The idea of actually putting effort into the taking of a photograph is not on the "to do" list of most people with a camera. By effort is meant to consider what you point the camera toward and think what may be the outcome. The idea of considering all the elements in front of your camera as part of the photograph seldom bothers the contemporary photographer.
Why worry... simply clean it up in Photoshop. It was not always so simple.
Let's take a short look at how pictures were made just a few years ago. At that time more thought may have been given to the subject before the clicking of the shutter because of the work and cost it took to make the shot. This did not generally result in great pictures by the droves but it certainly cut out the number of pictures that we seem to need today to record an event.
It is to the credit of the world of fine art photography that emerged out of the early technical stage of the simple mechanical making of a picture, to that of a product of inspiration. Photography produced some outstanding works in the early days and the tradition continues even through modifications, to our contemporary times.
Perhaps by dint of the cumbersome larger cameras and formats of the earlier part of the 1900's, there was developed the notion or "school" of the taking of pictures called "previsualization". This term is largely attributed to Ansell Adams, perhaps our premier photographer of aesthetics.
What this was about was that one did a great deal of study of whatever they were going to take a picture of and then had absolutely in mind what the outcome would be before they even clicked the shutter. After that, corrections were made in the darkroom printing to make sure that the desired results were obtained.
Now can you think of anything so totally opposite as to how photography is done today?
A friend of mine all but wore out a Nikon body by taking some 36,000 shots in a year. None of which, I suspect, got a serious viewing. Yet in this friend's consideration, they were a photographer.
Adams visual process, that of previsualization, was somewhat tied to his large camera. You will recall that while the large camera was slowing down, the hand held fast shot, high quality small camera was on the rise. Film speed and fast shutters, things not generally considered today, brought about a different approach to photography that was the, "Bresson, The Decisive Moment."
This process had to do with the observant mind, the quick eye and the fast hand. It had everything to do with the ability to capture an image at the precise moment. As a rule, there was only one chance to take that shot. It was the decisive moment. You did not have time to cock your shutter and shoot again.
Also one had to have a natural or trained feel for composition. Without the composition, the photo became no more than a mechanical recording of an event. You may be able to build some sort of composition in Photoshop but nothing really beats nailing it in the original shot.
Now later, at least in the art world and this is where it becomes interesting, there grew up this term called, "post visualization". What is intriguing about this is that it came up in the later mid 1900's. The idea here was that you shot many images (negatives) and then went into the dark room and discovered what was best and then manipulated that image into a different form.
What went on here was a complex mixture of double exposures, using multiple images in one photo and generally building a finished photograph out of a collection of images.
Hey, does this sound real contemporary; the idea that one could mess with the photographic image and still call it art? This art form of 50 years ago is now being done by Photoshop. Even though the technical process has been greatly enhanced, it still takes a good eye and talent to produce an exceptional photograph.
Some call it art.
Wade Swicord spent some fifteen years as an architectural photographer. He stopped looking at buildings and started building them and now lives in Chattanooga, TN. Having spent countless hours behind the camera and in the darkroom, his suggestions and sometimes critical views come from experience.
For some very excellent free instruction on how to use Photoshop, do click on http://photoexpertshop.com/ You can always contact me at photoexpertshop@gmail.com This has four top rated instructional videos which you will enjoy.
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