Whats more important?

Sir SR

Sir SR

Messages
5,635
Name
Shaheed
Edit My Images
No
I recently upgraded to lightroom 4.

Last Xmas my mother in law grabbed my camera (after a few bubbles!), only having used her point and shoot previously,and took a photo of myself, wife and two kids.

I uploaded the photos the next day and didn't really look at them too carefully as they were very dark and couldn't work out what they were.

Got lightroom 4 and went back over some old photos. Came across the family pic and made it kind of useable with my poor LR4 skills. Technically it was still a bit noisy and focus wasn't spot on etc. However it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling seeing family pics of the four of us as normally I'm behind the camera!!

Ideally you want a technically "well executed" photograph capturing the memory/evoking an emotion.

This photo captured the memory and provoked an emotion but wasn't technically perfect.

So my question is: what's more important. The moment/emotion or the technical aspect of the photo?

Ta

S
 
I have many photographs like that, at the end of the day, it's the memory they provoke, that feeling to say I was there :)

That's the main reason I keep "non-keepers"
 
Shaheed, what a silly question! ;) it's all about the reaction, what the photo does is by far the most important. There is a lot of twaddle on here about sharpness etc but tug those heart strings. The photo you are talking of is a nice picture of your family, that will always mean something.

I get sad when I see crit on here that is just one line- "lovely, sharp image". Means nothing at all. Or nowt now you are a northerner! ;)
 
I suspect I half knew the answer before I asked it!

I guess the other aspect of it is that I love the photo. Will it bring out a similar reaction from somebody with less emotional attachment, not sure! At this point the technical aspect will probably come into play?

S
 
Sharpness is over-rated.. and generally the first resort of the emotionally or aesthetically illiterate photographer*,**. Give me en interesting image over a technically perfect one everytime.

I'll go further than Jim, if the first comment I get is "Wow! that's sharp" then I've failed and the image is a dud. It's like reading a book, but all you can say at the end is, "Wow! the spelling is perfect".


* this applies to art photography, there are types of photography where sharpness and clarity are paramount, e.g. medical photography, crime scenes photography, reconnaisance photography.
** and if a statement like that doesn't start a debate with ****, **** and ****, then nothing will :lol:
 
I can't help feeling that although in my day job I'm all too often binning shots that are slight OOF (or the like), when it comes to shots taken on a compact, say on holiday, I'd don't give too hoots - it's the memory that's key.
 
Photography is all about capturing a moment, and preserving it, technically good is a bonus
 
its all about the emotion in my opinion..a ounze of skill and a decent camera is just a tool to enhance it turning it into a ghost ;)
 
Last edited:
go back to the history and look at N.Niepce and J.L Daguerre..was all about capturing time and moments
 
Depends on the photograph & it's value. Memories often come first with personal work. College work is definitely more about the technical aspects, thoughts behind it & all that. Different photographs have different purposes :}
 
Last edited:
As proffessionals we aim to perfect a skill..sometimes this can get in the way(does for me sometimes).Id love nothing more than to go back to snaps of my family at special times..but for me..i find im always looking at it from a technical aspect..and at times can take that ounze of love out of them..
 
IamAshlyRose said:
Depends on the photograph & it's value. Memories often come first with personal work. College work is definitely more anout the technical aspects, thoughts behind it & all that. Different photographs have different purposes :}
Click to expand...

This:agree:

Its the emotional attachment with personal work. IMHO
 
to me its what that pic means to yourself, you can only capture that moment once, i have got some old kids pics which are poor film quality, no way would i ever not want to keep them, only been into digital 10 months and i have got some naff pics quality wise but no way would i get rid of those either,
if you sat around a table talking about pics taken it would be about the moment not the technical side of it
 
So last Christmas I was working (somebody had to) and we postponed our dinner til the Monday after. This was the photo my mother in law took.



DSC_0080 by Sir SR, on Flickr

Not technically the best (excuse the writing at the bottom, forgot to turn off the footer, although she has given me the full copyright :-) ) but captured the moment of our family all being together (finally) over the festive period. Also we only have a handful of pictures of the four of us so it's nice to see on that front too.

S
 
There's no right answer to this question, as Ashley has said, it totally depends on the photograph and it's audience.

A family snapshot is a dear thing to the family, and in 50 years time will hold some value to historians, but for anyone else it holds no value - as there's no emotional attachment and no other interest - you could pull a small point for an exceptionally cute kid.

A good photograph should speak to the viewer, and depending on the subject the technical aspects can be either very important or not important at all. News or sports photo's showing real drama don't have to be technically perfect to pull us into the story, but specialist images such as landscapes, wildlife, macro etc only exist as photo-art, therefore if they're not technically right they have a reduced value.

Like most things in life - context is key.
 
The photographs that are up in my house are the technically incorrect ones. We'll never get another shot of my son with his great-nanny so that sits pride of place on the mantel, my baby girl 2 hours old taken with a mobile phone, the sneaky smiling shot I got of my daughter as she doesn't like to get her photo taken, him in his bright red Florence tee that he loved (and looked awful on him) just *** Nanny bought it.... They don't have to mean anything to anyone else - just to me :)

SirSLR - great photo, that made me smile :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top