On Nov 21, 2010, at 5:33 PM, Walter Gilbert wrote: > Hi all, > > For the past couple of days, I seem to keep encountering references to > "stochastic" photography -- or "spray and pray" if you will, and it's piqued > my interest. It's not that I'm considering actively pursuing the practice so > much as I wonder how much my current style (method?) could actually be > considered stochastic. Having never worked in the vicinity of another > photographer before, my days out shooting with Ted Beilby were, as I said, > educational. We took nearly diametrically opposed approaches. > ... snip ...
> So, I was just curious as to the thoughts of the folks on the list as to how > much my approach would be considered "spray and pray" by more seasoned > photographers, and how much it would benefit if it were less so. > > Thanks for any input anyone has to offer. > It doesn't matter how you got the shot, the only thing that matters is how good it is. The question of whether to spray and pray or whether to carefully set up the shot to me is like asking "Which is a better tool, a hammer or a screwdriver?" or "Which is better, Black and White or color?". They are different tools which are appropriate for different situations. I think that a good photographer should be skilled with each, and know when to do which. I also think that it depends a lot on your goal. If the goal of my photo session is art, then I don't care how many bad shots I take, or even how many good shots, I really only want a great shot. I'll spend a lot more time on each shot, trying to get everything set up just right. I will also, however, take full advantage of the instant feedback of digital. I'm fully capable of going out with a film camera and a handheld meter, carefully considering my exposure and only taking one or two shots. However with digital I can often get better results taking a SCWAG at the exposure, running a test shot, chimping and dialing it in. When I'm using studio strobes, this is pretty much how I have to do set the exposure. If I'm shooting photos at an event, it may not make any difference whether I take a good photo or a great photo, as long as it is good enough. I'll be a lot more conservative in what I try just making sure that I don't blow the critical shot. Alternatively, if I'm shooting event photos of people dancing, or practicing martial arts, then I'll definitely spray and pray, because the goal is to get at least one decent shot of as many people as possible. I could take a lot fewer photos, get more great ones, fewer bad ones, but a lot less shots that are "good enough". Shooting with 120 is a very good way to train yourself to consider each shot carefully, because it costs a buck or two every time you press the shutter. If you want to practice this discipline and don't have a MF camera to use (or borrow) go on a photo walk in the city, and every time to press the shutter, give a dollar bill to a panhandler. -- Larry Colen [email protected] sent from i4est -- 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.
