Hi,
>"I was watching a rich suburban mom shooting pictures of her son's team
>at
>a high school track meet today. She was using A Nikon D2h and 300/2.8
>with a 1.4 converter--about $8000 worth of equipment and better than what
>I as a pro was carrying. Watching what she was shooting I'm convinced
>she
>got a lot of dull, stunningly sharp pictures ("here's Jake before his
>race"...). That is probably exactly what she wanted and was aspiring to.
perhaps she was a professional photographer spending some time with
her children, and knew exactly what she was doing. To be honest, your
assumptions say far more about your prejudices than they do about her
photography.
I've been photographing children at a safari park today, using several
thousand dollars worth of Contax equipment - including a 300mm lens
and x2 converter, like your suburban mom. The children (11 and 7 years
old) took at least 25% of the photographs, and most of those that I took
may not have reached your obviously high standards, but that doesn't mean
those are the only type of photos I take with my expensive equipment.
Maybe your rich suburban mom takes other types of photo with her expensive
equipment too.
Your post reminds me of something from David Hurn's 'On being a
photographer:
"Take a mother on a beach watching her child build sand-castles. She
suddenly sees an expression which tugs at her heart strings. Without
thought, she dips into the picnic basket, aims the camera, and presses
the button. The moment has been captured - and will be treasured for
the rest of her life.
Eighty five percent of all the ingredients of photography are
encompassed by this simple act. The mother has an intimate knowledge
of her subject. There is no thought of self or creativity, although
both are intimately present. The snap was made without concern for
technique. These are the ingredients that should be present in the
acts of all photographers, no matter how sophisticated, yet they are
the very ones which are too often ignored."
If photographs of your own children aren't worth thousands of dollars,
what is?
--
Cheers,
Bob
