I had to write a blog on photography but I wasn't sure how to start. Then I happened to read this post and it triggered the sense of vengeance. I would have surely taken it in a lighter sense if he hadn't mentioned the word - "shitty pics." I think he deserves a reply. My photographs are divine to me. They are everything I stand for. They are my identity and you can not call them shitty even on a lighter note. I hope my photographer friends would agree to me.
Perspective is an enormously meaningful word for the photographers and I'm sure the creator of this photo won't know the depth of this word. Anyway, he won't have to deal with perspectives and depth of fields because he clearly has no idea what it takes to be a photographer. Now when I'm talking about what it takes to be a photographer, I'll surely have to tell what it takes but before coming to that, I'll tell why I started this article with perspective.
Perspective depends on one's own ability and knowledge. Just like the ancient sailors believed that the icebergs are just as big as they can see, just as an illiterate classifies books on the basis of the color of their cover, just like the little kids believe that stars shine because of moon's light, the creator of this pic must have created an image of photographers in his mind.
Believe it or not, it is hard to be called as a photographer. Like everything else, it does require a lot of sacrifices.
1. Buying a DSLR is not enough.
Do you really believe that everything a photographer has is a DSLR camera? Ever wondered why he carries those bags everywhere he goes? DSLR was just the initial investment but later the equipment costs has eaten into his salaries which you do not know. Lenses, tripod, filters, flashes, diffusers and what not. Even the bag which I carry costed me 6k. I have memory cards worth over 5.5k. I have flash batteries and chargers worth nearly 10k. When you were enjoying your trips, parties, new phone, new bike or a car, a wanna be photographer was cutting down his costs to save for his next photography equipment. All you could see was a camera in his hand but never the sacrifices he made. If you talk about me, I've spent around 3.5 lakh rupees on it.
2. Photographers do not click random pics.
You saw some insect or a bird or may be anything else clicked by a photographer and it was quite easy for you to declare it a random click, isn't it? There is something called as composition. I know, the photographs do not look good during the initial days because of bad composition but then everything needs time to learn. Photography composition is a subject in itself which involves creativity as well as laws of optics. If you think the photographer is not good enough, may be he is into his initial days of learning it. Even Sachin Tendulker wasn't a maestro during his initials days.
3. Photographers do not shoot in auto mode.
Just because you shoot in auto mode, it made you believe that photographers too shoot the same way. Again the perspective comes into picture. After all that is all you know about photography. There are a lot of things to maintain like ISO, shutter speed, aperture, focal length, white balance, flash mode, diffuser strength, natural light direction etc. etc. along with keeping the creativity and composition in tact. Believe me, it is not easy.
4. Photographers have to miss a lot of fun.
Have you even been to a beach and not entered the water? Did you ever had sleepless overnight journeys in train? Have you ever been to a friend's wedding and not danced? Have you ever stood near a lake during late evening and bitten all over by mosquitoes just because of the long exposure shots? Do you get up early morning on weekends just to capture a perfect sun rise or for a photo-shoot during golden hour? Cameras demand careful handling and good shots require patience.
5. What's wrong with a photograph with a camera in hand?
People flaunt their cars, bikes, mobile phones and some even flaunt their good looking friends, then what is wrong if someone flaunts his passion? It is something they love. If it wasn't love, we wouldn't have carried such heavy equipment everywhere even without getting tired. If you don't believe me, try carrying a full frame camera loaded with a 70-200mm f2.8 lens for half an hour. This lens is called as wrist breaker because of its weight. You definitely have to love photography to carry it.
6. Why that facebook page irks you?
Again its about perspective. Facebook page is not the only thing they possess. They have accounts on flickr, 500px, canvera etc. He might even have a website but its just that your domain is limited to fb and that is what you know. Isn't it good for you that your friend has separated out his photography stuff from his usual fb account? Now you have the option not to get the updates of his photography. At the most he will send you an invite. Why would that one notification in his lifetime affect you so much? You can easily ignore it. It is not that damn candy crush invitation that will keep coming 10 times a day. If you feel he is not good, don't like his page. But if you think he has built a passion and he needs your motivation, then go ahead after all, you might be the one asking him for a free photo-shoot later on.
7. Last one - "S H I T T Y P I C T U R E S" :
Now this is the point that offended me and forced me to write this blog. There is a guy who developed a new hobby and has started pursuing it passionately where as you are sitting at home watching that damn TV or fooling around in a mall. Its just that you are good for nothing and can't tolerate someone doing something meaningful. If you would have been good for something, you won't have called anyone else's work shitty. Because people who work for their passion, respect others' passion too. You never know how serious that person is about photography but you compare his photographs with veterans and easily remark them as Shitty irrespective of the hard work put in each of them. If you are really a good friend of a photographer then pick up any of his pics and ask the story behind it. I'm sure you are going to hear something interesting.
.
