----- Original Message ----- From: TM <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, May 12, 2002 10:29 AM Subject: RE: Do zooms teach visual discipline? Was: Advice Needed For Student
> Sorry for the newbie question, but what is "visual discipline?" Please remember, I was speaking in the context of the original thread, which was relating to students of photography. > > I don't really understand the need to learn photography w/ one > fixed-focus > lens, like a 50mm. Is this so that you can better learn composition? > Wouldn't the selection of focal length be part of the composition > process? Zooms can actually have exactly the opposite effect on composition, by adding another group of variables to the compositional equation. In theory, there is probably nothing wrong with using a zoom to learn the fundaments of photography, the same way there is probably nothing wrong with using an auto everything camera set on manual everything. In practice, however, people will tend to take shortcuts. Why learn about exposure when the automatic camera makes it so easy for me? Why learn about working for good composition when the zoom lens makes it so much easier to just stand in one spot and pretend I am composing? > > I'm not interested in creating any works of art, just want to be able to > take nice photographs of my subjects and a zoom is very useful in that > one > can choose a vantage point and select focal length to appropriately > frame > the photographed subject, maybe more of a journalistic bent rather than > artistic, if that is an appropriate characterization. Sure, no problem, whatever works for you. But if you have a fixed lens, you may have to be a bit more creative in selecting your vantage point. The idea of being a student of photography should be to find creative ways to get a good picture, not to take the cheap and dirty way out. Prime lenses force more creative thinking on the student by imposing one field of view. This creative process will serve the student well, no matter what lenses are chosen down the road. William Robb - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
