Nikon Forum Members = Average Photographers

Gjesdal

I once read that 75% of all men thought they were above average drivers. :-)

What I like about PAD is that there are a lot photographers that shoot stuff I hardly every do, and I probably enjoy looking at such work more than I do looking at photographers that do similar work that I do, as then I will either analyze the photos and try to suck out inspiration from them... or dismiss them as not good in my mind.
I don't think my portraits will get much better by looking at BIF, but who knows where inspiration can come from? I do enjoy looking at the works of others.

kenadams

Can you imagine Steve McCurry reading through all ten zillion pages of the D400 thread and then posting something to the end? I guess that most great photographers are too busy going out there to shoot, and they can take awe inspiring pictures with a throwaway snap cam, so they wouldn't have to anxiously wait for the latest and greatest to up their game. Footsoldiers like myself, we need every inch of leeway the camera can give us, so much so that we completely forget or disregard the basics.

So in the process of getting artsy without any idea of how to do that, some of us may go over the top. That's why I'd recommend getting to know arts better in general. Resources like The Art of Photography deal with the artistical aspects and dive into the rich history of taking pictures (or paintings) and not with how good ISO 3200 is on the D-SomethingOrOther.

For sure, the advent of digitals and most of all, digital darkroom processing, has seriously changed the game. The bar is so much higher now.

WestEndFoto

I certainly think that the more time you spend thinking about gear, the less time you spend thinking about what really matters. That said, I do find the gear interesting and I suppose that feeds my technical skillset which helps me. It is probably a good thing in moderation. However, there are times I want to say, "You think you are pretty hot? Let's see your portfolio."

This was one of the first images that I took with my Coolpix A, which I bought to sate my appetite while I was deciding between a D4 and D800. It is nothing special and not even noteworthy for you guys, but it means something to me:



And then another picture with my Coolpix A that I think is actually very good. Turns out the Coolpix A is a good little camera:



And probably my favorite picture taken with the Coolpix A:



When I finally chose a D800, I mostly took snapshots. This was the first shot that I did something non-conventional that I was really happy with:



And this is the shot that convinced my wife that I had talent and that maybe I was not wasting large sums of money after all:



And this is probably my favorite personally. It took some skill, as I needed a reflector to get the light right:

Vipmediastar_JZ

I started out as a hobby in high school and worked myself up reading magazines. Before I joined NRF I felt I was Average but I wanted to improve more so I started reading photography blogs. After I joined I started to improve with the technical information, understanding flash duration, difraction, focus plane. These simple things the magazine or blogs hardly every mention and not mention CA.

I joined June 2013. I think from there my own cirtique from Average was actually below average and now I feel that I'm at average working myself to be a Master Photographer (look at my signature). Well that is my goal to retire into photography full time with architecture + fashion and documentary (candids) as my stronghold and everything else for fun if there ever is time for fun after that.

I have learned from everybody in the technical and artistic area.
I believe some of you have mentioned my progress on flickr and that critique means alot since it is paying off spending some time here and looking at was is beign done and what is not beign done.

tcole1983

I think it also depends on what you consider the average photographer. Although I don't advertise my work and rarely do paid gigs I frequently get friends and relatives telling me how good they think my pictures are. Do I think I am a pro or the best...nope. Do I think I can do some things pretty well...yeah. I can take some pretty good candid portraits, but posed and family pictures are painful for me. I like animal and landscapes, but I am kind of in the middle there...some turn out great and others not so much. I can be pretty artistic, but sometimes I just have to find the inspiration. I am low on the technical skills of what a "proper" photo should have or look like. I just take pictures and make them look like how I want.

So if average people are the people around me that I know or people around when I am out taking pictures I would say I am above average. If you are comparing me to people getting paid most of the time...then I am not sure I compete there and would be average or below average in that aspect.

manhattanboy

Of course our primary goal is just to have fun....IMO

This is my take as well. I frankly don't care if all my photos are sh!t, I like the process and learning as its fun.
The other thing that taking photos does is make you look for something of value in all the ugliness that exists in the world.

Ironheart

The true masters of the art of photography, don't do it for money or fame, or even a hint recognition. They do it because they have a burning desire to reproduce the light that hits their eyes and soaks into their brain. Its a calling, and they couldn't stop it even if they tried.
I have but a small measure of this, when I catch a moment of how the light plays through the clouds, or a series of windows, or off a person's face, so I can only imagine what it must be like for them.

MaxBerlin

As Brian once said "You're all individuals" (except for that one guy)

I think a lot of people don't post their best online as they've realized over time it's a little unrewarding.

1000 'likes' or criticisms don't really change what pleases oneself. I take and process photos so that they please me.

Cornelius Lindsey - "If you live off a man's compliments, you'll die from his criticism"

donaldejose

WestEndPhoto: Good examples.

WestEndFoto

I have had a few photos explored on Flickr and while they are generally photos that I am happy about, they are not my favorites or even the most worthy in my view.

While I do acknowledge that I have received valuable feedback from Nikon Rumours and Flickr and learned a lot on both, the minute I start measuring myself against the views of others is the beginning of the slippery slope to me leaving the hobby.

