What do they do with their thousands of images?!!

[samstevens]

You think i addressed you personally?

Something you may have caught by now is that I talk about how I photograph, personally. That's my experience. It's much less interesting to hear theoretical meanderings and armchair criticisms of how other people work, especially when there's very little said about one's own methods of doing photography and when there are no photographs to give some context or insight into what those methods wind up producing. So, yes, yes, yes, this is personal for me.

[q.g._de_bakker]

Yes, I do.

 

Deliberativeness comes in a variety of forms. I can have been deliberate ten years ago but not have seen the potential in a shot I took deliberately but that didn’t seem at the time to pan out. Now, I may remember a shot I took or come across it while browsing and use my intentional approach to make something out of it, seen now in a new light. I can be intentional about many other things photographic besides simply deciding what I want to shoot and how I want to shoot it. I can intentionally work toward a series that might benefit from some past photos I hadn’t found a place for. I can intentionally develop a new style for me that might now make use of ways I used to shoot that hadn’t yet appeared to me as having stylistic, thematic, or compositional potential. I try not to close off possibility.

 

You're wrong in assuming that this thread is about you.

 

So what choice is yours: spray and pray, or deliberately take those photos you intend to take and no more?

[samstevens]

You're wrong in assuming that this thread is about you.

I think this thread is about a topic and I tend to come at photographic topics from the standpoint of personal experience and practical application. So, I bring my photographic experience to bear in talking about the importance of various ways of shooting and archiving.

 

In that sense, most of the threads here are about each of us and all of us as well as the topic. Except for you, where you make it about everyone else except for yourself, have no examples of photos to offer, and keep everything theoretical and at arm's length.

So what choice is yours: spray and pray, or deliberately take those photos you intend to take and no more?

You asked me this earlier and I've already answered. Again, you talk as if it's either/or, leaving room for no finesse or nuance and unable to consider gray areas or in-between spaces.

 

Here's what we already said on that subject. Remember?

Do you try your best to create what you have envisaged, or is there room for spray and pray?

I don't spray and pray, as I've already said. For me, there's a lot of territory between envisaging and spraying and praying. I can set out with a loose idea that takes shape fluidly as I go, from the time I pack my camera along to the time I finish up my post processing.

 

I can't always get what I want, and I don't always know what I want. Discovery.

[samstevens]

Here's a photo I'm glad I held onto. It was shot back in 2006 and I recently went back to it because of a show I was putting together where I was dedicating a wall to Americana. It fit in nicely to that wall and turned out to be a good foreshadowing of some of the current work I've been doing. I didn't see its potential at the time.

 

airstream, mosca colorado

[Moving On]

For me the critical difference between a single great shot from one attempt aided by accumulated skill and even a bit of serendipity, as opposed to a single great shot gleaned from the spray and pray method, is in what I gain from the photograph.

[Ricochetrider]

Maybe these folks who shoot so many photos in a given outing have minions to do the dirty work of sifting and culling?

 

I began my photographic journey not knowing anything at all about photography. With a digital camera and a pocketful of data cards, the sky was the limit. It's fair to say I did a lot of "spare & pray" shooting. Shooting film has slowed me down with my digital camera. By now I have learned quite bit more than I ever knew before about photography so on the occasion I do break out my digital camera, I'm a lot more studied in what I am doing. Yet I still have a great number of photos in my PHONE LOL. Usually only one or maybe two of any given subject tho- not 100 of each. The truth is I'm not currently carrying a camera everywhere I go. My phone stands in for documentation of life on the fly and I tend to take more phone pix than any other kind. With that I will add that I don't see my phone as a "real camera. I wouldn't use it for any "serious" photography. Not to say I don't sometimes end up with what I feel are good shots - I have yet to send a phone-pic file to the printer however. Of ALL the definitely thousands of phone pics I've shot over the ages ( it does seem like it's been ages since we all began carrying phones, doesn't it), this might be the one & only true "keeper"- but this is only my opinion (see my final comment, below).

 

 

That said, I have quite a lot of old files on hard drives- and several years' worth of travel photos etc on my desktop. I find myself going back through them time & again- sometimes finding something I'd passed over previously. Honestly, Photo dot net's threads in No Words have spawned more than a little digging, looking for shots that fit whatever theme. The thread title will spark a memory, I dig through the uploads and sometimes manage to find something I'd overlooked. And this is not to say it's always a great photo, but usable in the context of the thread. Since I post if for public consumption, opening myself to potential judgement or scrutiny at the very least, I probably wouldn't post anything too terrible- but maybe I'm not the best one to ask if my own photos are good, bad, or otherwise?

