Is technology killing photography?
Warning – you might not like what I have to say.
In this short video, I’ll share my perspective on it and why I believe many view technology as a challenge. I’ll discuss our past, our future, and what I believe is truly unfolding. I’ll also touch on the kind of person I believe will dominate the future of wildlife photography, and it might not be what you expect. I’m eager to hear your thoughts – I think 🙂
PS – If you enjoyed this post, I think you’ll REALLY like my e-books and video workshops! Thousands of pages and hours of videos filled with tips, tricks, and techniques – all my best content! Check ’em out – click here (hey, it’s free to look).
Hi Steve,
Been a while , been in hospital since 3 September , hope I can get back to wildlife photography, told wife that due to my long surgery (10 hours +7 later),
I now really need a 600 f4 TC to get close to my subjects
Yes, I got sidetracked 🙂
The answer is easy, getting back to the “old days”, just buy a 4X5 and get 10 images developed, and the reality will sink in !
…………….. Gary
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Fully agreed! Every technology leap in photography caused the same discussions and complaints. Finally no one wants to skip back, well, almost no one. New, or newly acquired, technology helped me to focus on the picture I want to take since the 1970ies. Started with black & white on 120 film with a fully manual range finder camera and own darkroom at that time, the first huge step was a SLR with MC lenses. Wow, I see what I compose right away, sharpness, depth of field, I can measure the light, I even can change the angle of view by… Read more »
Great video. I hope you are going to make one of your super detailed lens reviews. I am very interested in the 300 F2.8 with x2.0 vs 200-600.
Spot on.
There is art in photography and if advances in photo technology make it easier to achieve an artistic image then so be it. As an 84 year old senior (retired) I wish digital had come along much sooner. In the “early” days photographing weddings involved 12 exposure rolls and #5 flashbulbs shorting out and firing in your hand at seveal thousnad degrees, a real fun time. Great photographers (Ernst Haas, Ansel Adams, Eugene Smith, et al) all created memorable, artistic images. An artistic photographer of our time just has an easier go at producing fine images but that doesn’t negate… Read more »
You said I might not like what you have to say. I didn’t, I LOVED it. This philosophy goes way beyond photography.
Agree in part. AI may very well kill off the business of mediocre photographers . By mediocre photographers I mean those who don’t realize that perfect execution of a bad or boring idea is still a bad photograph. AI can only regurgitate what it has been fed therefore any new advances in seeing into the behavior of animals will come from knowledgeable photographers with vision, passion and ingenuity. I believe this to be true in any discipline or genre. The pros will be separated from the joes. Camera technology will increasingly allow good and great thinkers to capture their thoughts.… Read more »
Bravo Steve! You’re right on so many points here. The technology is not going away and the key is to learn to use the tech to allow us to make photos that please us, without the necessity to spend too much time to get the technical aspects of a particular shot right. I remember reading a story about how Eliot Porter made a shot of a Black Skimmer doing its “thing” across the water. If I remember right, he had to pre-focus on a spot in the lake he hoped the bird would pass and then hope it would. The… Read more »
I started in photography in 1963 and am an old guy who appreciates artistic skill in creating the image. My issues with todays “photographers” is that many are artists (using PS, LR, etc) but not necessarily photographers but all photographers are artists if they create keepers as you say. If you have to use an enhancement program to add/substract to ALL your images , then I believe you are an artist, but not a photographer. Great photographers see the artistic image when they create it. Yes, they do enhance the image, but not to the point of adding the moon,… Read more »
The artists ‘tools’ used by the photographers for ‘editing’ change too. There is no limit. Beauty is in the eye and slightly behind it.
I think you are spot on! People need to better embrace change and figure out how best to incorporate it into their life