There is a very fine line here that one must be mindful of. I often think that it would be difficult for a professional photographer to be a true artist as they are in the pay of others. Yet many of the great artists in history did exactly that.

Hmmmm......

Ironheart

Those who support artists are referred to as Patrons, and they are usually wealthy. Two different Popes "patronized" Michelangelo while he was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Albert Bender was an early patron of Ansel Adams, before Ansel went into what he called "nuts and bolts" photography for 40 years. Today artists usually have to have some sort of paying gig to support the artistic endeavors.

sevencrossing

One thing that dissuades me from posting landscapes on Photo-a-Day
is the 640 pixels on the longest side limit
640 mp panos lose their impact
If I post a dropbox linke to a larger image, the forum software automatically re sizes it, clicking on it will reveal a full size image
none the less the image will be deleted
any reason for this ?

spraynpray

Many people post links to larger images. We don't have any problem with that. Are you saying that Dropbox is treated differently to Flickr?

Ironheart

Make the image itself a link to a full size image on flickr or wherever you host. Think of PAD as a thumbnail.
You wrap the <img> tag in an <a> </a>link tag. Click on the "simple html" link that is below every edit window ;-)

<a href="https://www.yoursite.com/fullsizephoto.jpg " >
<img src="https://www.yoursite.com/fullsizephoto.jpg " width=640 >
</a>

Ironheart

Here, I've done it for you. If you "quote" this message you can see how I did it.




Beautiful image BTW :-) I hope you don't mind me using your last PAD as an example

spraynpray

Nice one Ironheart, thanks.

Vipmediastar_JZ

I went over to Blair Buntin site to see whats new. He mentions that if you are photographer your hobby shoun't be photography.
I went fishing for a couple of days to get in the mood of photography again mostly because of the projects, work and life.

The true masters of the art of photography, don't do it for money or fame, or even a hint recognition. They do it because they have a burning desire to reproduce the light that hits their eyes and soaks into their brain.

I just got back from photographing street scenes. Mostly candids of the people on their way to and coming from a festival. It feels so good to photograph people and anything that it relaxes and makes me forget about my troubles.

It would be nice to get a patron. Do we call this sponsorships?

WestEndFoto

Here, I've done it for you. If you "quote" this message you can see how I did it.




Beautiful image BTW :-) I hope you don't mind me using your last PAD as an example

Spectacular. Five stars.

paulr

I think to quantify and type cast any Photographer is subjective.

If you understand Lighting {all forms}
Composition
Your camera
And if working with people, Good communication skills

I don't think you should consider your self "Average".

JonMcGuffin

@Ironheart - Is it just me or are those links broken? I can't see an image in there.

It's funny, just as I create this post and I look in the Photo-A-Day thread, the last 3-4 images in there are certainly well above average.

The more I look, average isn't the right term anyway. What is average?

I love what I'm reading here in this thread, mostly humble attitudes and for me, it honestly makes the pictures look better when viewing with that in mind. Kind of like the car driving better when you get it all fresh and clean.

I really appreciate all the people here pouring their hearts into their photography regardless of how those images are judged. Thank you everybody for sharing...

Msmoto

I am not certain what this is about, but here is a link to an image that is about looking into one's eyes...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fantinesfotos/16258385372/sizes/o/

And for me, this is what I like to do, capture the person through their eyes.

Ironheart

@Ironheart - Is it just me or are those links broken? I can't see an image in there.

Well, the link is just @seven's URL reposted. I will point out that using the img tag with the src= pointed to a full size image, which is all I have to work with here, will cause his full image to be pulled into your browser and then the width= option will shrink it to fit. His image is 13452 × 5368 pixels and 7.1MB, so the first time it you load this page it will take a while to render, depending on your Internet connection and computer speed. I'm currently at work with a 1Gbps Internet link and 3.1Ghz dual core i7 mac, I don't notice it ;-)
When you cut and paste the HTML code from flickr, it automatically points the src= to a smaller version of the file which loads quicker and renders faster.

donaldejose

Average always exists in any group of people because half of that group are in the upper half and half of that group are in the lower half. A better term is probably "outstanding" as in How many "outstanding" photos are there on PAD? I would say perhaps 10% of those posted? As I understand it a professional photographer obtains about 10% keepers out of all the images he shoots during any one shoot. By that metric we aren't doing so bad. And as Msmoto pointed out most of us are here to learn about new things, ask advice on some things, and enjoy photography. We aren't here to post only outstanding photos. I don't need to know which is the sharpest 85mm lens to produce an outstanding portrait but I surely do want to know that information.

kanuck

See that? I like quite a few of these images

sevencrossing

As I understand it a professional photographer obtains about 10% keepers out of all the images he shoots during any one shoot.

Yes. On AVERAGE
but like "best". "average" is a meaningless term

Very few photographers are average
49% will be above average 49% below

As to keepers , it will depend on the subject, it can be below 1%
If the client only wants one brilliant shot for his home page. The percentage of keepers does not matter, as long as you get that one brilliant shot