Has anyone else noticed that most photography forums outside of Reddit have some very opinionated, bitter arsch-holes as members? I cannot find a single forum outside of Reddit that offers positive / constructive criticism, just people who are toxic beyond belief…
My pet theory is that it’s a fairly technical hobby but a fairly difficult art form. You can master focus, exposure, lighting and post-processing and still end up with a very boring photo. Have these technically competent but artistically bereft photos that most viewers just shrug their shoulders at and it drives them insane. Cut to a couple years later they have a huge chip on their shoulder and take out their frustrations on beginners asking about what camera to buy.
True
No. The comment you are under has hit it right on the button. Many/ most people can reach a certain level of competence just by practice but only very few have enough artistic talent to make great pictures.
I’ll have you know that I have received many Awards for my technically breathtaking pictures of brick walls!
I don’t think this is at all. The bitter conversations almost never show up in discussions about actual photography, with few exceptions it’s always in hardware discussions and boils down to brand loyalty/tribalism.
Well yeah. The sunsets/flower photo crowd always falls back on gear. It’s all they got.
I have had a lot of hobbies over the years and the bulk of my time on the Internet ever since I first got on 25+ years ago has been spent in related discussion forums. The part I quoted has been a fundamental feature of every single hobbyist online space I frequented. Every one.
The only caveat I would add is that it’s not always hardware but it’s some fundamental aspect of the hobby that splits people into tribes where they make that aspect their entire personality. Back in the day, people used to have epic flame wars about Dolby Digital vs DTS sound systems, 3Dfx graphics cards vs Nvidia, Stanley Kubrick vs Stephen Spielberg, PlayStation vs Xbox, Pan and Scan vs Letterbox, etc… these online fights got really nasty and personal while I am not gonna pretend that I was strictly above it all, in retrospect it is endlessly bizarre to think about. Ultimately none of this stuff matters so why do people exert such an extraordinary amount of energy for this.
I can absolutely see that there are artsy photographers who have an eye for the unusual and who look at things from another perspective, they dont use a lot of kit in my experience, just camera and lens. They take photos of things i’ve walked pasa million times and never considered. Those aren’t necessarily the same people you want to photograph your wedding.
To do a couples portrait shoot or photograph an event, being artsy might not help you that much because you need flashes, triggers, umbrellas, lighting is very important, camera needs to shoot redundant etc. There is an art in being able to document and photograph things that are happening in front of you well, and capture the emotion of your subjects while doing so.
I’ve accepted that I’m much more the second one , technical excellence with a flavouring of my style (poses, environment, background etc) is the goal for me but i definitely want to expand my abilities with regard to the first.
That doesnt mean a perfectly exposed, edited and exported photo of your keyboard is any more interesting though!