On going debates in photography...

[AlanMura]

Hi all,

I was wondering if you can help me out? I am creating photography polls for my website(you know, like voting). I am in need of some ongoing debates in photography, controversial subjects, where I can gather peoples opinions on.

For example, Nikon Vs Canon... I know, this is too cliche.

Any and all photography subjects are welcome. I was persoanlly thinking,

Artistic nudes: Fine art? Art for Pervs? etc....

[krb]

24-70L vs 24-105L?

Certainly is popular on this forum...



As for artistic nudes, I honestly can't believe it's still an issue to anybody. I know that it is, but I'm really just astounded by it.

[Wilt]

All topics with more 'subjective' than 'objective' points...

protective filter, no protective filter (IQ harm)
18% gray card metering for scene average vs. 12% gray calibration standard
prime vs. zoom for IQ
longevity vs. mortality of APS-C format
IQ need for tripod vs. IS for daylight/dawn/dusk down to 1/4 sec.
Portrait orientation = clockwise vs. CCW rotation of camera
Right eye or left eye viewfinder aiming
Wisdom of EF-S lens purchase vs. EF only
Continued usefulness of handheld meter vs. dSLR meter
speedlights vs. studio flash
35mm dSLR = Medium Format IQ
Sensor resolution > lens resolution (is the Mpixel war over?!)
'faster' JPG vs. 'better' RAW for photojournalists
Are battery grips 'got to have' items?
photography...'art' vs 'craft'
postprocessing...how much is 'too much'?

[AlanMura]

Thanks for the help! I like the technological angle (lens)... Equipment comparison is always intriguing.

[AlanMura]

@ Wilt

Lots of good stuff...

Many thanks!

[birdfromboat]

heres one we used to get out once in awhile at the break table at a lab I worked at:
Where is the art in Photography? We printers and color correcters and processers thought that we were the artists, taking negatives and creating beautiful prints. The togs tjhought they were the artists, able to see the final result while out in the field and collect the best negative to acheive it. We said they might as well be using a geiger counter, they were just recording whatg was eminating from the source, They challenged us to make art from a badly exposed roll of poorly chosen film shot with the wrong lens.

I still feel more 'artsy" when I'm doing post processing- but I enjoy the shooting much more.

[AlanMura]

@ Birdfromboat

That is a really interesting topic. Hmmm, I think its probably 50/50 as they seem to go hand in hand but i must say that as a 'tog', I think we're the artists. Conceptualizing, creating and capturing. Knowing when the right moment hits etc. But this is a very debatable topic.

Thank you very much!

Alan

[krb]

Yeah, Bird's got a good one there. Or to phrase it they way it usually comes up these days: Is it better to be great with the camera and merely competent with photoshop or to be competent with the camera and great at photoshop?

[AlanMura]

@KRB

Jeez.. I dont know where I stnad with that. I guess I would have to say the better picture you take, the less 'photoshopping' you need... IMO

Thanks for the comments.

Al

@ everyone

I am curious also to know what your first paid gig was?
If you dont mind, please vote at http://alanmura.com/?p=179

Thanks much,

Alan

[chauncey]

If ya want to get deep, down and dirty...debate whether creativity is a learned skill or if it's part of our genetic code, as in left/right brain. :lol:

Oops, Wilt already mentioned it.

[SOK]

What about one of POTNs most common, yet boring, debates?

It's typically full of over-analysis and ego, but somehow it always manages to be excrutiatingly pointless....

What constitues being a 'pro'?

[slitherjef]

You are not a "Real" photographer unless you have a 1 series and or a full frame camera? Its a snapshot unless you remove the light post? (I.E., removing or cloning stuff out of a photo after it is shot)

[BobOh]

Where to draw the line when documenting human drama (suffering, grieving, tragedy, etc.) Brought to mind while watching the most unusual 9/11 documentary I've seen. It was called "102 Minutes That Changed America". It was home videos, archival news footage of people on the streets of NYC, and audio of phone calls and police/fire dep't radio calls. It was totally without narration. Just peoples' reactions to the attacks on the World Trade Center. On a number of occasions the cameramens' subjects asked to not be taped. I asked myself, "What should be the etiquette here?" I found myself wanting to say to the people, "Come on now, you are experiencing the most historically significant day of your life here. All human reaction today is worthy of being documented".

[birdfromboat]

good one. I know a news photog that refused to shoot the relatives of plane crash victims at the airport. I agree with her decision, 100%. But who can forget the shots of family at the scene of the shuttle disasters? I also saw that documentary, and similar montage of video from Katrina. I was riveted. People want to see train wrecks, even though they don't want trains to wreck.
Photons are just Photons, collect them as you will, but if you think doing so crosses a line, it probably does. Let someone else get those photons, go get some that you feel better about.

[Wilt]

Where does the dividing line between 'right to privacy' and 'right to photograph' fall?

Does a photographer have a 'right' to take the photo of a child (who is not his) when the purpose of the photograph is NOT for commercial uses in any way, and is not for immoral or illegal uses? (e.g. you are shooting a workshop/class assigment and a child, whose face can be distinguished clearly, is in the photo). And which side of the line is the UK falling on, with their position?

If a youth league uses a public park for games, do they have the right to prevent you from photographing players on the field?

[birdfromboat]

When talking about legal rights, like right to privacy and right to photograph, I tend to think of it as loosely following the governments rather ambiguous laws concerning the radio waves (just another part of the same spectrum that visible light falls into). Once something has been broadcast (reflected light), it is for the most part available for anyone to receive (photograph). Anyone with an older scanner can pick up cell phone conversations, anyone with a newer one can pick up scrambled police communications. The government knows it is almost impossible to keep it from happening, so they choose, for the most part, to bring charges against only those that receive these protected broadcasts for personal gain. And even then only the more extreme cases seem to be prosecuted.
If a person is in a public place, they have no right to privacy. If a photographer chooses to record them, they are in their rights. If they choose to publicize the shot for personal gain, thats getting outside the lines, and if the shot ends up as child porn in any form, the government should, and will, prosecute.
As for a youth league in a public park, if they have paid a fee I think they more or less own it for the day and can consider an unwanted photographer a trespasser.
These are just my opinions- I do agree that this is definitely an ongoing debate, and I could easily have my opinions change a full 180 degrees if the ambiguous laws regarding this put me or my family on the wrong side of the 'line'.