Rant @ IA photogs

[osnap]

AP - well said and I understand your perspective.

It sounds like you just discovered owning a DSLR isn't what it's made out to be.

er... wha? No, not at all. I happen to have just gotten a D40 for Christmas, yes, but nobody has ever aimed any comments like these at me, and I've actually been quite pleased with my pictures so far, most of which have been taken in modes other than AUTO.

Feel free to remove my name since I've never once talked down to anyone owning an entry level DSLR, quote me if you have found otherwise. In case you forgot it wasn't that long ago I was still using point & shoot.

im not accusing anyone of talking down to anyone, relax. And im not even talking about low-end SLRs specifically, just people getting SLRs in general.

...And fair enough, I haven't seen you directly saying these things, I just thought I'd seen you associated with some of the threads im talking about. to be fair i havent paid THAT much attention to it, and this wasn't meant to be like a callout at you or anyone in particular, dont get all up in arms about it.

Nobody inspired me, individual photos I saw in magazines and online is what inspired me. I was still shooting with a point & shoot when Nemesis, AP, Jaime, etc. had DSLR's, 3 to 4+ years ago there were only a small handful of people producing quality car photos on here. As far a IA goes, THEY WERE the pioneers of automotive photography here and I am sure were an inspiration to many other members. I can't speak for them on who they were inspired by.

uh... i said you were inspired by other peoples work. and those individual photos in magazines and online? those were taken by other people... so i dont think my comment was inaccurate or unfair.

I don't recall ever using the term "bandwagon" for new DSLR owners but I will be glad to now. Yes owning a DSLR is jumping on the bandwagon for 90% of the people getting them. Only because someone else had one is why they got one, thinking there photos will be miraculously better

yeah, if thats someone's initiative, then sure, bandwagon is a valid term. but 90%, really? cmon, a good few of these people have got to be legitimately interested. My father owned a studio for 10 years and has been shooting for decades... I've always had the itch, and now I finally have a means of trying my hand.

I've had 4 "rants" on this forum.

Honestly I agree with all of these.

it is not even worthing stickying some kind of FAQ if you ask me.

noobs are noobs. and the noobs around here don't want to learn anything. they shoot on auto or program and learn nothing from it. then they ask for comments and critique and get all pissed off when the comments and critiques aren't positive remarks.

go get a book. read stuff. check out websites (IA is hardly a photography site.) join a fuckign photography forum.

it amazes me that people would rather spend 150 dollars on a fucking seminar than get a 20 dollar book and experiment on their own.

i mean frankly i agree, im just saying that rather than griping about threads like that, an FAQ would be a nice way of countering it and I'm sure could be a rich resource for some on here. I've done a fair amount of reading and photography forum browsing, but some may not know where to start, and im sure there are some on here who would appreciate the help from the locals whose photos they already know and appreciate. honestly i personally dont really care, i was just kinda throwing an idea out there.

Okay is fucking right. You ain't got shit to say...

Also, I'm fucking gonna buy a DSLR and start my own watermark and website just so all of you can call me a bandwagon jumper. All the kewl kids are doing it, might as well go out in style.

Fuckin weak ass rant.

...alright, congrats, your e-penis is clearly substantially larger than mine. what exactly is it that youd like me to say?

[speedminded]

im not accusing anyone of talking down to anyone, relax. And im not even talking about low-end SLRs specifically, just people getting SLRs in general.

...And fair enough, I haven't seen you directly saying these things, I just thought I'd seen you associated with some of the threads im talking about. to be fair i havent paid THAT much attention to it, and this wasn't meant to be like a callout at you or anyone in particular, dont get all up in arms about it.

I really don't understand why a lot of you guys (speedminded, AP, etc) are so up-in-arms about people wanting to buy a D40 and have at it. Its not a "bandwagon", and don't act like you started it - automotive photography is by no means a new entity, and you guys had to start somewhere too - AND you were inspired by someone else's work, I'm sure. You guys seem to feel so threatened and insulted by people just dicking around with their first SLRs... let your experience speak for itself in the picture quality.

Where have I acted like or said I feel threatened? It's not my money so I could care less.

If someone wants to get into photography i've always suggested they start shooting with a point & shoot with manual modes. A point and shoot half the price of a entry DSLR will shoots cars and landscape just as well or better than a entry level to higher end consumer DSLR. If you want to shoot people you can get a point & shoot with a hot shoe for a flash and still be at half the price of an entry level DSLR and a flash. Using a onboard pop-up flash on a DSLR produces no better photos than any mid level point & shoot on portrait mode.


Reasons for getting a point and shoot and learning the basics first:

1) Composition is composition, doesn't matter what camera is used. Work on that then work on quality or being capable of larger prints. Most point & shoots have such high megapixels you can still do large prints. I've done 18x22 prints with a 5.0mp point & shoot before and turned out fine.

