Photographers Have It Back To Front
Welcome to another mentoring session with Peter. In this rant, Peter explains one of his philosophies he is very strong about – photographers getting what the most important thing in their images is completely wrong. I see and hear so many comments about how Peter’s work stands out from others, plus the question of how other photographers can achieve this in their own work, and it is as simple as making your subject the most important thing in your image. We hope this chat inspires you to flip your way of thinking around.
44 comments on “Photographers Have It Back To Front”
OMG!! Even your rants have so many lessons to be imbibed. Learnt a lot. Unlearnt even more. Thanks for this Peter.
– Avinash
I’m glad you like, more coming soon
Mr Potato has absolutly no clue, the world is full of idiots!
I think you and Gavin Seim would get along great as far as your views on things like this. I know sometimes he’ll post a picture in a group and ask for advice kind of trolling. I’ve come to realize he does this to get people to think about other things and perhaps break them out of the I must follow these rules to make a great picture.
For so long I would just beat myself up if every single picture was not tack sharp. And yes, I was part of a camera club at that time…lol. Who knows how many amazing shots I probably threw away. Sigh.
You can never say stuff like you did in this video enough. It’s so important to hear. Thanks as always for everything you share with us.
Rob
Thanks Rob if you love an image don’t zoom in
What a beautiful way to put a point across. I think the clamour for sharpness has reached such insane levels that as you rightly mentioned is so prevalent only in the photography community. Outside of it no one cares as long as it connects emotionally. The first thing I always look in the image which I create is how it connects me to the circumstances in which I shot the picture and my emotional response to it.
This subject had a great impact on me when we went over this at the London workshop. Thank you for doing what you do Peter.
Thank you Peter. The examples are very good. Thank you for this tutorial.
Your central phrase was the reference to old painters. We go to museums to see their works, buy books, – with photographers it is not different: William Klein, Peter Lindbergh, Paolo Roversi, Mark dePaolo and many, many more … mostly blurred but lots of emotion and soul.
After the workshop with you recently, I became much more thoughtful again …
Is there an enhancement of “you are oh sooooo right”. – Thanks so much.
Wow thank you so much
Well, that was unexpected and a hard listen. And an even harder lesson.
I think this one video is worth the annual subscription alone.
Its going to be hard to implement (especially for my camera club comps!) but perhaps I shoot one for them and ten for me?
Thank you.
(oh and I do have a room with my photos up)
Thanks, even better just do eleven for you and educate the camera club
Really good point and always insightful aside the great technical lightning tips 🙂
Hi Peter and thanks for helping me find this.
I know that a few years back I was one of the rule followers and glad to say that you have helped me see the light so to speak. I now find myself using vintage lenses more and more and worrying less about sharpness and the technicalities of a picture.
I almost binned a shot a few months ago because it was soft but I now see it as one of the most beautiful shots I have taken.
Your rant is confirmation that my change of mindset is taking me in the right direction.
Thanks as always for your plain and to the point explanations of everything you do and why.
I could fill my house with your pictures but aim to do it with mine.
All the best to you, Bec and your fabulous models. 🙂
Thanks so much
Always full of wisdom. You inspire me in all you present, Pete.
Always learning new lighting that I am passionate about, more and more every day.
Awesome thanks so much Sean
I found this interesting and enlightening. And yes, i have to confess. I am a zoomer 🙂
Thanks so much Nikolas, breaking the habit of zooming in only as hard as you make it 🙂
Outstanding Peter. Priceless Info. Your mindset is a breath of fresh air.
Thank you
Hi Peter
Technical perfection is so simple and easy it can just be bought with gear, software, basic technical knowledge
Artistical perfection needs a long education, a lot of feeling, inspiration and cannot be bought
Thank you so true
Peter such a wonderful, informative video. Loved this!
Thank you
Spot on. I prefer art to photo club. As I have said before, I have given up any idea of becoming rich from my photography – my race is against me, trying to get a better shot than the last. Much more fun.
Watching you and Bec (plus Bowie’s take [much as your take] on his output) over the past two years has given me the confidence to do what pleases me.
On an unrelated matter, do you have any tutorials or rants [or blog] (I am working my way through, but 🙂 ) on taking photographs at concerts. I would like to offer to take pictures with a particular band, but don’t want to look a tit. Cheers.
Thanks Richard, sorry no as I hardly shoot live shows anymore. But when I did I always tried to capture the essence of the performance and didn’t really care too much about the technical slack focusing on shutter speeds I’m more was looking at the visuals that gave me the feeling that this was the concert Val even been there.
Thanks for making us think!
I saw this video and agree. I keep the close ones.
Last night I went to a Thomas Thomas Mangelsen retrospective in San Antonio. Large prints film and digital. One caught all of us as it was so beautiful. Cedar Waxwings. As I looked closer I realized nothing was in focus. Close. It did not matter. Thanks for the reminder.
Awesome thanks so much Mark
Peter that was great, thanks for sharing this and indeed all these informative videos with us. You are an inspiration.
Thank you
Another absolutely great video! Right on the mark. Subject, emotion, story. These three are getting lost in all the tech talk. Now the push is for AI and computational “photography” So good to hear the focus on Art.
Love the point about critiques coming from those who will never buy our photography.
Thanks again!
Very refreshing rant, thank you.
Thank you
this may be the best video on Inspire! Great message! The revelation that other photogs will never be your customer, was an epiphany for me! Thank you Peter!
Thanks so much Curt, happy to have helped
What a great message. Right on point. Thank you Peter for turning the light of the conversation about good photography away from gear and pixels to what really matters. Art is about telling stories. The tools are far less important than the content.
Thanks Peter,
Love to hear stuff like this, will always welcome any thing that gives us greater awareness and makes us better photographers. This is why we are here!
Awesome
Cannot agree more with the sentiment on sharpness and gear. HOWEVER, I will say that certain cameras “feel” so good that they really do provoke you into creating good images. Focussing my Leica M4 with 1950’s collapsible 50mm Summicron, I know I won’t have laser-sharp focus – but I will have an emotive piece of art when it finally comes out of the tank!
Thanks for all your work, Peter. As the website has always been – “Inspire”-ing…
“Learn the rules like a professional, so you can break them like an artist.”
-Picasso
Brilliant. Truely inspiring.
Thank you very much for your tips in these videos. You are absolutely right. I’m someone who doesn’t care much about these camera club rules, and I also understand that it doesn’t matter what other photographers think. But as you said, photographers place more value on sharpness than on the effect of the image, and I had to admit that I also pay too much attention to whether the image is sharp when making my selection. I also have images in my portfolio that are not perfectly sharp, but in the future I will pay even more attention to ensuring that it is not a criterion if the image is not perfectly sharp.