To mark the launch of the BBC’s Photographer of the Year competition, John Levy, editor of foto8.com asks; do digital cameras make us better photographers?
He makes some interesting points – that with the ease of editing and selecting the better, stronger pictures from a photo set, the whole set becomes that much stronger. And he is quite right when he says
“In this new mindset of “cheaper by the pound” shooting a greater quantity does not ensure greater quality. “
The camera is only as good as the photographer. The skills needed in conventional photography remain; that of composition, the “eye” for a picture, correct exposure, focus, depth of field, keeping the damn thing still during the exposure. Digital photography solves none of these things. What it does do is provide instant feedback – you get to see immediately if the picture worked or not. And, hopefully an opportunity to have another stab at getting the picture while still on site.
He also makes a point that hadn’t occurred to me:
“My main warning about digital photography concerns the ease with which image files can be deleted. Deleting files presents a fundamental difference between the old analogue archives and the modern digital ones.”
He goes on to say that the mediocre rejects provide context. Interestingly, I never delete the rejected images. They are all stored. This is simply because I might want to go back to them at some point and change them. Here is an example; last year I was at Rhossilli bay taking a mixture of landscape and rock pool shots. As I framed this picture of the cliffs, a seagull flew into the frame and made the difference between a reasonable picture and a good one. When I had that image on the computer screen, I was disappointed. In attempting to focus on the bird, the cliff edges were too soft – the whole image lacked punch. Yet the lighting and overall composition was worth saving. I used my editing software to change the image. I put in pencil lines to sharpen the edges of the cliff face and soften further the sea and the edges of the frame. The result was better than my original premise – and different. I would never have attempted this with conventional photography – the picture would have been discarded.
Does having a digital camera make me a better photographer? No. It does give me more scope for my creativity, though.
I agree with you Mark. I just love doing the ‘editing’ bit on the old computer.
I’ve accidentally deleted an entire file because I forgot to save it. In the old days, I had to rely on the film developers to wreck my work. ;^)
Interesting I have a blog in draft about photography too since I am in the process of making some changes as to how I do it.
I don’t really agree going entirely digital I think having both sorts for different occasions is better. Digital photography is great for snaps because you can rattle off a great deal of pics at low resolution just to get as much in as possible. Likewise if you know there is a shot you need the ability to see it is paramount and I suspect as most people there have been times where you get your film back and think bugger I could have had another go at that.
But having proper film cameras is more than just the old-fashioned romance. Some of the quality of cameras that you can pick up now at next to nothing are well worth having and the manual 35mm camera can teach you more about photography than you are likely to learn from a digital one where most things are automatic by default. Of course you can get manual settings on digital cameras but these tend to be at the higher end.
Since I started using an good old manual SLR again I can now show my kids how to take pictures and allow them to muck about with it knowing that any damage is going to be £15 at most rather than my cossetted Minolta Dim7 digital which they aren’t getting anywhere near.
Besides, now you can get the photo CD with your prints and have the best of both worlds.
I might publish my photo blog shortly as a compliment to yours.
”’Longrider replies: I realised that I just wasn’t using my 35mm camera any more. I always shoot at a high resolution and take plenty of CF cards with me. That way I can reduce the resolution to publish on the web, and keep it if I want to print out or do a DVD slideshow. I agree, there’s nothing like a manual SLR to learn the mechanics of photography. I learned with a Zenith.”’