24 years of photos, 3 observations

[sjoerd_leeuwenberg]

<p>I agree with most of the things mentioned here. But I do think quality matters.<br>

Of course I rather have a bad picture of a special 'memory' than a perfectly composed and sharp picture of something not interesting. But When you have both it is fantastic.<br>

Some years ago I had two important triggers, Once I went on a special holiday and took so many pictures of all the 'touristic' places that have been photographed millions of times and better. But I almost didn't have any pictures of the people I was staying with. Sometimes the ordinary things are more important, the rest you can download from internet.<br>

Another time I went to a wedding party and just shot some pictures, as it happened I took some pictures of a group and one of the pictures wasn't good or important to me. The weekend after that someone in the picture that I didn't know died and he was almost never in pictures. That was probably the last picture he was in. I didn't delete it. So I try not to delete too many that are ok. Maybe just burn them to a disc en remove them from the normal archive.<br>

Since then I have been starting to separate picture taking a bit. Especially on events and holidays I try to take some pictures as 'art' and try to make it a really nice picture. And the rest of the pictures are more of a registration of history. When reviewing pictures it sort of gives a history overview of your live. And sometimes even a readable streetsign in an otherwise terrible picture can be very important. Of course even with the 'history' pictures I try to make it a nice picture. Just my 2ct</p>

[john_h.1]

<p>Great post!</p>

[kris-bochenek]

<p>I am 30 years old now and have some photos of me and my family when I was 2 or 3 years of age. There arent that many of them I guess it was because the place and time I grew up in. I do wish I had more of those photos they are like the relics to me so many memorries.</p>

[stevenseelig]

<p>Allan,<br>

I love your post. I have been involved in scanning 12,000 slides that my father took from 1948-1988 and about 500 pictures that I found when my mom passed last year. Some are of poor quality for various reasons, but I am glad that I have them. Sort of the way I think about it in the following way: it is better to have the picture than nothing at all and a good quality picture is better than a bad quality picture. For me, I always strive for the good quality picture, but good memories embedded in a bad picture is better than none at all.<br>

Good shooting...</p>

[raddatzphoto]

<p>Al, I think you now learned what George Eastman banked on years ago. </p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>Yes but Allen would a Photo Editor feel the same way you do ? </p>

[David_Cavan]

<p>Having recently completed a multi-year project that involved sorting and scanning all the negatives and slides my father took, and finally getting all of my film and digital pictures in some kind of order I can only agree whole-heartedly with you, Alan. My father passed away 11 years ago, but every time one of his pictures slide by on a random screen-saver I remember something about him, and the people that he enjoyed photographing around him. Not all great pictures, and sometimes I cringe when I see how badly out-of-focus-with-bad-lighting-and-worse-composition some of my pictures are, but the memories these trigger get me past that real quick.<br>

Great post. Thank you.</p>

[mark liddell]

1. quality is not important, memories are

For snapshots maybe but not for serious photography

 

2. I loved APS

All aps does is crop which you can do at the printing stage

[donaldamacmillan]

<p>I've just been going through numerous photos on the computer with my mum. Just 'snaps' really. Mostly family photographs, some landscapes, some 'wildlife' photos. All of them are special for one reason or another but i kept seeing various flaws in many of them, composition, lighting and focus, etc. I kept saying mostly, 'That one's outa focus!', even if only slightly out. But still, many of the photos were pleasant enough, many of them still captured something that was almost beautiful! I wished that all of them were PERFECT!!! But that's not ever possible for anyone with any serious interest in taking very good photographs. We have to live with our imperfections. Maybe i get too 'hung-up' on outa focus pictures? I want them all to be in focus very strongly but maybe i should be a bit more relaxed when the inevitable occasion arises and photos aren't pin-sharp ..... Maybe i should just learn to treasure the moment that i have still captured and not be too overly concerned with the deepest technicalities of the photo? The moment is still special, after all .... </p>

<p>Best wishes,<br>

Donaldo</p>

 

[howhof]

<p>Allan,<br>

Thank you for starting a very thought provoking thread.<br>

My first thought was about how we always (or should always) back up our digital files, but how all my childhood photos are "one of a kind" and should probably be scanned and backed up also.<br>

My second thought: I agree with you, the most important thing to remember is to ALWAYS have "a" camera with you. It truly doesn't matter what kind of camera. I have a Canon G10 p&s as well as a DSLR with plenty of gear. One is with me at all times.<br>

The third thought: Allan is not telling us not to take beautiful landscapes or technically perfect photos or to not create fine art with photography, he is simply reminding us to not forget to capture what is truly important in our lives.<br>

