[ennuipoet]

You guys… *shakes head*

We’re like herding cats aren’t we? 🙄

[ennuipoet]

Maybe I just read too much into it because I really, really don’t like pretentious photos. Ennui, those photos you posted aren’t what I’m considering in that category. If those photos are Duss style, then perhaps I need to investigate more into what I’m talking about – I was thinking more about the hipster photo of a lone chair in the middle of the field with lots of contrast and ta-da, calling it high art.

/Not allowing myself to read too many photography journals until I get these chemistry books finished =P Oh, but there IS going to be a lecture soon in my school based on the chemistry behind film exposures, so I’m definitely going to that!

They are definitely in the school, but of the same austere, un-peopled feel of the Duss school. A lot of urban photography is influenced by the idea that stark, dramatically lit and devoid of people is what urban photography is supposed to be. Or at least is most of what I see on or about NYC. The Hipster Lone Chair is very much the vein:

http://freeversephotography.com/freeversephotoblog/?p=1389

See! I am as far from a Hipster as you can get, but if you see a lot of shots in the style all the time you start shooting some yourself. 😆 There is nothing wrong with the style or Duss School shots, I just think people are shown examples of something and they start thinking “that’s how it is supposed to be”.

[ennuipoet]

If I am reading it correctly (the article was poorly edited at best) the article was a diatribe against the Duss School aesthetic and drive for commercial success being interpreted by the contemporary amateur photog as nothing photo of nothing.

I have to admit how much this School has influenced photography in general and many of us emulate it (not always successfully, particularly in my case):

http://freeversephotography.com/freeversephotoblog/?p=2729
http://freeversephotography.com/freeversephotoblog/?p=3046
http://freeversephotography.com/freeversephotoblog/?p=1774

And sometimes I get it close

http://freeversephotography.com/freeversephotoblog/?p=1967

This article is more descriptive of the School and less critical:

http://we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2008/12/-dusseldorf-school-of-photogra.php

Do I see a lot of work out there about content and deprived of emotion, sure. Do I think the Duss School is over rated, yup. Do I think it killed modern commercial photography? Sorry, no. Modern commercial photography is trying to find it’s way back from a near death experience. I don’t think it will die, it may end up in a Los Angeles Church meeting with it’s friends from the plane crash…no matter what you can’t blame a photographic aesthetic for what happens.

[ennuipoet]

My most memorable Thanksgiving was actually at bootcamp. We were supposed to have been part of an “adopt-a-sailor” thing, but the guy that had drawn us slept in. So we got on-base liberty instead and went to the arcade. I had two microwave burritos. They were excellent. It might not have been the best Thanksgiving dinner, but certainly one I’ll never forget.

Not Thanksgiving but Christmas, in Basic, first time away from home ever really, second worst Christmas ever. We had the day off but we had only been there a week so all we could do was make phones calls home. The worst was guarding Cuban refugees in Panama sleeping on a cot in a gravel floor tent eating MRE’s while the refugees had turkey dinners. Which they did not like.

Oh, I don’t miss the military.

[ennuipoet]

OK, I am going to take the bull by the horns here and just post my three entries for next week, and submit them as an up or down are they in theme.

1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ennuipoet/6365693787/in/photostream

2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ennuipoet/6365689239/in/photostream

3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ennuipoet/6365680823/in/photostream

I am pretty confident in 1 and 2 but 3 may be outside of the idea of the theme. These may not be the final arrangement before the thread goes live, I will most likely re-shop them. If they are out I want some time to go and shoot replacements.

[ennuipoet]

I’m kinda confused too. Bus stations, subways, etc., are cool or no?

Again, not my theme, but I think public transportation is definitely part of City Hall. A Greyhound Terminal not so much, but a Subway station or Metrobus Shelter, I don’t see why not.

[ennuipoet]

Once you’ve got some decent gear, learned the technical, grasped some basic compositional skills and built up your confidence this kind of photography comes down to right place and time. Taking nothing away from these amazing photographers, but being where they were when they were makes all the difference.

I can’t tell if this is tongue-in-cheek or not.

Neither can I, my morning coffee had not fully kicked in. I think what I was trying to say was you can’t get these kinds of shots unless you go out and look for them. Or maybe I was trying to say anyone can get lucky but turning out this level of shot consistently is the mark of true skill.

I am having a weird day.

[ennuipoet]

I’ve only been with this community a short while, but I gotta say the amount of kowtowing in here’s astounding.

These are awesome shots, but a number of us can and have done stuff as good as many of them. One advantage some of these people had was opportunity: the Dubai shot was definitely in part right time tight place, and a number of the exotic locations are just that. If we were there, many of y’all would take similarly excellent images. When I saw the 2 monkey shots, I noticed that they were both black and white, and that ennuipoet‘s gorilla image was just as good. I don’t know how many of you have underwater rigs/gear, but if you did, I’d certainly expect shots as good as the ones they’ve got here.

Give yourselves more credit. These are great pics, but you guys do great work, too. Similarly great work.

Once you’ve got some decent gear, learned the technical, grasped some basic compositional skills and built up your confidence this kind of photography comes down to right place and time. Taking nothing away from these amazing photographers, but being where they were when they were makes all the difference.

And that gorilla shot was damn amazing wasn’t it 😛

[ennuipoet]

I simply cannot get my perspectives right, nothing is level, way to much distortion (everything is leaning in!)

You just need a view camera! 😉

I kept thinking to myself: “With a good tilt shift lens I could…” which is counter productive because that just isn’t happening any time soon! 🙄

[ennuipoet]

Trust me, this ain’t due to me having some sort of winning photo. My entries are ok, but not great. Looking forward to seeing how y’all accomplish this.

The one thing I’ve learned is how badly I suck at shooting architecture. I simply cannot get my perspectives right, nothing is level, way to much distortion (everything is leaning in!) and even though I live in a City with all these architectural marvels, I can’t get excited about shooting them.

I finished my entries yesterday but I am lukewarm on them, at best. This being Fark, I will hate my entries and they will do great in the voting. (Anyone else notice that phenomenon?)

[ennuipoet]

Do bridges or airports count as government buildings?

I wouldn’t consider a bridge a “building” because people don’t live or work “in” but travel “on” it. An airport that is operated under a state or local agency like the Port Authority here in NYC/NJ, would definitely fall in the category.

Of course, that’s just, like, my opinion man.

[ennuipoet]

I always want to point out to officious officials that were I terrorist I would almost certainly being using a smaller, less obvious camera than my DSLR for my photo recon. I would be simply pull out a P&S with a decent optical zoom and use the LCD on the back to line up my target. While security is over hassling the legit photog with his DSLR and big white zoom lens I have taken dozens of shots and seen the security response all while sipping tea and playing with something that looks like an iphone.

I suppose I could be a terrorist who really cares about chromatic aberration and proper color capture.

[ennuipoet]

K Street lobbying firms probably don’t count as government buildings do they?

Why not, they own the government.

[ennuipoet]

I understand, it’s the art market and Gursky is one hell of a photographer
(examples: http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2001/gursky/). In this particular print, however, I don’t see it. I mean I see the compositional elements at work but if anyone other than Gursky shot it, then every criticism about it’s overall lack of subject would never be questioned.

Sorry, but someone paid four million dollars for a photograph, however well composed and printed of nothing. It’s their money, they can do with it whatever they please, but I am not going to stand here and pretend I see the emperors underwear.

[ennuipoet]

Well. I, uhh….. might uhhh…. be able to work with some of that.

This response confuzzles me.

I think orionid is trying avoid a fatwa. 😯

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