All the best to everyone who has bought a camera recently and wants to be a good photographer. Its a long journey and do not care about such stupid comments. Your photographs are not shitty. They are the pillars of your photography. Keep clicking and keep sharing. Do create a page to share your work if you want. Cheers to Photography.
.
Perspective is an enormously meaningful word for the photographers and I'm sure the creator of this photo won't know the depth of this word. Anyway, he won't have to deal with perspectives and depth of fields because he clearly has no idea what it takes to be a photographer. Now when I'm talking about what it takes to be a photographer, I'll surely have to tell what it takes but before coming to that, I'll tell why I started this article with perspective.
Perspective depends on one's own ability and knowledge. Just like the ancient sailors believed that the icebergs are just as big as they can see, just as an illiterate classifies books on the basis of the color of their cover, just like the little kids believe that stars shine because of moon's light, the creator of this pic must have created an image of photographers in his mind.
Believe it or not, it is hard to be called as a photographer. Like everything else, it does require a lot of sacrifices.
1. Buying a DSLR is not enough.
Do you really believe that everything a photographer has is a DSLR camera? Ever wondered why he carries those bags everywhere he goes? DSLR was just the initial investment but later the equipment costs has eaten into his salaries which you do not know. Lenses, tripod, filters, flashes, diffusers and what not. Even the bag which I carry costed me 6k. I have memory cards worth over 5.5k. I have flash batteries and chargers worth nearly 10k. When you were enjoying your trips, parties, new phone, new bike or a car, a wanna be photographer was cutting down his costs to save for his next photography equipment. All you could see was a camera in his hand but never the sacrifices he made. If you talk about me, I've spent around 3.5 lakh rupees on it.
2. Photographers do not click random pics.
You saw some insect or a bird or may be anything else clicked by a photographer and it was quite easy for you to declare it a random click, isn't it? There is something called as composition. I know, the photographs do not look good during the initial days because of bad composition but then everything needs time to learn. Photography composition is a subject in itself which involves creativity as well as laws of optics. If you think the photographer is not good enough, may be he is into his initial days of learning it. Even Sachin Tendulker wasn't a maestro during his initials days.
3. Photographers do not shoot in auto mode.
Just because you shoot in auto mode, it made you believe that photographers too shoot the same way. Again the perspective comes into picture. After all that is all you know about photography. There are a lot of things to maintain like ISO, shutter speed, aperture, focal length, white balance, flash mode, diffuser strength, natural light direction etc. etc. along with keeping the creativity and composition in tact. Believe me, it is not easy.4. Photographers have to miss a lot of fun.
Have you even been to a beach and not entered the water? Did you ever had sleepless overnight journeys in train? Have you ever been to a friend's wedding and not danced? Have you ever stood near a lake during late evening and bitten all over by mosquitoes just because of the long exposure shots? Do you get up early morning on weekends just to capture a perfect sun rise or for a photo-shoot during golden hour? Cameras demand careful handling and good shots require patience.
5. What's wrong with a photograph with a camera in hand?
People flaunt their cars, bikes, mobile phones and some even flaunt their good looking friends, then what is wrong if someone flaunts his passion? It is something they love. If it wasn't love, we wouldn't have carried such heavy equipment everywhere even without getting tired. If you don't believe me, try carrying a full frame camera loaded with a 70-200mm f2.8 lens for half an hour. This lens is called as wrist breaker because of its weight. You definitely have to love photography to carry it.
6. Why that facebook page irks you?
Again its about perspective. Facebook page is not the only thing they possess. They have accounts on flickr, 500px, canvera etc. He might even have a website but its just that your domain is limited to fb and that is what you know. Isn't it good for you that your friend has separated out his photography stuff from his usual fb account? Now you have the option not to get the updates of his photography. At the most he will send you an invite. Why would that one notification in his lifetime affect you so much? You can easily ignore it. It is not that damn candy crush invitation that will keep coming 10 times a day. If you feel he is not good, don't like his page. But if you think he has built a passion and he needs your motivation, then go ahead after all, you might be the one asking him for a free photo-shoot later on.
7. Last one - "S H I T T Y P I C T U R E S" :
Now this is the point that offended me and forced me to write this blog. There is a guy who developed a new hobby and has started pursuing it passionately where as you are sitting at home watching that damn TV or fooling around in a mall. Its just that you are good for nothing and can't tolerate someone doing something meaningful. If you would have been good for something, you won't have called anyone else's work shitty. Because people who work for their passion, respect others' passion too. You never know how serious that person is about photography but you compare his photographs with veterans and easily remark them as Shitty irrespective of the hard work put in each of them. If you are really a good friend of a photographer then pick up any of his pics and ask the story behind it. I'm sure you are going to hear something interesting.
.
All the best to everyone who has bought a camera recently and wants to be a good photographer. Its a long journey and do not care about such stupid comments. Your photographs are not shitty. They are the pillars of your photography. Keep clicking and keep sharing. Do create a page to share your work if you want. Cheers to Photography.
.
