Comment by oldstrangers | Hacker News Reader

Comment by oldstrangers | Hacker News Reader

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I trained in traditional film photography for 8 years, worked in a darkroom and developed my own film. The 'technical' details that make a photo "text-book-correct" were some of the first things we learned. It was a given that you knew how to properly shoot a photo (and in our case, how to properly develop, enlarge, print, etc). This was the foundation for potentially creating something more than just a snapshot. You only ever really noticed these details when someone got it wrong.

With that said, after about the 2nd year, it became increasingly clear that once you knew what you were doing, you had almost no incentive to continue doing things "correctly." Critiques at the higher levels became increasingly abstract. It was understood that you could shoot a "technically correct" photo. No one needed to see that from you again, perhaps ever. You master the basics and you're suddenly let in on a secret that the basics don't really matter (at least in an artistic/scholastic context).

However, I can see why the engineer type would be attracted to the technical part of photography. It is a fun and rewarding endeavor to create things correctly, and not everyone wants to be an artist. Working in a darkroom is extremely rewarding in a technical sense because it rewards those who do things correctly and punishes those who don't. Ultimately, there are all kinds of reasons to fall in love with photography, and those reasons don't need to correspond with mine or anyone elses.

You need to be cognizant of the rules you are breaking, i think thats the real value behing learning those kinds of rules. You need to know the narrative thus far to know how to mess with it in an interesting way, and as you say, once you know, its obvious when someone else doesnt.

“You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.”

- Charlie Parker

You should know the basics to know why you're ignoring them. When you start writing, you have to use proper grammar, spelling, etc. Once you have that down, you can choose to ignore rules or making them work for another purpose. That is what really pushes the boundary in the arts, but having the basics is useful in and of themselves.

Hey, well I guess I you're right about different aspects being enjoyable to different people. However, I guess I feel like some people use technique to avoid and rationalize rather than grow and create.

That's his point. Some people don't want to grow and create, they want to relate, to transmit. I have absolutely no desire to make high-contrast lighting photos because they're "edgy," nor do I want to take "mysterious" photos of models intended to impress the viewer with its ambiguity.

When I see something I think is interesting, I want to be able to preserve it , for myself and for my friends. That's the difference between an artist and a hobbyist.

Hahaha, this reminds me of a conversation I had with my art teacher in 7th grade. I told her I don't care about the rules, I just wanted to do my own thing that I had in my head. She said that this only gets you so far, and that you have to actually know the rules in order to know how to break them... I think this carries some relevance here, and that there is some truth to it.

I read Norvig's intro as the equivalent of your 'first year'. You wouldn't have gotten to the third year without the first year, nor will the other parents in Norvig's kids dance class get to be conscious about violating the rules of technically correct photography if they don't first learn those basics.

That's a fair point. I think it's a great thing to read slowly for engineers new to photo (for the average person it's way too technical). I'd say as a rule don't try and put everything in there together at once. By the time you're done thinking about all the technical considerations the dance will be over and you'll be standing in an empty auditorium.

The best thing to do is assess your skills, and try and take the best photos you have given what you know.

Learn one new thing at a time, and don't move on till you're comfortable with it. Tools enable creativity, if you take on the whole shebang you'll drag yourself down.

Do experiments with new techniques if you want to, but don't just go looking for excuses for techniques full time, that's where people get in trouble and wind up creating a photography textbook rather than good photos.

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