pictor
All-Pro
One of the biggest advantages of digital photography is said to be its convenience. It has become much easier to get a technically decent picture than ever before. One can shoot as much as one likes. It won't make any difference, if one shoots 36 pictures or 1000, because shooting digital is cheap. One can be even sloppy, because one can fix so much in post processing.
The technical quality of our gear is great and we are able to do things which we did not dare to dream of when we shot film. Even my tiny Canon G12 makes decent pictures up to 800 ISO (by applying the right tools in post processing). However, I doubt that the technical quality of our digital tools will ever be good enough. No matter how good the gear already is, even higher usable ISO (more MP, ...) will be wanted. We sit in front of our screens for hours and use the newest and best software to get the last 0.1% image quality. Of course we shoot raw to be able to do that. At least we think that we have to shoot raw to be able to do that.
Since releasing the shutter does not cost anything, we tend to shoot much more than ever before and it is a good thing that we can do that. But in our digital age so many pictures are produced. Although I have never been a photographer who shoots an excessive amount of pictures, I used to take a much more pictures than ever before. I have become used to sit in front of the computer for hours, because each picture has to be developed individually (I have never seen any sense in batch processing of raw files and most probably won't ever do). Photography has become work in front of a computer at last.
The result of the high amount of pictures and the intense post processing is not joy but just a high amount of intensely processed pictures which often enough lack interestingness. So I have changed my habits, which is a still enduring process having started in May. When I photograph today, I take less pictures than ever before, but the percentage of keepers is higher than ever before. I am looking for a good balance between flow and control. This needs some discipline, but I am rewarded with joy.
Some weeks ago there was an interesting discussion in the Micro 4/3 User Group about JPEGs vs. raw. Someone said, that many photographers shoot JPEGs because they want to finalize their concept as much as possible when they release the shutter. That found my interest and I tried to shoot JPEG and raw in parallel. I soon realized, that I actually like the JPEGs my Olympus produces, and stopped shooting raw. I have defined the function key to save the raw, if necessary, such that I still have the raw in difficult situations.
My shooting discipline has grown significantly and I am concentrating on making pictures much more than before. The time I needed to develop all those raw files is better spent for improving my skills in making pictures. I have been able to improve the image quality of my pictures, too, although I have heard about a myth which says one had to shoot raw for doing so. But the best thing is, that I am very satisfied with what I am doing now. Photography is pure joy again. Life can be so beautiful!
The technical quality of our gear is great and we are able to do things which we did not dare to dream of when we shot film. Even my tiny Canon G12 makes decent pictures up to 800 ISO (by applying the right tools in post processing). However, I doubt that the technical quality of our digital tools will ever be good enough. No matter how good the gear already is, even higher usable ISO (more MP, ...) will be wanted. We sit in front of our screens for hours and use the newest and best software to get the last 0.1% image quality. Of course we shoot raw to be able to do that. At least we think that we have to shoot raw to be able to do that.
Since releasing the shutter does not cost anything, we tend to shoot much more than ever before and it is a good thing that we can do that. But in our digital age so many pictures are produced. Although I have never been a photographer who shoots an excessive amount of pictures, I used to take a much more pictures than ever before. I have become used to sit in front of the computer for hours, because each picture has to be developed individually (I have never seen any sense in batch processing of raw files and most probably won't ever do). Photography has become work in front of a computer at last.
The result of the high amount of pictures and the intense post processing is not joy but just a high amount of intensely processed pictures which often enough lack interestingness. So I have changed my habits, which is a still enduring process having started in May. When I photograph today, I take less pictures than ever before, but the percentage of keepers is higher than ever before. I am looking for a good balance between flow and control. This needs some discipline, but I am rewarded with joy.
Some weeks ago there was an interesting discussion in the Micro 4/3 User Group about JPEGs vs. raw. Someone said, that many photographers shoot JPEGs because they want to finalize their concept as much as possible when they release the shutter. That found my interest and I tried to shoot JPEG and raw in parallel. I soon realized, that I actually like the JPEGs my Olympus produces, and stopped shooting raw. I have defined the function key to save the raw, if necessary, such that I still have the raw in difficult situations.
My shooting discipline has grown significantly and I am concentrating on making pictures much more than before. The time I needed to develop all those raw files is better spent for improving my skills in making pictures. I have been able to improve the image quality of my pictures, too, although I have heard about a myth which says one had to shoot raw for doing so. But the best thing is, that I am very satisfied with what I am doing now. Photography is pure joy again. Life can be so beautiful!