Edited March 23, 2021 by Ricochetrider

[samstevens]

I did a lot of "spare & pray" shooting.

And the award goes to Ric ... for best typo in the thread!

[glen_h]

This really doesn't fit as Philosophy but I couldn't see another forum where it was a good match . IMO Those of us with extensive film experience have developed habit patterns that carry over to digital.

(snip)

 

50 years ago I did yearbook photography for 7th and 8th grade. I bought 100 foot rolls of film from Freestyle for $4.95. (in 1971 $).

 

So, yes, I did try not to waste film, but it was cheap enough not to worry so much about it.

(Develop it myself, and not print all of them. Maybe a few hundred over two years.)

 

And yes the habits carry over. I might take somewhat more shots, but not huge numbers more.

 

I think you have to not only include the cost of film (or memory card), but also the time needed to sort through them.

 

And many of the 7th and 8th grade shots are now on FB, for my fellow classmates to see, even if I never printed them.

[glen_h]

If I had more dough I'd buy LTO tape drives. But very pricey. I tried a Sony Disc archive, but was hard to use. The tape drive is not archival, but it provides fast bulk backup with massive capacity.

 

I bought a used LTO-1 drive years ago, and it works well.

 

A few years ago, an LTO-3, but I haven't gotten around to connecting it up yet.

The older ones are reasonably priced.

[Ricochetrider]

And the award goes to Ric ... for best typo in the thread!

 

Damn! guess I need to proofread BEFORE hitting sned? LOL

[Allen Herbert]

not exactly, it means 'never ending' JD

 

Literally, yes. Just about (if we want to split hairs) QG

 

All well and good: but, is not the beauty of understanding thoughts; the correct interpretation of them?

[doug_johnson10]

Give a monkey a typewriter and over millions of random tries he'll eventually produce a great novel. Some photographers utilize the same approach...relying on luck rather than skill. Occasionally there's something to be said for that approach, but IMHO mostly not. I think most of those images just go the way of the "delete" button.

"Give a photographer a digital camera, and a big SD card, and a real work of art will be produced"...I think your evaluation is small minded. Who among us have ever tried to evaluate the split second we trip that shutter? I've been doing this for 50 years now, and I have no idea why I trip that shutter now, versus a millisecond later/sooner. I've also seen enough shrinks to know I will never know. The "NOW" moment is unknown, involuntary, and MAGIC! Do you think Ansel Adams knew why he tripped the shutter at 2:17 pm instead of 2:16 pm? Maybe he took both, but only one said "YES" to him in the dark room. I don't think you mean to be as casual in your statement...I hope. Like I said, I have been doing this for 50 years...mostly in what I consider the most competitive genre, advertising/fashion. I did well...not because I have any special talent, but because I worked my ass off, and was lucky. Never underestimate luck...being in the right place at the right time is 90% of great photography!

[samstevens]

Do you think Ansel Adams knew why he tripped the shutter at 2:17 pm instead of 2:16 pm?

I do. I mean, isn't it obvious that if he had tripped the shutter at 2:16, the guy wouldn't have started his jump over the puddle yet? :)

The "NOW" moment is unknown, involuntary, and MAGIC!

I'd say the "NOW" moment is partially unknown, partially involuntary, and MAGIC, often combined with what's known, what's voluntary, and what's thought about.

[q.g._de_bakker]

I do. I mean, isn't it obvious that if he had tripped the shutter at 2:16, the guy wouldn't have started his jump over the puddle yet? :).

That's Cartier Bresson.

[Allen Herbert]

Jeez, what nonsenses. It was setup, how simple is that to understand..

 

Phylo/ Phil, or Qg something, worked it out all on his own.

 

A hope, of understanding , for us all.

[samstevens]

Do you think Ansel Adams knew why he tripped the shutter at 2:17 pm instead of 2:16 pm?

Doug, sorry for the senior moment on AA and HCB, lol. In any case, HCB might have been a photographer who knew why he tripped the shutter at one moment instead of the next. I imagine AA did as well, especially if he was waiting for a particular cloud formation to catch the light he wanted or the sun to fall on the water the way he visualized it. Who knows, maybe at some point, he photographed a guy jumping over a puddle in Yosemite! That photo, if it exists, he would have decided to keep to himself.

