This is a real story.
i was at a cafe last night reviewing my F1 shots on my A99, and happened to be sharing a table with a friend of mine, who brought along her teenage friend.
as i was looking through them, suddenly the teen asked to see my F1 and concert shots. so i passed her my camera.
after looking through them, she proclaimed that they were nice, and that she could take the same photo with her compact camera.
and that's the part that annoyed me.
i had spent so much time and money acquiring skills and gear to help me get that shot, and here was a young upstart who thought that her compact could do the job.
keeping a zen-like state, i asked her if she was sure. she said "yes, and my mobile phone can do the same, too".
ok... this level of ignorance was really getting to me.
so i proceeded to explain about the gear i use, the focal lengths, shutter speed, functionality of the camera and use of lighting and positioning, and why her compact camera could not capture the same shots (large aperture to blur the fence, fast shutter speeds etc)
as i explained it all, she started to realize how stupid she must have sounded to make such a bold statement without understanding anything. so i passed her the camera again, and asked her to look carefully at the shots, which she spent more time analyzing each shot.
The reality is this: Pros and Serious Hobbyists spend loads of time and money on getting access to skill sets and equipment to take better/amazing photos.
but there are a group of people who think that photography is easy and that they can do the same, thereby cheapening the art and thinking that there's no need for certain equipment to be able to capture the decisive moment.
and the problem becomes exacerbated with Facebook, Instagram and the like, where people think they're fantastic photographers based on the likes they receive, rather than producing photos that can be truly counted as works of art.
so what i'm asking for is a serious discussion on your thoughts and views on this issue (and that's why i didn't put this in Kopitiam)
i was at a cafe last night reviewing my F1 shots on my A99, and happened to be sharing a table with a friend of mine, who brought along her teenage friend.
as i was looking through them, suddenly the teen asked to see my F1 and concert shots. so i passed her my camera.
after looking through them, she proclaimed that they were nice, and that she could take the same photo with her compact camera.
and that's the part that annoyed me.
i had spent so much time and money acquiring skills and gear to help me get that shot, and here was a young upstart who thought that her compact could do the job.
keeping a zen-like state, i asked her if she was sure. she said "yes, and my mobile phone can do the same, too".
ok... this level of ignorance was really getting to me.
so i proceeded to explain about the gear i use, the focal lengths, shutter speed, functionality of the camera and use of lighting and positioning, and why her compact camera could not capture the same shots (large aperture to blur the fence, fast shutter speeds etc)
as i explained it all, she started to realize how stupid she must have sounded to make such a bold statement without understanding anything. so i passed her the camera again, and asked her to look carefully at the shots, which she spent more time analyzing each shot.
The reality is this: Pros and Serious Hobbyists spend loads of time and money on getting access to skill sets and equipment to take better/amazing photos.
but there are a group of people who think that photography is easy and that they can do the same, thereby cheapening the art and thinking that there's no need for certain equipment to be able to capture the decisive moment.
and the problem becomes exacerbated with Facebook, Instagram and the like, where people think they're fantastic photographers based on the likes they receive, rather than producing photos that can be truly counted as works of art.
so what i'm asking for is a serious discussion on your thoughts and views on this issue (and that's why i didn't put this in Kopitiam)