What is a "record" shot?

Our local club is having a "in club" photography competition with the subject

being "A Record Shot".<p>

 

I am having difficulty in defining the word "Record".. In my opinion every photo

I take is a record of something..<p>

 

The definition given by the person deciding the category has informed everyone

that it is " Any building or inanimate object presented in an objective way

without artistic interpretation or manipulation by the photographer. The subject

will normally fill the full frame. Appropriate lighting may be used to enhance

the subject but should not add pictorial content. "<p>

 

I prefer this definition - "Record photography is concerned with portraying

facts. Every image must convey as much factual information about the subject as

possible pushing artistry from the main focus to a minor priority." So what sort

of photo do I enter?

Just a photogrqphic record of something done with little artistic value. Say a bunch of cars on the expressway or a man walking a dog with nothing particlarly intersting happening .

Probably a documentary type shot. As in I was here, I saw this!

 

 

To me it sounds like a boring night at the camera club.

I think the guy who suggested it and gave us the definition may win :)

I have done quite a bit of this. I volunteered as one of many photographers for a project to record listed buldings in the UK for the English Heritage website which can be found here :

 

http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/

 

The object was to record the building as 'honestly' as possible with one shot only. Only one shot of each building was allowed as there are nearly half a million listed buildings in England.

 

The photo was to capture the character of the building, the context (eg a water mill should show the stream etc so this project disagreed with your man there), and most difficult of all - as many details on the written listing document as possible. This was tricky when some features were on opposite walls.

 

My main tip is lighting. Make sure whatever you are photographing has the best possible lighting by waiting until the sun is at the right angle to make the most of the shape and features of whatever it is you are taking.

 

Many of the photos are frankly boring but this shot is one of several of my efforts I am pleased with :

 

http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=441617&mode=adv

 

This listing was for the Entrance Lock to one of the disueed London Docks. The listing included the gates, the curved walls and capstans. Having the Millennium Dome in the background helps! I am a bit annoyed the horizon isn't straight but with only one shot there is no room to correct errors.

Colin's definition is closest to what I believe to be the consensus on this issue. A record shot is one that tries to represent the subject/object so as to show its parts and their relationships to each other most clearly and without any sort of 'bias'. This is actually a very difficult task, as any forensic photographer should be able to testify. It's much harder to avoid 'bias' than you might think, since the camera only records what we allow it to 'see'.

 

There is always the question of what the most important features really are. If you only have one shot like Colin, what is indispensable?

I think it means shooting a vinyl "record" that you play on a "record" player. I know what I would shoot. Sounds boring.

A record shot is just that, a shot taken purely to record the existence of something at the time. I used to do a lot of it in order to record the gradual disappearance of the old industries in my former home town. But don't knock it, it allows future generations to see how things were.<div></div>

If lighting is Rule 1 then all the above answers illustrate Rule 0 :

 

Be interested in your subject.

 

With respect to Rule 1 though you will notice that while I favour bright sunlight Chris' excellent shot uses flat unshadowec lighting to record detal. (I also has a nice melancholy atmosphere but that is something we do not mention out loud as we are suposed to be ignoring the emotional response).

 

Rule 2 : There is no Rule 2

When I was involved in a local camera club, "record shot" was a decidedly derogatory term for a snapshot with no artistic value.

Ah, English language with its ambiguity, idioms, double-triple-quadruple meanings for every second word, its use of nouns in places where most other languages use proper adjectives...

 

If English native speakeers have trouble - what about people who learnt English as a second or third language :>) ?

 

1) Shoot a gramophone record (you know, they still exist...)

2) Shoot someone breaking a record

3) Shoot a documentary pic of some event/process

4) Shoot something which requires unusually precise timing/parameters

5) Shoot facial expressions of fellow passengers on a train - after dropping your pants (OK, this is a joke...but intriguing nonetheless :)

 

Any more ideas ?

The contest originator's definition is fine. The aim is technical competence, not art. The more you distance yourself from the "rule" for a contest, etc., to suit yourself, the easier it is (for others, the judges, etc.) to find your "work" non-compliant.

 

"Record" shots may well be quite pro forma. Here's a site that has some sample "record" shots done by/for steam locomotive builders. What can be noted was that it was convention to have the main connecting rod on the side photographed to be at it's lowest position.

 

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/4984/Locomotive.html

I have also heard the term used often as a non-artistic shot that is just taken to remember something or show that you have been in a place, as oppposed to a more thought out, well composed and properly lit photograph. Sort of similar to a competition for the best outtakes, or files that have been deleted and extracted from the bin.

It sounds like a shot i would not care to take, nor care to get credit for.

 

A shot of a pile of strewn garbage along a road as police evidence, sort of, maybe.

With only odiferous merit and no art ...

 

Do you, YOU, want to excel at this competition? I would sit out this competition. The Bechers

would gain no praise here, I am afraid. So beware of what you try to compete in, ...

In days of yore "record shot" was almost an epithet when issued by a judge in a competition. Almost a "g'way kid, you bother me"

I remember NECCC circuit competitions where the judge's only comment was the two dreaded words "record shot" and then he/she proceeded to the next entry.

 

Today the judges are a bit kinder and say things such as "this image would be wonderful in a travelogue.

 

This might be a fun competition if taken in the right frame of mind.

Sort of trying to see just how bad you can be.

 

Regards

 

 

Bob