Have you ever noticed photographers seem to have this need to give you information on their photographic creations? You know… things like where the shot was taken, what time of day it was, the camera settings used or even how they were "feeling" at the time.
Is it important for the viewer to know what aperture I used, what time of day it was or mood I was in? Last time I checked, Van Gough didn't list the different shades of blue he used creating 'Starry Night'; I'm not quite sure how Grant Wood felt when he painted 'American Gothic' (but those two sure do look depressed!); and I'm still in the dark as to what brand of chisel Michelangelo used when sculpting 'David'! It seems that, unlike other artists, photographers are overly preoccupied with including technical information of their magic moment… which in turn dilutes the magic they worked so hard to capture. A successful image communicates without the need for technical jargon, so why the need to include it in descriptive text after the fact? What significance is there to knowing a photograph was captured at a setting of ISO 100 at 1/250th of a second at f/ 5.6 using a 35mm lens? None of this information matters. Now you might say that’s not true. Technical information imparts knowledge concerning the image making process. Knowing how the photographer felt allows you to experience what they felt when they took the shot, eventually leading to "better" photographs. But I would offer a different perspective. Let’s go through this step by step. ISO / Aperture / Shutter Speed The great triad of exposure would seemingly be something important to know. The thing is, the sensor on my camera is adjusted to ISO 200 for optimum results and I don't know what another cameras optimum ISO may be, so including this information only tells me a different ISO was used, not if it was optimum for the camera or if it was purposefully changed for effect. It may be image quality was sacrificed in order to hold the camera steady without a tripod. Maybe the photographer just liked the effect with a chosen ISO. I have no way of knowing the reason behind the choice. And that is the operative word... reason. Each choice is made for a reason. How am I to know if the photographer just happened to have the camera set where they needed it or if it was a conscious choice? Is that an important criteria for the image I'm looking at? Will it affect decisions made later? Again... no way of knowing, hence, the information which is seemingly important, is actually of little use. Since I wasn't there when the image was captured, the shutter speed and aperture information could indicate the kind of day it was or the type of light falling on the subject... or it might not. Was the image under or overexposed? The photographer could have intentionally overexposed the shot and then manipulated the image in post-production. The aperture information may tell me they used a wide aperture and got shallow depth of field, but depth of field is also affected by sensor size, how far away you are from the subject and how far away distant objects are from that same subject. Without that information, I don't have much to go on, and I've never seen sensor size, relative distances or exact camera position discussed with any detail on any photograph I have ever seen… not once. At best, I might find the subject was "shot from above", but how far above? A foot? A mile? Does it really matter? Lens This sounds like good information, doesn’t it? Knowing when to use the right focal length lens for a given situation can help me take better images. But as I mentioned before, I don’t know the size of the camera sensor, and that determines if a lens is wide, normal or long for that camera. A full frame camera would find 35mm slightly wide, but an APS-C would consider that a lens that captures a normal angle of view. Looking at the image tells me if the scene seems distorted by a wider than normal view or compressed from the effects of a longer lens. What exact lens was used is unimportant. The lens choice is determined by the distance from a subject and what the photographer wants to capture. In some instances it is determined by what lens the photographer has at the time! The lens I choose to have with me will quite often be the determining factor on what kind of images I capture. If all I have is a wide angle lens, I tend to avoid portraits and instead capture landscapes. Feelings That last statement brings up a good point... the equipment I carry with me limits the choices I make in the field. If I carry every possible combination of lens, flash, tripod, filter, camera body and anything else I might possibly need in the field, I'm going to be one tired grumpy photographer before the day is through. Therefore, I don't carry much with me when I photograph because I wouldn't last long if I did. I make choices before I even leave the house, which determines what direction I will follow in my photographic journey. I most often carry one camera with a zoom lens, a polarizing filter, rarely if ever have a tripod or flash, and I like to shoot during the day. This means I have already limited my images to one sensor size, a specific optimal ISO, a set of angles and aperture combinations determined by the zoom range of the lens, a limit on useful shutter speeds (since I most often will be hand holding my camera), and the use of daylight over artificial light. I do this because I know what I like to photograph, the subjects I tend to capture, the ranges and distances I prefer to shoot in, and the knowledge that I will get tired and want to take a break during shooting. That's just me and has nothing whatsoever to do with what you might do or how you might feel. All of these decisions are made because of who I am and how I perceive the world and the process of image making. You are not me, so knowing how I feel doesn't enter into the equation at all. If you like to carry a lot of equipment and have the stamina to do so, you won't be getting grumpy, so what does it matter if I do? I don't like the cold, so when I shoot in winter, this affects my mood. You may love the cold, so who cares if I don't? If I don't feel well one day but take this amazing photograph, are you going to wait until you don't feel well before you go out and shoot? I would certainly hope not! If you accept that technical information and a photographers feelings offer little useful information, how can viewing images help you become a better photographer? I'll try to answer that question in the next post.
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