Photography Quotations

[Steve Gledhill]

I saw two quotations in a letter in my newspaper today - both of which I liked and both of which reflect something of my approach to taking pictures with my LF camera.

Bill Brandt - "See the subject first. Do not try to force it to be a picture. Stand apart from it; then something will happen. The subject will reveal itself."
Minor White - "Be still until the object of your attention affirms its presence."

Has anyone got a favourite photography quotations or two to share?

[William McEwen]

I saw two quotations in a letter in my newspaper today - both of which I liked and both of which reflect something of my approach to taking pictures with my LF camera.

Bill Brandt - "See the subject first. Do not try to force it to be a picture. Stand apart from it; then something will happen. The subject will reveal itself."
Minor White - "Be still until the object of your attention affirms its presence."

Has anyone got a favourite photography quotations or two to share?

"The bigger the camera, the stiller you have to be."
-- My daughter Erin when she was very young.

[William McEwen]

I saw two quotations in a letter in my newspaper today - both of which I liked and both of which reflect something of my approach to taking pictures with my LF camera.

Bill Brandt - "See the subject first. Do not try to force it to be a picture. Stand apart from it; then something will happen. The subject will reveal itself."
Minor White - "Be still until the object of your attention affirms its presence."

Has anyone got a favourite photography quotations or two to share?

Ralph Steiner: "Be intensely yourself."

[Greg Miller]

I saw two quotations in a letter in my newspaper today - both of which I liked and both of which reflect something of my approach to taking pictures with my LF camera.

Bill Brandt - "See the subject first. Do not try to force it to be a picture. Stand apart from it; then something will happen. The subject will reveal itself."
Minor White - "Be still until the object of your attention affirms its presence."

Has anyone got a favourite photography quotations or two to share?

Interesting - that is actually a bit counter to my own personal approach: "First see the light, then find your subject". I always find it fascinating to learn about other peoples' processes.

[Bryan Lemasters]

Interesting - that is actually a bit counter to my own personal approach: "First see the light, then find your subject". I always find it fascinating to learn about other peoples' processes.

Greg,

While I understand your point, I find that light is far too frequently a fleeting thing to leave subject identification and composition to the last moment, especially when considering the setup time for large format. Quickly changing light and weather conditions can make it especially necessary to find your subject first and then anticipate the light.

BTW, I just took a look at your website. Fantastic images! I am a sucker for panoramics.

Bryan

[Phil O.]

I ran across a quote recently that reminded me of Ansel Adams' practice of pre-visualizing an image when photographing:

"It is a terible thing to see and have no vision."
- Helen Keller

[Steve Gledhill]

"The bigger the camera, the stiller you have to be."
-- My daughter Erin when she was very young.

Soooo true. Why do kids get all the best lines?

[Mike1234]

"Find the subject and wait for the light."

[Bill_1856]

"There's nothing worth photographing more than 50 yards from a road," Brett Weston (paraphrased).
(Variously attributed to both Brett and Edward.)

[Greg Miller]

Greg,

While I understand your point, I find that light is far too frequently a fleeting thing to leave subject identification and composition to the last moment, especially when considering the setup time for large format. Quickly changing light and weather conditions can make it especially necessary to find your subject first and then anticipate the light.

BTW, I just took a look at your website. Fantastic images! I am a sucker for panoramics.

Bryan

Thanks Bryan,

I generally do go out with a specific subject in mind. But I would say only about 10% of my keepers end up being the subject that I anticipated. While I understand that light is often fleeting, I also feel that in most cases it is also fairly predictable. And landscapes generally are not that hard to set up. So when I get to my location, more often than not, I see what the light is doing and then find my shot.

I do have images where I had a specific subject and specific light in mind and visited repeatedly (12+ times) until I got that, but that is not the norm for me.

But that is just me and I understand and respect that we all have our own processes that work for us.

After derailing the OP, I guess I should offer up a (paraphrased) quote (I forgot the author): "A mediocre subject in great light generally makes a much more compelling photo than a great subject in mediocre light".