Darren, Will comment more when I have time to look at your links. I think you and Miserere have some common opinions here. Look at this piece he has put up on 'What makes a good photograph.'
http://enticingthelight.com/2010/02/21/what-makes-a-great-photograph/ I think we don't go to enough exoctic locations to have great photos. :-) Regards, Bob S. On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 9:16 AM, CheekyGeek <[email protected]> wrote: > I'd like to try something, and if it goes well perhaps it will provide > a new sort of PDML thread for members to start periodically. > Conversations will, no doubt, evolve like wheel spokes off of a > central topic (hub), but I'd like this threads "hub" to be National > Geographic photographer Sam Abell. I think there may be multiple > pieces of my commentary (below) that you may have different reactions > to. I look forward to the discussions that will hopefully ensue. > > My son-in-law, Ryan McGinnis ( http://www.bigstormpicture.com & > http://www.bigstormpicture.com/blog ) and I drove to Hastings College > in Hastings, Nebraska a couple of weeks ago to see a presentation by > Mr. Sam Abell (sponsored by Canon). Now this is not going to be a > worshipful thread (by any means) at least not from me. Maybe I'm a > harsh critic, or maybe I just had my expectations set too high, but I > did not see as many photographs in his presentation that I said to > myself, "WoW. I wish I had taken THAT." That surprised me. Perhaps it > was simply his choice of images for this presentation, because when I > look at this page ( > http://compassrosebooks.blogspot.com/2010/03/sam-abell-national-geographic-stylist.html > ) I see a lot of images that I wish I had taken. Only three images on > that particular page were included in his 2 hour presentation. > > What Mr. Abell's presentation and work DID do, however, is stimulate > some thinking on my part (which is always good, in my book). As a > National Geographic photographer, Mr. Abell has been sent to some of > the really interesting places on earth to photograph really > interesting subjects that most of us will never get the chance to > photograph. It seems to me that there is a spectrum of subjects: > Nominally very uninteresting to nominally very interesting. And there > is also a spectrum of photographic images: Nominally uninteresting to > nominally very interesting. The two spectrums are independent of each > other, or perhaps interdependent - depending upon the skill (or luck) > of the photographer. Obviously, this is highly subjective. But when I > look at a photograph I sometimes ask myself: Is this a great image of > what could otherwise be an uninteresting subject, or is this an > average image of a very interesting subject? > > One example, I might suggest, is one of the three Sam Abell images > that graced the COVER of National Geographic magazine: > http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/POD/a/aboriginal-teenager-504198-sw.jpg > ( http://on.natgeo.com/903wXD ) > Is the "greatness" of this image due to the photographer or the > unusual subject? Put another way, if we put ME in that water, would > this be a compelling image? > > On the other hand, consider this image: > http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FNndI0BvPNA/S7AXaamrd8I/AAAAAAAABLA/HNtibpofTPA/s400/Abell7.jpg > ( http://bit.ly/cU3pDu ) > At his presentation, he included a farther away image. There are a lot > of different "groups" in this branding scene that the photographer had > to choose from. He made conscious decisions (which group to focus on, > how close to get, framing, etc.) and then he had to have the timing to > capture the image when elements converged at an interesting fraction > of a second. This is an incredible image and one he says for which > other photographers wish to trade him prints (the ultimate > compliment). Yes, it is interesting subject matter, but it could be > treated in a pedestrian way, which this image is not. While still > subjective, I might argue that this is an EMPIRICALLY great photograph > - in other words: If you are in the minority that don't think so, you > are a moron. > :) > > Sam also has some quotes that are worth of discussion, or at least > consideration. One that I particularly like is: > "It matters little how much equipment we use; it matters much that we > be masters of all we do use." > > Thoughts? > > Darren Addy > Kearney, Nebraska > > -- > Nothing is sure, except Death and Pentaxes. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