2) Getting a point & shoots still allows you to learn how to shoot manually.

3) If you want to pursue photography beyond that you have a backup camera. I see cars and random stuff driving down the road all the time, there is no possible way for me to simply pull my DSLR out of my camera bag and take a shot within seconds like I could with my Sony's, especially if I want to zoom.

4) Big camera's get you attention & harassment, whether positive or negative. If you don't have the experience to talk your way out of something then you can easily get knee deep in something you don't want to be involved with. Nobody thinks twice about people using a point & shoot, they aren't threatened by being around them.

[EJ_Allmota]

If someone wants to get into photography i've always suggested they start shooting with a point & shoot with manual modes. A point and shoot half the price of a entry DSLR will shoots cars and landscape just as well or better than a entry level to higher end consumer DSLR. If you want to shoot people you can get a point & shoot with a hot shoe for a flash and still be at half the price of an entry level DSLR and a flash. Using a onboard pop-up flash on a DSLR produces no better photos than any mid level point & shoot on portrait mode.


Reasons for getting a point and shoot and learning the basics first:

1) Composition is composition, doesn't matter what camera is used. Work on that then work on quality or being capable of larger prints. Most point & shoots have such high megapixels you can still do large prints. I've done 18x22 prints with a 5.0mp point & shoot before and turned out fine.

2) Getting a point & shoots still allows you to learn how to shoot manually.

3) If you want to pursue photography beyond that you have a backup camera. I see cars and random stuff driving down the road all the time, there is no possible way for me to simply pull my DSLR out of my camera bag and take a shot within seconds like I could with my Sony's, especially if I want to zoom.

4) Big camera's get you attention & harassment, whether positive or negative. If you don't have the experience to talk your way out of something then you can easily get knee deep in something you don't want to be involved with. Nobody thinks twice about people using a point & shoot, they aren't threatened by being around them.

QFT

[Alan®]

Where have I acted like or said I feel threatened? It's not my money so I could care less.

If someone wants to get into photography i've always suggested they start shooting with a point & shoot with manual modes. A point and shoot half the price of a entry DSLR will shoots cars and landscape just as well or better than a entry level to higher end consumer DSLR. If you want to shoot people you can get a point & shoot with a hot shoe for a flash and still be at half the price of an entry level DSLR and a flash. Using a onboard pop-up flash on a DSLR produces no better photos than any mid level point & shoot on portrait mode.


Reasons for getting a point and shoot and learning the basics first:

1) Composition is composition, doesn't matter what camera is used. Work on that then work on quality or being capable of larger prints. Most point & shoots have such high megapixels you can still do large prints. I've done 18x22 prints with a 5.0mp point & shoot before and turned out fine.

2) Getting a point & shoots still allows you to learn how to shoot manually.

3) If you want to pursue photography beyond that you have a backup camera. I see cars and random stuff driving down the road all the time, there is no possible way for me to simply pull my DSLR out of my camera bag and take a shot within seconds like I could with my Sony's, especially if I want to zoom.

4) Big camera's get you attention & harassment, whether positive or negative. If you don't have the experience to talk your way out of something then you can easily get knee deep in something you don't want to be involved with. Nobody thinks twice about people using a point & shoot, they aren't threatened by being around them.

I agree with pretty much everything that has been said in this thread in one way or another. I got into photography because I got tired of not going to meets because of my car. I'm shooting with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 and its nothing a but a P&S with a SLR style body.

Everything that speedminded has said in this post. and to prove it here are a few examples.

These are from the first time I started shooting



Among the million things wrong with these shots, there is also the fact that composition is largely lacking, subject isnt very interesting, . So I decided to educate myself by using that photography forum that chad posts up all the time. And I have to say it's incredibly informative.I still havent read everything but there are 40+ pages of information in a word document on my computer and the only thing I have actually sat down and read was the article on composition. With that said, here are some shots from Hawaii that I took.




With just the new information that I had on composition and a few other things that I had realized about the way I was shooting, I feel I was able to make significant improvements. The shots are damn near crystal clear, they are interesting, the composition is MUCH better.

The problem I feel with most people jumping into this is that they don't take the time to go out and actually educate themselves. They figure its just like anything else technology related. They feel they can go out plunk some money on a SLR and be able to take AMAZING shots. But the truth of the matter is that it isn't. While like anything else having good gear always helps you still need to be able to know how to handle it. Let me put it this way. Having a 8 second supra is great. But if you don't know how to launch it and get it down the track the way it should be done will mean you will consistently run 9's or 10's or crash and burn.

[Maniacc]

what exactly is it that youd like me to say?

Post up the usernames of the people who are going around actin' like photographers.



Call 'em out.