Some of my better shots And a few from Russia - I notice theres another photographer on here who likes russia
Some great photos there, cheers for sharing Off to Lisbon next week, hoping to get some good pictures.
Some cracking ones in that Russia set. Nice one. I really like that second one, looking down the canal. Do they have an 'effect' on them? It almost looks like you've used the instagram filters or something similar? (That's not meant as a criticism, I shoot on film so I don't know much about editing pictures digitally). It works a lot better on the second set than on the first.
Some amazing photos here. I've been into photography for a while but recently I couldn't be arsed. After this thread, I feel inspired and might take my dusty camera out for a few snaps again now.
whats wrong with instagram? Thanks matey ;0 appreciate it! Yeah they've got the instagram frame on them - the only copies with me here. Ive got the originals on another hard drive.
Little skill? Of course there's no skill - what does skill have to do with it? you press a few buttons and viola - its got a filter and on your profile. But that's not what's wrong with it. Why is that a bad thing? The skill is in taking the photo itself - its about the composition, lighting, framing etc. you have to have an eye for it. the photos I've put on instagram weren't even taken with a phone - they were taken with £4000 worth of equipment so the lack of skill in instagram is irrelevant. Yes it makes all photos look the same, if its just your average photo, which 99.9% of the photos on instagram are.
I think the arguments about lighting and framing are void when talking about instagram... seeing as instagram changes the entire way your photographs look. Any decisions you make about the lighting can be over-ridden by the instagram filter. It really depends what you want out of photography. I think most people on here do it as a hobby, and personally simplicity is the key, and I like the satisfaction of capturing a moment with my camera. If I'm really happy with my pictures, I don't feel the need to alter them with a filter. If I'm not happy with the photographs then I try again, or try something different. But that's just me. I'm quite new to photography and am aware that people want different things from their hobbies.
Not at all - the last picture i posted was actually taken about 40 times... all different settings, apertures, IOS settings, exposures, white balances, etc. etc. etc. if i were to put one of my first ones up, it would look COMPLETELY different - it took about 40 to get one that i was happy with. the key words you used are "any decisions you make about the lighting CAN be over-ridden"..... yes you're right, but only if you choose to do so... or let it over-ride the decisions you make. much the same as using a filter with your camera lens. You dont use a filter if it doesnt look right. You put the wrong filter on the wrong photo, lighting, wong composition - it can make it look like shit. It exactly the same as processing and using different effects in a dark room. and yes, or course - if I felt happy about a photo, i would never dream of touching it with a filter and thats when its the finished piece, like the first four i posted, all straight from the camera. you say, a filter changes the way your photography looks, but who says you've finished making the photo before you've used a filter... why stop at what the digital camera throws out... the piece is finished when you are happy with it. the digital era hasn't changed photography much apart from its only made things easier and quicker and at the touch of a button (putting aside things like retouching and air brushing for the front of a magazine or cereal packet) you can get 90% of the digital filter effects in a dark room - its just practice, patients, experimentation and a lot of accidents. the type of film you buy for your camera, the length of time you choose to develop, the type of paper you use to print on, frame you choose to frame it with - or even the type of camera or brand you buy has an effect on the photo you produce. instagram puts this (very basic i know) at the fingertips of people with a camera phone - maybe people who cant afford an expensive camera or photoshop/ dark room. Of course you dont need to be skillful to use instagram, which is why its so accessible to everybody. exactly what im taking about - a B&W filter applied, weather its been done on the camera before you pressed the button, or afterwards with post processing, be it in a dark room or photoshop - nothing more or less instagram can achieve. very nice composition might I add, which would be totally wrecked if it were added into instagram... i look through my photos and try to think what would look nice in a square format before adding something to instagram and work from there. you see what im getting at?
A lot of valid points there vinyl chap, and I agree with you on most of them. I don't process my own films, I just take them into Jessops haha. But if I did, I'm sure there are a vast array of techniques I could be using to change the way my photographs look. These are no more 'valid' as artistic techniques than altering a photograph using digital methods. A friend of mine studies photography at university and develops all of his own film. As you have suggested, he can and does use all different techniques to get different effects on his pictures. I'd love to have a go, but as you say, you need a lot of specialist equipment and quite a bit of time... I think the reason people have a gripe about Instagram is because it's so commonly used for everyday Facebook type 'snaps'. I frequently see people with no interest in photography praising / giving critiques of average photographs that are made to look 'vintage' with Instagram filters... when in reality the pictures are just garbage and the same as every other garbage photo that hipsters take on their i-Phone. I'm not saynig any of that last thinking applies to your pictures, you've taken good pictures and used a tool to enhance the way they look. That's different.
thanks for the good comments appreciated... i couldnt agree more with you - vintage and hipsters etc... very instagram, which isnt the best. I just thought you were agreeing with alan shearer there.
It is though. Anyone can buy camera equipment, but knowing how to use it properly is the difficult bit. Your photos without Instagram are very nice btw. And no need for the backlash
i think you missed my point, or i didnt put it over well enough - it wasnt about how much it cost - it was a response to the 'little skill in using it' comment - The skill is in taking the photo. Knowing how to use a camera is a 'skill' in itself, whereas there isnt so much 'skill' needed in taking a photo with an iphone. BUT, thats's why instargam is good - anybody can use it, weather it be a £20,000 camera or a plastic camera phone lens, a professional 'skillful' photographer or a snapshot 8 year-old. which makes his' little skill in using it' comment irrelevant. the instagram application isnt about being skillful, its about it being accessible for everybody and sharing pics - you dont even need to have a filter on them if you choose not to. and the 'backlash' as you put it was more a response about the sweeping statements without any explanation to back it up. It was no more or less of a backlash than alan shearers posts. read them again. its ok for him to say something in my post is irrelevant, but its not ok for me to say the same thing??
