samstevens

I don't submit as much to No Words as I used to, but in my heyday, I was having a lot of fun shooting toward a theme. It resulted in widening my perspective and shooting stuff I might not have otherwise naturally been drawn to. It also encouraged at least a degree of spontaneity because I'd run out without too much advance thought and try to get something quickly so I could get it up on the thread.

[While assignments and self-imposed or otherwise-imposed restrictions can seem burdensome and even anathema to art, they can also work well in inspiring creativity. Many artists have been through such processes.]

This was inspired by the theme "Motel" and is a little motel about a mile from my house at Ocean Beach. 

ocean park motel

If the shoe fits ...

collaboration: photo by samstevens, title by A. Herbert

fondle quality

Perhaps Elliott Erwitt's father took it. 🙂

2 hours ago, mikemorrellNL said:

As you say, both P&S cameras and mobile phone cameras are about 'convenience/simplicity without having to think' too much. For most people, using their mobile phone cameras to take and share photos is more convenient than carrying and using a separate P&S camera.

I don't understand why we're talking about most people instead of ourselves. The fact is I consider myself a photographer and am perfectly able to use my cell phone camera thoughtfully and successfully, no matter what the masses do (who shouldn't be expected to want to do anything more than push a button and get a pic they're happy with). Nowadays, my iPhone is able to shoot RAW and I am able, if I choose, to control much more than I used to. So using phones doesn't have to be a matter of pushing buttons with no thought. Those who use them and explore their capabilities with a keen eye know that.

utrecht canal

How much one thinks or should think is debatable when out taking pictures. A lot of my shooting, even when in fully manual mode on my dslr (which is how most of my photos are taken) is done as much by instinct as by thinking. I tend to do my thinking when post processing and before I go out to shoot, when I may think about what I'm after on that day. I also do more thinking when I'm posing people or shooting documentary work.

So, here's a photo I took with my phone. I had a couple of seconds to think about where I wanted the reflections and what I wanted to include in the frame. But I'd say most of it was guided by my experienced vision at the time and shooting instincts I've developed over the years. Sure, one can think about what settings to set on a camera, and it's often worthwhile to do so. One can also think about composition, lighting, shadows, reflections, narrative, context, textures, and all the other things in addition to camera settings. None of those things go away when one uses a phone camera. Of course, one has to use a phone camera to actually experience what it's like. 

55 minutes ago, mikemorrellNL said:

Another thought was that not only improved mobile phone lenses might be a deciding factor to upgrade a mobile phone but also improved all-round functionality

I find myself upgrading merely to annoy trolls and curmudgeons on the internet! 😎

As I see it, and as shot, the busyness of the picture seems to be the point. I don't quite see the point, though. Most of the point feels like it's in the irony of the title which, for me, isn't really enough to carry the photo, even as a joint venture with the title. Occasionally, it strikes me that I'd want to see the color original, if there is one. This is one of those occasions.

13 hours ago, syano said:

I hope Philip made enough selling this to set up a scholarship fund for MIT students.

Didn’t Philip sell it back in 2007? Those original MIT scholarship students would be pushing 40, though still quite young, I guess, compared to the average PN geezer. 😊

@mikemorrellNL, when working with a nature scene, one will usually consider (though there are times one might want an intentionally unnatural look) the way light is distributed given the scene. Unless there's a desire to create a very staged look (which sometimes there will be), a staircase in the forest can certainly be brought out in post but still would most often be brought out subtly enough not to appear over lit, given the context and circumstances surrounding the staircase. Unfortunately, your second version, though quick and dirty, seems unnaturally bright and without shadow given the conditions. And I wouldn't consider it falling into a well-staged look either because it is just so extreme. Also, the color saturation in that second version is quite a ways beyond what would be found in the most over-the-top Disney movie let alone nature itself. 😊

We’re living in a society one-third to one-half of which knowingly embraces deception because they think it means they “own” the other side. Lying has become a key political and social commodity. It is embraced for what it is, not despite what it is. It is the platform. Good luck.

I'm suspicious about the dangerous uses of AI. And, while photos have been successfully used to show facts, they've also often been misunderstood to show facts when, in fact, they're showing perspective, leaving out context, and playing all kinds of other intended and unintended tricks. I think, ultimately, AI will probably win out. [I don't see how we stop the train.] And I think what will happen, over time, is that photos will no longer be seen as a means to verify anything or as a reliable conveyer of facts. Hopefully, we'll develop other methods of doing that. But I don't have much hope for anything but a continued tension between facts and alternative facts, between education and willful ignorance, between honesty and propaganda. I do believe we're in the throes of a Neo-Dark Ages. And I think there's a whole lot more trouble ahead. The world of photography is just a microcosm of a much greater threat to our well being.

The saturation feels heavy handed. This pertains to the whole photo and creates that weird cyan of the bare branches against the white sky. 

squabble / squabble

https://wapo.st/3R5ohWb

Quote

"The possession of anything begins in the mind."
—Bruce Lee

3 hours ago, hjoseph7 said:

Patel if you were not trying to "Please" the audience then why exactly did you ask for a critique ?

Perhaps he was trying to jar the audience, or scare the audience, or offend the audience, or challenge the audience in some way, or provoke the audience. There's a lot more to photos than being pleasing. A critique might be used by the critic to simply help a photographer see things they didn't or accomplish what the photographer wants to accomplish better. I often am not interested in pleasing an audience, yet I've read many helpful critiques of my work that seem to understand that. I do often hope to reach an audience, or at least the few viewers that will see my work.

A lot of the appeal for me in the original shot is the play of shadows on the wall. That shadowing is a presence. I don’t see why the separation of the chair would require losing those shadows or blowing out the foreground to such an extent. 

^ Gestureful (in motion and in layers, including that of the world of artifice) [also in providing an example/illustration of what this thread is actually about … thank you for singing on key]

Nostalgia - I see it.

This series of shots in particular, I'd describe as having an earthy transcendence. That is, down to earth, detailed, grounded, but with something extra lurking in the wings.

2 hours ago, pavel_l. said:

Exposure of this shot was correct

I don’t think it’s a matter of this exposure being correct or not. It’s a matter of what you want and what you like. Just as the critique is not about what exposure is correct. It’s about how the photo looks. 

19 hours ago, William Michael said:

As per Papa Tango's reply this was not a clock issue.

Best thing to do is blame it on Elon Musk. There's got to be some connection. 😅