Quote:
Originally posted by Gopher
This reminded me of an epiphany I had recently.
I remember reading a thread from before I became a regular, entitled "Photography is ART!!!" started by Salar. I read through it and found some pretty valid points, however heated the thread became. I, and probably everybody else here, totally agree that art is subjective, but I'm going to expain something that occured to me using another example.
I'm sure we can all agree that music is art, right? But if you have one Chopin's nocturnes, or Beethoven's symphonies, you don't want to hear it played like a machine; all the notes perfect length, all volume levels perect as compared to the average volume of the whole piece. Why? Because it has no character nor humanity. The best musicians vary their time (Can anyone say Frank Sinatra?) and their volume thereby portraying a different emotion.
I now believe that the same goes for photography. Ever look at some of Justin's wedding shots? NONE of them are 'properly' exposed, that would be too AVERAGE and wouldn't evoke any emotion or interest - only from the people that were there, and maybe the odd person those few explained it to. Most of the time he's got the whites blown out, or in darker shots he's got the blacks underexposed creating a different emotion. Making us see differently than we're used to makes things interesting and artistic.
/rant
That being said, I like the first shot more, the second one scares me :S
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hehe... although you've made good points and you understand my use of blown highlights and contrast for photographs, almost all of my photos come out of my camera 100% properly exposed. I use a lightmeter for the most part.
My mentor once told me that to make photographs stand out, post processing must occur. Lenses, film and sensors etc. only record the information. You must record all the information accurately in order to post process them to their full potential. Some don't like my taste in post processing, much like I don't prefer the tastes of others. I do however have great respects to individuals who know how to post process well.
As a rule of thumb in my business, I provide the original 'properly' exposed photographs to my clients along with post processed versions for them to choose from. Here however, I post the photos or the versions of photos that I find striking or strong. Some may not be your cups of tea and I understand that. I also do appreciate all comments on the work that I post. I take the thoughts posted and use them to find new ways of delivering an emotion or thought.
Your rant is a valid rant Gopher and I think to help this forum, members need to critique each other on objective components as much as objective components. When I posted critiques from my lighting workshop I critique fairly objectively and suggest changes in regards to subjective matters.
Anywhoo... more pictures and comments!!!
