camera compared to musical instruments

[jp]

I was in a pretty lucid mood last night before I spilled the beans on Jim Galli and Reinhold. I was thinking, a camera really is a pretty simple thing. I have training in piano, but have no creative gift in that instrument. I was sitting back relaxing in my living room watching random music videos on youtube via chromecast. Random talented amateurs on piano or hammond organ.

Here I am with a camera, years of learning and practice. It has 4 things I can adjustment. Shutter speed, aperture, lens choice, focus. That's it, and it's captured. A piano has 88 keys and 2-3 pedals. An organ I've lost track of how many keys, pedals, knobs, sliders, etc... An electric guitar has some strings and several knobs and is thus more complicated than a camera. We don't have to have rhythm, we don't have to time things by hand unless we use a packard shutter. Yet photography is still quite a challenge.

[Vaughn]

Of course, the camera is just the beginning of the process. And taking the musical note a little farther; as opposed to 'just' playing an instrument, photographers also have to write the music, play it and handle the lights and sound. :)

[BrianShaw]

... It has 4 things I can adjustment. Shutter speed, aperture, lens choice, focus. That's it, and it's captured. ...

Sorry to say this, but no... that's not it. The additional "adjustments" are the choice of imagery you framed in the viewfinder/GG and the timing of your exposure (AKA "capture"). These two might be even more important than some of the aforementioned. This is what make photography so challenging!

[Tin Can]

I woke up to this online news story and thought how well film compares to vinyl records. Vinyl records are making a comeback. I shot a double vinyl 33 inside cover last year.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140221/rogers-park/audio-archaeology-feature-vinyl-vintage-electronics-on-devon

[Bob Salomon]

But you are posting this in a large format forum. What happened to front and rear tilt? Front and rear swing? Front and rear rise? front and rear drop?

[gleaf]

I see the comparison only if the piano only played properly with the proper orientation of only one seasonal sun light angle and atmospheric conditions which happen perhaps once every three or four years.

[jp]

Or the other extreme is painting or drawing where there are basically nothing to adjust.

My main LF camera only has front rise and I don't use it much. My main MF camera doesn't have interchangable lenses, so there are only three adjustments.

[C. D. Keth]

Or the other extreme is painting or drawing where there are basically nothing to adjust.

My main LF camera only has front rise and I don't use it much. My main MF camera doesn't have interchangable lenses, so there are only three adjustments.

Have you ever painted or drawn? There's as much variety in those media as in photography or music. The medium of painting hasn't thrived for 30,000 years on the strength of "basically nothing to adjust."

[Nathan Potter]

Going back further than just the instruments, there is an interpretation of previous work in both cases. The photographer is faced with a scene already existing while the musician is faced with notes on a sheet. Each are faced with deciphering previous work and do not have the advantage of starting from scratch as in other art forms.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Bill_1856]

The world is full of bad musicians and mediocre photographers, but in the end the only thing that matters is if it gives them pleasure.

[Merg Ross]

The world is full of bad musicians and mediocre photographers, but in the end the only thing that matters is if it gives them pleasure.

Exactly! Pleasure has been my motivation for the past sixty years as a photographer. Thank you Wilhelm, well said.

[tgtaylor]

Having experience with both I'll state that the successful rendition of a musical composition come primarily from the heart with the technical proficiency a very close second. A successful photographic image also comes primarily from the heart with the technical proficiency a very close second. They are both equivalents in my opinion.

Thomas

[John Kasaian]

No Beauty in the equation?
Even a beginning student can probably hit at least one solid note beautifully.
Even a beginning photographer can see, if maybe not quite capture beauty.
That's probably how we become enthusiastic about things like music and photography.
I think there should be mention of beauty. Just sayin'.

[C. D. Keth]

In both pursuits, technical achievement is overemphasized and used as an excuse by amateurs.

[Darin Boville]

In both pursuits, technical achievement is overemphasized and used as an excuse by amateurs.

Damn, Chris said it first.

--Darin

[Tin Can]

I might add, forced pursuit of technical achievement before pleasure has dissuaded many from art.





In both pursuits, technical achievement is overemphasized and used as an excuse by amateurs.

[jp]

I'm liking some of these very insightful thoughts here. Watching my daughters draw, I'm seeing things like pleasure first, then technical achievment, lack of interpretation of previous work (compared to adults) as they try new things because of their youth, and all sorts of concepts at work.

[jnantz]

wasnt it Picasso that said he was just trying to produce drawings like a child?
i dont know ..
i see photography or drawing / sculpture, music( singing or playing an instrument )
as an extension of one's self, and kind of like getting an organ transplant.
some people have a life full of hardships after getting a new organ,
and others . their body accepts the organ as if it was their own.
sometimes an instrument ( pen, piano, camera, tap shoes, frying pan and knife ) are a natural part
of the person and their use is second nature others it is a constant struggle.
maybe it is comfort, self awareness, love, joy, letting go, who knows .. some folks got it, some dont

not to say you cant be terrible at something and get joy out of it. i picked up a clarinet a few years ago after not playing one for 35 years, and i am terrible, but its still fun to sqwak on it

[John Kasaian]

wasnt it Picasso that said he was just trying to produce drawings like a child?
i dont know ..
i see photography or drawing / sculpture, music( singing or playing an instrument )
as an extension of one's self, and kind of like getting an organ transplant.
some people have a life full of hardships after getting a new organ,
and others . their body accepts the organ as if it was their own.
sometimes an instrument ( pen, piano, camera, tap shoes, frying pan and knife ) are a natural part
of the person and their use is second nature others it is a constant struggle.
maybe it is comfort, self awareness, love, joy, letting go, who knows .. some folks got it, some dont

not to say you cant be terrible at something and get joy out of it. i picked up a clarinet a few years ago after not playing one for 35 years, and i am terrible, but its still fun to sqwak on it When I play my saxophone large flights of Canadian Honkers seem to appear from out of nowhere :o

[tgtaylor]

I well remember the first time that I "played" the piano. Still in my diapers I managed to climb up onto the bench and standing and surveying all those ivory keys extending outwards on both sides. I remember raising my hands and then thrusting them down onto the keys but instead of the beautiful sounds that I expected to hear just a bunch of discordant noted swirled above my head. So I raised my hands again and this time came down more forcefully on the keys. But instead of the beautiful sounds out again came the same discordant notes swirling above my head. The heart was clearly there but the technique wasn't. Then my aunt, who was an accomplished pianists, came over and put me on her lap and with my hands on the keyboard pressed certain fingers down on certain keys. And that's how I learned to play Blue Danube Waltz.

Thomas

[bigdog]

... there is an interpretation of previous work in both cases. The photographer is faced with a scene already existing while the musician is faced with notes on a sheet. Each are faced with deciphering previous work and do not have the advantage of starting from scratch as in other art forms.

I think any jazz musician or any classical organist would disagree with this. Since I have played jazz, and just this past week attended an improvisational workshop for organists, I'm one of those. :p

On the other hand, there is a school of thought in music that no composer or performer really creates anything new, but is merely consciously or unconsciously re-cycling what they have already experienced aurally.

So, I guess the argument can go either way ...

Photography is perhaps a little more problematic, but a fashion photographer, for instance, goes to a lot of work to create, set-up and light a scene. They do a lot more than just "capture" what they accidentally find. Studio work often starts "from scratch".

And other art forms don't always start from scratch, either. While painters have the option of painting strictly from inside their head, most, in fact, do not.