Digital Photography

I have been on a quest to learn photography for quite some time. That has been a blessing, but it has also been a curse. I have gotten sidetracked with the technical side of photography rather than the creative side.

That’s why I came to these couple of questions. Is photography art? And does simply owning a nice camera, like a digital SLR, make an individual a photographer?

I must admit that I have been thinking about these things with regard to my own work quite a bit lately I do own a digital SLR camera. It’s a Canon 30D. There is rarely a day that passes without my camera being used. So, taking pictures is not the trouble, but I still have difficulty declaring myself as a photographer.

The reason I have such a problem is because of the work of others. I spend far too much time viewing the online images of photographers who I consider as extremely talented in the area of photography, and, quite honestly, I regard my pictures pretty rotten after viewing theirs. But then, a friend sees my images and is amazed at how good they are. My problem, I guess, is personal expectation.

My desire is to capture images that can stand up to the likes of Jeff Wignall or Scott Kelby, two of my favorite photographers and teachers. Those guys make my pictures look second rate.

I’m pretty critical about my own work in photography. But some times, I tend to be even more critical of those who imagine themselves photographers who know zero about the technical part of picture taking. How can someone call himself a photographer when he has no idea about the difference between an aperture from an exposure setting?

But now, after some soul searching, I see that I am being somewhat cynical. After all, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right? Sadly, I invest too much time on the technical data and sharpness of the image than on the artistic or emotional value.

An image becomes art when it can inspire or draw out the emotion of a viewer.

A person’s ability to manipulate the camera settings, while important, is not art. Additionally, if the camera menu is never touched, what is wrong with that? A more important issue is the impact those pictures are making on the intended audience.

Something else to keep in mind is that not everyone is trying to have their photos published by Better Homes and Gardens . They take pictures in order to save a memory, and in that sense, they are photographers and artists.

So, as I end my muse about photography and art, let me urge you to continue to shoot those pictures. Don’t be afraid to let your imagination lead you into your next shot. Maybe it will bring a smile to a friend’s face, or it may end up in National Geographic in spite of us Pixel Peepers.