff AND a wee while later, further up the coast, almost swept out to sea! You see it's not all about photography - it's about staying alive! The first trip I seriously didn't think I would get around the ring road alive!! Funny how ALIVE that makes you feel! Anyway, I would highly recommend it! Both trips were the best holidays I have ever had (and I travel a lot) but I agree with Martin, if you are following the ring road and are on a tight time schedule, then it is damn near impossible not to take the cliche shot. I think the difference when you look at your own photos and photos from others, the ones you made yourself are of your life, your memories, and that is what makes them special.

As for the other photographers there, all I can say is when they stripped off and climbed in the water for a swim I for one was entertained!!! This is the before:
21450059614_9c1c16586d_c.jpg
Iceland in September
by Karen Rose, on Flickr

Pegs, never thought about pegs before .... that's a new genre for me to check out!!
 
Don't get me wrong anyone, I have absolutely nothing against Iceland. It's one of the most magical places I have ever visited and I would love to go back again for more than a weekend, would almost certainly take masses of photos, and would encourage anyone else to do the same. However I do feel very strongly that some places there are seriously over-photographed, which kind of puts me off visiting them. But Iceland is only a small part of my gripe here, which is that you see far too many cliched images on the internet. That's all I was trying to say really.
 
I must be hanging out on the wrong part of the internet. I'd love to see more photos of Iceland. :love:

But don't get me started on shallow DOF photos of fences with leading lines. :ninja:

The problem (the way I see it) is that for we photographers who love photography and buy cameras, we must shoot something..... and VERY precious few of us have any gift for it (myself VERY much included).

It's no different with comedy (ever been to an "open mic" night)? :hide:

How about musicians? That street busker who is RUINING a Dylan or Donovan tune? Why can't he at the very least keep his mouth shut and tune his guitar? :mad:



But all I can say is here's to them even trying. :drinks: Even if the attempt is feeble, it's more than many will ever dare. :popcorm2:

But seriously........ #14. Come now, people.
 
Talking about travel, now if you were talking about my BIGGEST bugbear on my daily commute on the train it is:

1. People with feet on chairs.
2. People eating McDonald takeaways.
3. People standing directly in front of me on the platform so they can jump ahead of the queue to get on the train.
4. People who think their bag is more entitled to a seat than you are.
5. Female passengers applying make up on the train with powder going everywhere.
6. Noisy headphone leak.
7. Trains arriving early when you are late.
8. Trains arriving late when you are early.
9. People talking loudly on the phone.
10. Being squashed against other passengers like sardines.
11. Paying for an expensive annual ticket to enjoy all of the above.

I could go on. Photography bugbears ... none really.
 
For the win (not my photo, it's by Brandon Kopp):

15111035842_f40fb3bf4f_b.jpg
 
Gritty High Contrast Black & White shots of random people walking in the street, from about 2 meters away, when there is nothing at all to elevate it over and above the millions of similar shots already posted.

I understand that street shooting is hard, and that it takes a lot of practice to get it right, and even then you still need luck... but if people were either
A. Wayyy more selective in what they post, or
B. Post their not-quite-there-yet photos with the question what they could improve rather than in the expectation of receiving compliments,
I would be much more inclined to comment on the photos - also, in the case of B., to say what I do like about the photos.

Also, in my mind B&W is an abstraction that's at it best when the subject is enhanced when it's reduced to shapes and brightness - when "the human condition" is the subject, why not add color, to tell us more about your subject? But that's just my personal preference; a well made people B&W is still awesome.

The trend for gritty super high contrast B&W people shots really is beyond me though. Yes it adds drama, but with such an extreme treatment, to my mind, the photo takes such a great departure from reality that it says more about the photographer than the subject. Which is also fine, but then why does the photographer go to the trouble of getting up close to people he doesn't know, waiting for that decisive moment? Wasn't that supposed to show us something about the subject, rather than the photographer?

Finally a disclaimer: I absolutely suck at street photography, but when others get it just right, I find street and documentary photography among the most rewarding and captivating genres - from time to time, I even find a gritty high contrast B&W people shot that I really like. My bugbear rant above is purely from a "lots of photos viewing" point of view.
 
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Wha? I just googled 'thai fisherman', and what came up were a few pics of Thai fishermen throwing nets in mid-air, and lots of pics of something called thai fisherman pants... so I'm not sure what you're on about. I'm sure it's annoying though....
 
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