What will be my scene to capture

Dear friends

 

There is one BIG question which always makes me think. The question is : "Which

photos are worth the most : The photos that capture a beutiful scene, or the

photos that capture a ordinary scene with somekind of view that makes you think

that was a unique scene."

after all I think the answer to this question, comes from the each

photographer's purpose of taking photos.The problem is, most of the time, the

second form of photographs (ordinary scene-unique view) needs some kind of mind

maturity.I think capturing some beautiful scene, moreover, needs some kind of

unique view !

I'm not sure this is a black/white question. The photo that is worth a lot is the one that can create an emotion and connection in the viewer. What people connect with spreads over a very wide range and is dependent on what they experienced in their life, their emotional state, etc.

 

That said, it's much easier to find someone having a connection with a beautiful scene, even if it's a mediocre photo from a technical / asesthetic level. The big challenge in ordinary scene is to make sure that the photo conveys what the photographer saw when he observed the scene. Since the camera only captures a fraction of what the eye sees, and because it's a snapshot in time and doesn't capture what happened in the minutes before, many photos taken by unskilled photographers fail to convey what they experienced, and then lack the elements that will create a emotional connection for the viewer.

 

Thus it depends on the level of execution, not the material you started with.

Generally speaking, I am more stimulated by your second kind of scene although I

certainly respond to beautiful scenes caught on film. The "ordinary scene with some kind

of view that makes you think that was a unique scene" does not, in my opinion, necessarily

require more mind <i>maturity</i> so much as it often requires some more mental

<i>effort, energy, time,</i> and <i>challenge</i>. I think this latter kind of photo does

not get as much attention or praise on the internet as beautiful nature scenery,

landscapes, or nudes because this is a very fast-paced medium. People are often in

browse mode and more moved by the WOW factor than by (even brilliant) subtlety. I do

think you are right that I appreciate beautiful scenery more when captured with a unique

view, something extremely difficult to do and rarely accomplished and certainly worthy of

praise when it is.

Capture what you want to see.

Dave, a philosophy forum is just the place for thinking. Perhaps it is you who have stumbled

into the wrong room and opined by mistake. Thinking, such as we do here, does not preclude

doing, it is meant to enhance it.

"Which photo is worth the most" is a stumbling question right off the bat:

 

worth = $ amount (to whom?, alive = right now or dead = when you have passed on), worth = loved by whom? you, the world?

worth = worth the struggele to get it?

 

worth the experience of having taken it?

 

etc.

 

What is worth to you? What does this word mean in your question?

Frank, it's probably safe to assume that Amir wasn't speaking in terms of dollar signs. Of

course, I really have no way of knowing. That's just an assumption I've made. This

being a fairly open forum, I'm sure any of the other suggested spins on "worth" that you

might have

chosen to respond to would be interesting and serve to elucidate the subject.

"Which photos are worth the most..."

 

To whom?

 

What do you mean "worth"?

I guess my previous comment has been misunderstood by others and I think I need to clarify. A book that inspired me is titled "Zen and the Art of Archery". It's about being present in the moment and doing your thing - very philosophical from an Eastern point of view. I can't say more - it's for you to apply it to yourself.<p/>The second thing is that many of others' and my best photos have been made when we were randomly shooting. We weren't thinking: we were in the moment capturing light and images that we "felt" were good. And sometimes, we were randomly shooting to test their camera (Somewhere on Ken Rockwell's site), and I was testing my Ricoh and I captured some wonderful photos of my wife drinking tea in the Morning light - sorry, I don't know if I want to post those. They're for me and my daughter.<p/>Anyway, my point is, is it really worth thinking about "worth", "art", and all of that?

"Anyway, my point is, is it really worth thinking about "worth", "art", and all of that?"

 

I think so. What made some of those "random" snaps so good? If one is serious about photography, simply saying 'oh, I hope I'm so lucky again sometime!' doesn't quite cut it. There are reasons why they are good, and figuring that out so that one can do it with intent seems a worthy and artful goal.

First of all, thank you for answering. but this thank you session does not mean that I got my answer. In fact there is no definite answer, just as, there is not a definite definition of art.

 

Indeed the word "WORTH" has meaning, at least in this forum, when we talk from ARTISTIC point of view.

 

I was reading the introduction of E.H.Gombrich, "THE STORY OF ART" last night and that was illuminating to me about this topic.

 

It says that (about paitings) when a newcomer in paiting, comes across to paitings with the same subject (both of the two paintings are masterpiece) he always loved the one which is very diaphanous, but if you be patient and let the first capture of the art in your mind fade away, you will be able to skip the raw comparison between two paintings and you will enjoy the second painting which was one of the top paintings in the very specific style more than the other first glance beautiful photo.

 

People always seek something that they want to see, and the point of enjoying art in many cases is that you feel the painting or photograph or . . . is about you .