[doug_johnson10]

Doug, sorry for the senior moment on AA and HCB, lol. In any case, HCB might have been a photographer who knew why he tripped the shutter at one moment instead of the next. I imagine AA did as well, especially if he was waiting for a particular cloud formation to catch the light he wanted or the sun to fall on the water the way he visualized it. Who knows, maybe at some point, he photographed a guy jumping over a puddle in Yosemite! That photo, if it exists, he would have decided to keep to himself.

Sam, I guess I was going a little deeper than lining up clouds and sun. A lifetime of experience comes into play when a photographer trips that shutter. There is no way of knowing why that particular formation of visual elements resonates with any one particular photographer! I've always found that when I get in the "zone", the less I'm thinking, the more I'm purely reacting, the better my photos. The "zone" is not a conscious place.

[samstevens]

The "zone" is not a conscious place.

The zone is often a gut-level place for me, though I suspect I'm still conscious when in the zone.

 

In any case, thoughts about the why of the moment, for me, may come in the moment, may come either before I go out or when I'm reviewing my shots after I've taken them. While being in the zone can be a key, thinking about what I've done or will do at other times, when I'm not necessarily holding a camera, noticing when and why I clicked the shutter at particular times over the years has helped me develop a vision with intention. For me, working with thoughts and instincts, intention and spontaneity, serendipity, luck, and some very conscious effort has led to combinations that work for me and play off each other. I do a fair amount of series and projects, which may lead to more thinking in order for them to be coherent.

 

We all work differently and that's why there are diverse visions, diverse photographs, and diverse bodies of work.

[httpwww.photo.netbarry]

"Do you think Ansel Adams knew why he tripped the shutter at 2:17 pm instead of 2:16 pm?"

 

Actually, maybe not exact time, but I believe Adams was quite deliberate. He knew he wanted to shoot a certain scene at a certain time of day. He had get himself to the right spot, which is no small feat in the wilderness, and he knew where he wanted the light to be when he shot. A minute either way? Who knows, but he knew about when the light was what he wanted and planned for it. There was no way to "spray and pray" with a large format view camera.

Edited May 23, 2021 by http://www.photo.net/barryfisher

[Allen Herbert]

"but I believe Adams was quite deliberate. He knew he wanted" Barry

 

Indeed, the stage was set, and the drum roll...

 

[httpwww.photo.netbarry]

There is the archivist-historian-archaeologist approach, which is to keep everything.

The other extreme is to edit severely and toss everything that is not a 'gem'..

 

I'm somewhere in-between.

[andy_de_groot4]

I sit here and ponder the original question. One thing that always comes to mind is something someone once said. Who will look at all the images I've taken once I'm gone? Over the years I've accumulated several 100k images, of which less than 100 are of any special meaning to me. To someone else, they are meaningless. Events in my life provide a very personal meaning when they've been recorded. Although I would give up all images to get our late son back.

[glen_h]

(snip)

Who will look at all the images I've taken once I'm gone? Over the years I've accumulated several 100k images, of which less than 100 are of any special meaning to me. To someone else, they are meaningless.

(snip)

 

I have a box of negatives from my grandfather. Some have pictures of family events, though most don't.

They didn't live so close, so not as many as might have been.

I have some slides from him, though I don't think so many .

 

More recently, I have some slides from my father, mostly of family.

There are many scenic views from vacations, some from trips I was on, but I don't

have so many of those. Many he has scanned, but not all at high resolution.

 

As for my own, I have negatives from 7th and 8th grade yearbook photography, and many

slides and negatives from my college dorm years. Some are now on Facebook.

 

I also have some slides from my last days in high school (40 years ago). These I

recently posted to the Facebook page for my school, where some people recognized

themself or others they knew.

 

So it is likely that there are some people who would find meaning in you pictures.

How likely they are to see them is a different question. (Maybe you only take scenery,

careful to keep anyone you know out of the picture.) But even then, some might find

pictures of some national parks, or other scenic places, interesting to compare changes

over time.

 

There is a page in our Sunday newspaper where they post some picture, usually of a

downtown building, now and many years ago. Someone took the picture without any

thought that someone 80 years later might find it interesting.

 

 

Here is a picture of my high school, a few days after graduation. Many thousands have graduated from it over the years,

and might find it interesting. I had a roll of Anscochrome 200 that I bought half price recently expired.

(Processing included in the price.) Maybe someone here will recognize it.

[Allen Herbert]

You keep them.

 

 

[httpwww.photo.netbarry]

I toss photos that are just total misses. But I keep a lot of photos that don't strike me as good at first. But I've found a lot of photos that I didn't first consider, on later consideration, often a year or more, they speak to me and I see things I didn't see before. Without getting into a debate on the nature of potential, I've found it useful to keep some of those photos.