Id agree with the commercial shooter,move what you have to do,rake the leaves etc.In this type of shooting,perfection is sought in each detail.I certainly woudlnt shoot an outdoor portrait with garbage or a cigarette butt in the scene.
Id agree with the commercial shooter,move what you have to do,rake the leaves etc.In this type of shooting,perfection is sought in each detail.I certainly woudlnt shoot an outdoor portrait with garbage or a cigarette butt in the scene.
In the book, "A.A. at 100," the letters "LP" are clearly visible on the print of Lone Pine with Horsey. All the prints I've seen in the past had them retouched out.
Wilhelm (Sarasota)
f you are a journalist photographer, it would probably be considered a sin to do so.
Quite right. But you can always crop or move or choose a different lens.
If you are shooting documentary, would you move things?
Maybe. But you can always crop or move or choose a different lens.
If it's art photogaphy, where's the line again. If you are shooting a landscape and some pesky branches blocks your camera, would you shift them aside or chop them off?
I might tie it a branch up or move something if I cannot find a way to incorporate it into my vision out of the way but I'd never ever lop off a branch Old timers like Adams or Watkins might have done this in their day, but supposedly we are intelligent animals who learn from our past collective mistakes and are now more sophisticated in our understanding of the effects of our actions on the environment and in not thinking we are like gods. But you can almost always move your camera,choose a different lens or of seeing, or crop afterwards because no one should ever think the framing imposed by a film format is sacrosanct.
<I>Would you remove a cigerette butt from an otherwise perfect close-up of some fallen leaves on the ground?Absolutely and I'd curse those who think the world is their ashtray. I have no trouble with people who smoke, just with those who impose the nastier parts of their habits on me.
Walker Evans cropped like crazy. He was first and foremost a graphic designer
It seems to me that you are spending way too much energy trying to find excuses; you will figure these things out as you actually do the work.
I have seen the statement "photography is 90% moving furniture" attributed to several of our better known photograpers. I certainly don't have problems with moving a branch, a beer can or a cigarette butt. At times, I wish I could use a chain saw. Beer cans, dead or live branches, cigarette butts, etc. are not a permanent part of the scene before you, and just represent the scene in transition. Leave them in if you like ugly stuff.
Aaron, I got Steve Anchell's brochure for his 2002 Anchell Photography Workshops in the mail. I opened it up and smack at the very top was a picture of a stream coursing through a pristine forest in glorious black and white. The lighting was exceptional and rendered the forest scene with an almost painterly quality. Your question got me thinking of that photograph because right in the middle of it(the photo) is one of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen wearing nothing but a ribbon of fabric which brings me back to your question. If Mr. Anchell had asked this lass to move her celestial being out of his shot so as not to interefere with the intimate landscape, would this create an "issue" concerning the honesty of the image? Good Luck!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
</i> Turning off italics.
Aaron, mea culpa! A lame attempt at humor! (I'll probably figure out how to get the itallics to go away about the same time I can figure out how to indent for new paragraphs, please bear with me here) Your question about moving things around has had me thinking all morning. Some kinds of photography are inherently more contrived(In my opinion) Illustrations of products---more noodles than usual in the soup--cars that are swoopy-ier than in real life--a model's legs that go from here to there and back again(can't get Anchell's brochure off my mind, either)--that sort of stuff. The capabilities of the view camera to distort or alter perspective is a valuable tool(an antique version of photoshop?) and there is probably not much difference between the optical "dressing" of a scene and "dressing" a scene by physically setting up what you're shooting. But I agree there is something very disturbing about monkeying around with what the photographer is trying to represent as being true. I know that taking a three dimensional landscape and putting it on a flat piece of paper in colors that are pretty close to how you remember them or how whoever is doing the printing thinks they should be,or B&W, is not realistic, yet some photography, I feel, has an obligation to be true to what is "real." The problem may be that the person viewing the photo really dosen't know what to accept as true. If it weren't for the long history of "trick" photography one would expect this to be the spawn of the "digital devil" but it has been with us through pretty much the entire history of photography. One the other hand, I don't see things geting any better.I doubt if anyone wants an x-ray of a tumor, though it is at best an image of a tumor, seen as being a Tech's "artistic vision" of a tumor. Nor is the finish line photo of a horse race an 'artistic" creation of the track photographer. Is a landscape that is photographed with the intent of providing the truest vision of the photographer all that much different? While each is subject to a variety of different stimuli and prejudice when deciding what and how to shoot "Moonrise in a clearing storm over Mt. Bullwinkle" The viewer more often than not has a childlike trust that THIS is what it looked like, and it IS glorious and beautiful and spiritual. I think this is why Chris Burkett goes out of his way to make it known that his cibachromes are not digitalized. This does give a detective with photoshop way too much ammunition when he(or she) says "...I've got pictures to proove it" In a recent book on fake photography by a former CIA bigwig, I forget the title and author, he commented that NASA has long held the leading technology available for photo manipulation for the simple reason that it was required to illustrate difficult concepts to inform a wide variety of people of different educations and backgrounds. Illustrations which couldn't be photographed because the concept would either have taken place in the future, would have been impossible to photograph because of enviornmental conditions, or would have entailed the destruction of a one of a kind piece of equiptment(certainly not a qoute,as I'm working from memory here, but you get the idea)The result of all this is that NASA can get a wide crossection of the population to understand a concept they're trying to sell congress. The downside is that when somewbody yells "Hey, those lunar landing photos are fakes!" People take notice(fear not,I'm not going down that trail here!) Whether looking at photos with a suspiscious eye is a good thing(or not) is certainly up for arguement, but I feel it takes away from what I personally am trying to accomplish with landscapes. Would I pick up someone else's trash? Of course(and I hope not just because its mucking up my shot) But if I were illustrating an article on how some hikers are slobs, I'd take the shot first. If I were illustrating the same article but there was no trash in my neck of the woods, would I stage it? No! I'd hunt around for a "true" cigarette butt/coke can/twinkie wrapper etc...If I came across a forest nyph sunning herself in the middle of my masterpiece "Moonrise in a clearing storm over Mt. Bullwinkle" would I tell her to get out of the way? Well, I...uh...uh...geez!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
"The true object of art is not truth, but persuasion."
--chinese fortune cookie after lunch last week
I never thought of moving things like cigarette butts and beer cans as really moving anything. Of course, I have done that kind of thing as needed--also probably moved a twig or two when I needed to. What I took Aaron's question to mean was moving things so as to more seriously change what was in front of you.
Thanks for all your response. Pascal, your reply helped me confirm which side of the fence I'm on. It clears things up a lot better and paths a new direction for my next photograph. I learn again. Thanks.
Aaron
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