Norma Desmond

Horrible when equipment pushes us around that way! :eek:

Thanks, William. That’s odd, because it was at the top of the list in the Wedding forum when I responded today, so I mistakenly thought it was active and that starvy had recently posted. Wonder why it had risen to the top of the heap?

Yes, and don’t forget to place a little knock-off statue of David in every shot! :cool: Seriously, though, a well-intended suggestion but one that most gay men I know would consider a bit on the kitsch and too-obvious side. Depends on the tastes of the couple of course. I’ve shot several gay wedding ceremonies and I just look for expressions and gestures that translate to “wedding.” I avoid the sitting-on-the-lap kind of stuff. Though, of course, gay people experience love and commitment like everyone else, two men tend to act differently as a couple than a man and woman. While acknowledging what binds us all together, you want to celebrate their difference as well, and see them uniquely. Check out the movie Brokeback Mountain. There’s no wedding in it, but you’ll get some ideas of how to shoot two men in love that honors their masculinity and a universal sense of love but doesn’t simply mimics a heterosexual relationship.

No they're not!!!

Oh please. You didn't just suggest studying history. You suggested that turning the clock back would teach us how photography has been devalued, which is bunk.

Why should I when I can be perfectly happy and productive living in the present? All it requires is living in the present and not being overwhelmed and stifled by nostalgia. I’m out there shooting today, not yesterday.

A medium does not make a photographer. It takes talent, creativity, an eye, and some business sense if you're going commercial. Some digital photographers who may call themselves photographers are no more photographers than were Mom and Pop when they took out their Instamatics and shot pics of the kids at Disneyland. "I am a photographer" doesn't make someone a photographer. Neither does a digital or, for that matter a film, camera.

Where'd you get that idea? The reason I ask is that it doesn’t seem like PN has the necessary resources that could be devoted to carefully going through portfolios and seriously choosing a photo a day based on merit. Assessing your particular photo as it relates to your entire portfolio would be a wonderful thing to do but would take a good deal of time and effort. I just don’t see PN being able to pull something like that off every day. Also, I think when it comes to something like “merit,” what each of us would choose from our own portfolio would likely be somewhat different from what others might choose, even if time and energy could be devoted to it.

IMO, there's something new every day. I think art and creativity have as much to do with what's personal and authentic as with what's new. Lack of conceptualization often negatively affects creativity and photography and can be responsible for photographic clichés, mindless snap-shooting, and Hallmark card-like sugary sentimentality. On the other hand, over-conceptualization can be tedious and come off as photographically self indulgent. I enjoy getting caught up in the counterpoint between spontaneity and thoughtfulness and finding different balances that work for me in different situations.

Big Sur coastline