Has digital made photography too easy

rickie

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19 Jul 2005 - 4:31 AM

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I've recently been thinking that with digital photography the skill of taking a good photo has been made too easy with a digital camera.On this website you hear people boasting that they took 3000 photos at a grand prix or other racing event.
Now before digital came along , you would have to think what you were doing all the time and the skill would be to concentrate on the right moment to press the shutter.
Now all people seem to do is keep their finger on the shutter and hope for the best because they are not wasting film.I'm not saying that everyone with a digital slr does this but if it makes them think by reading this then maybe it was worth posting this on the forum.

Mixpix

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19 Jul 2005 - 4:36 AM

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Before digital come along I used to rattle off rolls of film and then bin the lot. Now I shoot frame after frame with digitaland bin the vast majority. You still have to know what your doing or you end up with rubbish. Digital is just a medium your shooting with. I'm sure some of our professionals would get great pictures whatever they shot with..
Mick

joolsb (e2 Member)

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19 Jul 2005 - 4:42 AM

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But the question remains. Why shoot loads if you're only going to bin nearly all of what you shoot? Why not put more thought into what you're doing, shoot less and keep more?

Works for me....

digicammad (e2 Member)

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19 Jul 2005 - 4:48 AM

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You're making the fatal assumption that because you are shooting more you are thinking less. Digital actually gives you the opportunity to think more.

- Take a shot at what you think are the correct settings. Review the histogram and you may see that some of the highlights are burned or you can get it further to the right without losing any details, so you take another.

- Shoot several compositions of the same scene for different effects.

As far as your example of motor sport is concerned, you don't need digital to use a motordrive.

Of the shots I throw away about 75% of them are due to experimentation, not a thoughtless approach.

Ian

Mixpix

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19 Jul 2005 - 4:50 AM

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I don't think its been taken the wrong way. I'm just an amateur. Every shot I take is perfect until I either get the prints back or check out the file on the PC then the reality hits me. Its far from perfect. I try to think of everything before I fire the button. I'm improving but I have miles to go yet. My aim is to try and be consistant, digital allows me to experiment without worrying about the costs.
Mick

nigelf22

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19 Jul 2005 - 5:14 AM

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Quote: Every shot I take is perfect until I either get the prints back or check out the file on the PC then the reality hits me

I know that feeling too well - esp when I think I have something special, then I look at the Readers Gallery/Portfolios and in the bin it goes....

UserDeleted

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19 Jul 2005 - 5:36 AM

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Digital photography hasn't made it too easy (see above posts) but it has made it less risky.

An example - how many people would be taking wedding photos for money (or as a mate - but as the sole photographer) if they had to shoot film, and wait for the results.

How many would do portraits, shoot products or some of the aspirational toe in the water jobs that are taken on and discussed in these forums ?

How many would not be trying stock photography when the effective cost of production of stock is 0 when with slide you were looking at 10 per roll ?

I suspect less than are now with digital.....

Mike

LAF

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19 Jul 2005 - 5:49 AM

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Mike nailed it, shooting weddings on digital means you can actually enjoy it too. If I had to shoot film again for all my commercial work I'm sure I'd end up on valium within the year. Sad but true.

Lee.