Great post,<br>

Howard</p>

 

[pksswat]

<p>I agree. Great post. I'll try to remember these thoughts the next time I get a little bit of camera and lens envy!</p>

[steve m smith]

<blockquote>

<p>I have been involved in scanning 12,000 slides that my father took from 1948-1988 and about 500 pictures that I found when my mom passed last year.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>You must have lots of spare time then!<br>

I have no intention of scanning my father's slides - at least, not as a whole. I might do the odd one or two if I want a print but I don't see the point in scanning all of them when the originals are going to outlast the digital files.</p>

 

[ty_mickan]

<p>thanks for the post Allan. people have always been the most photographed subjects, and likely always will. if you take the greatest images of all time, they nearly all feature people, and most of them aren't top quality ie.sharp, by today's standards (think Cartier-Bresson, Cappa, Frank). it's about the content and the feeling the image invokes.</p>

[evilsivan]

<p>Regarding scanning slides, negatives and prints. Which forum is the appropriate place to discuss a project like scanning all the old family slides, negatives and prints?<br>

I wonder if David Cavan can comment on his experience with his project?</p>

[bikealps]

<p>Ofer, David -- I'd be really interested in any insights you have.<br>

I'm about to pull out my old lightbox and start looking at slides. This could take days. I'm not sure I can afford the time.<br>

My local camera store will scan slides, negatives, and prints for about $1 per image. There are also mail-away services for this. At what point does it make sense to buy your own scanner? Are these scanner automated so I can just put a stack of slides in, and then it scans them and outputs a bunch of files?</p>

[bojepsen1]

<p>I will mirror <a href="../photodb/user?user_id=1998172">Louis Meluso</a>'s comment and say wise words. I have no experience with APS cameras, but I certainly understand your sentiment. The first and second point, however, I have direct experience with, and can only say, that I agree utterly and completely with your observations. I am only 27, and I have photos of lost friends and family, that stirr memories and emotions upon viewing. In addition, travelling alot, I cannot count (and wouldn't really wish to, for sheer terror of realisation) how many opportunities I have had to let go by, unphotgraphed, due to my lacking a camera at the moment.</p>

<p>A lovely thread :-)</p>

[bikealps]

<p>Mark L "All aps does is crop which you can do at the printing stage"<br /><br />APS also gave me a tool to visualize. The viewfinder showed me the frame in three formats and the automatic printing process encouraged me to use them. Agreed that a serious photographer should be doing this anyway, but APS brought this to the amateur snapshooter.<br /><br />In the early 1990s, I would go on photo trips with a friend who had a 4x5. I had a 6x6 TLR, which was similarly slow to set up and use. He made some pretty incredible photographs, particularly of grass. I tried to emulate him. We both carried cards, made from thick card stock with holes the size of our negatives. Before we set up our cameras, we would hold these cards at calibrated distances from our noses -- same as our lens lengths -- to help visualize what the camera would see before we set up the tripod.<br /><br />I wonder now if I should carry similar cards with me in the field... I could make them of different formats -- panorama, 4x5, 4x6, etc. -- to encourage me to think in those terms and essentially convert my DSLR into an APS camera.<br /><br />I just spend yesterday morning in the studio, using my strobes for the first time in 10 years. The strobes force you to work slower. The tripod gives you a similar discipline. All these new technologies -- 1600 ISO with very low noise, VR lenses -- make it easier to hand hold, and in so doing can distract you from the task of seeing.</p>

[evilsivan]

<p>Allan,<br>

I started a thread here: http://www.photo.net/casual-conversations-forum/00Xclk<br>

hopefully some people will chime in. good luck!</p>

[scottelly]

<p>I've been putting old super 8 movies on my dad's Apple TV. He had them transfered to DVD at Costco, but it was a pain to view them. They were chopped up, because he didn't organize them well when they were sent to be transferred. I "edited" them to group the various scenes together by category and chronological order. My dad loves to watch them and show those movies to people, even though they're silent movies. He has 12,000 digital photos he's shot over the past 10 years with various digital cameras. He likes to watch them on his big screen TV too. The Apple TV makes slide shows automatically from albums in iPhoto. (I convinced him to buy an iMac a few years ago.)<br>

-<br>

Digital has done a lot for our photo and video/film watching experience. It's nice to see that stuff on a 60 inch screen, with music, sitting comfortably on a couch.</p>

[bill_brooks]

<p>Couldn't have said it better, from the perspective of a serious amateur... the memories are paramount; having equipment with you that you can use most anytime is hugely important as well! Thanks for the post-</p>