Some old family photos are make sence in the family members but not in professional photography. maybe they cry when they looking at them, but does this makes them good artistic photos ? (the make someone cry!) I know you will think that the memories makes them cry not the photo. Indeed in everyphoto that makes you feel something, there is something in you that connects the photo to your feelings (sounds like computer networks !!!!!)

 

about taking photos by chance, I am absolutely against that. lets take a look at paintings. does pablo picaso ever drawn a randomly painting? or rambrand? I dont think so. or does mozart ever wrote a randomly song ? (I mean by "randomly" having no purpose or planning)

I think the answer is no !

 

I think the artist must have a purpose. and always know what is his/her position in the way of attaining that final purpose. thats a very hard think to do , cause there is no final purpose in the art.

everything about nature is infinitive.

photographically speaking, i like trash cans better than sunsets at the sea.

Amir, how about Jackson Pollock? I try not to be <i>against</i> anything in principle

when it

comes to art, although there are things I don't necessarily like. The beauty of different art

media, say photography and painting, is that they each have different qualities and

possibilities. The fact that a photograph can have a sense of randomness (being in the

right

place

at the right time kind of thing) may just be its greatest attribute. It is, often, about "the

moment," which can be a very random thing. Even the most planned photographs

will never have all the same elements as a painting (which means they are two different

media, not that one is better than the other or that one should emulate the other), and it

would be hard for a painting to capture

the spontaneity (or, in fact, that special randomness you don't like) that a good photo

might

have.

One approach to your question is to see, eg browsing photo.net, which photos really grab you. This will give you some indication of what kind of photography you would find rewarding. Don't be put off by some subjects being more difficult - that's just a matter of working at it.

 

Best wishes in your journey of discovery.

Someone posted:<i>If one is serious about photography, simply saying 'oh, I hope I'm so lucky again sometime!' doesn't quite cut it. </i><p/><p/>You got me! I don't cut it. I'm not an artist or a photographer. I just use machines that take images and I'm here on Photo.net to learn how to use these machines to take photos that I like.

Dave - I think the difference is whether you simply aim to take random shots hoping to strike gold often enough to be satisfied, or if it so happens that some of your best pictures weren't necessarily the most carefully planned, well executed, etc. In fact it maybe because you randomly expanded beyond your usual technique that you captured something superior, and now you have to figure out what was different and how to more predictably and repeatably achieve the same level. There's a fine balance between focusing on taking good pictures, but also letting things happen rather than trying to force everything into neatly structured blocks. A creative art does not totally fit into the latter.

 

My motto is: every day is a school day, you should learn something, and you should have fun doing it.

Dave, I don't understand your response. In the thread in this forum about the rules of composition, I've posted near the same thing as have you here. Often my best photographs are the ones that are "random" -- not planned out ahead of time.

 

Machines take pictures. Photographers make photographs.

Im agree with jan. Although the random situations happen, yet it is up to the photographer to take the photo in an artistic way.

the art of execution in few seconds will gained by practice, not just wait for something happen and click !

Maybe this is not a good example but I think the moments which worth to be a photograph happen in everyones life. Some of this "everyone" may have a camera and take a photo at that moment. But if the person is a photographer, that moment is a kind of exam , you have to do your best, despite all articles and books you have red or all the hours you spend taking photos or taking photography courses, you have a very little moment to PLAN to capture the photo. If you have mastered the rules and you develope the artistic view in your self, you will take a good photo most of the time, but other than that, maybe you take a good photo or maybe not. that moment wont happen again and maybe you would never have chance to take a good photo , for you do not know how did you do that .

Does the subject, or the landscape, have a story to tell? Photos with an interesting story to go with them are worth a lot to me. While it's been said a picture is worth a thousand words, sometimes the photo can tell the story without any words, or, you can use your imagination for what is going on in the photo.

 

Best of luck to your discovery.

 

Tommy

"Which photos are worth the most : The photos that capture a beutiful scene, or the photos that capture a ordinary scene with somekind of view that makes you think that was a unique scene."

 

Thank you Amir for raising this subject, one I have thought about, maybe in slightly different terms, for a long time. Some subjects, whether landscapes, people, artifacts, flora, fauna, etc. have immediate interest and visual appeal while others do not. Is perhaps the only real difference between how we perceive them a consequence of our cultural conditioning and psychological make-up?

 

'Great artists' have the ability to transform the most banal of subjects - sunflowers / haystacks / peppers / bulls heads - into interesting and (culturally) valuable 'great works of art' but equally only 'great artists' can do the same with spectacular scenery or universal themes concerning birth, death, the cosmos, etc. They achieve this by a combination of superlative technique, deep insight and 'aesthetic manipulation'. Lesser mortals, such as most of we members of PN, can only aspire to echo their achievements - but in so doing hopefully bring some pleasure and increased awareness to whoever may view our productions (yes and even a little kudos to ourselves). Superficially more attractive subjects may produce superficially more attractive photographs but any lasting value in our work will depend on what we put into it. All subjects are worthy of our attention.

I think it depends on your customer. Find out what the customer wants, execute it well, and you'll make money.

You will know it when you get it. Epiphany.