Your Old Dog Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share #21 Â Posted August 16, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Is that not a good thing ie thinking through something before you do it? i would say yes. And 'making' a picture starts with taking it, so i cant really see where your going with that one. Â Maybe I can explain it better. When you shoot off the sticks you are "normally" shooting slower and not necessarily in sports/action mode of thinking. This means, if you take the time to sight over your camera at your subject you just might see a branch or other distracting element that can easily be dealt with by moving your setup over a bit. Could it be done with the camera in your hand? Hell yes but I'm saying we get lazy and just bang away so we can get onto the next shot. Maybe I'm just talking about me and not all the ready for prime time experts here on this forum. I never felt that just owning a Leica made me a skilled shooter, still plenty of room for discussion (for me anyway) and always looking at others shooting preferences. I am not implying I am an expert at anything, just raising ideas for discussions to see what might come out of it and that I might learn by. Let me just add this, I quite sure I can go out on the back porch with any lens and settings on automatic and without looking simply bang away a dozen shots and come back and run it through LR and PS5 and get some great images...I'm talking about something beyond that.) Â I am a retired shooter with 40 years experience and still the best piece of advice I got was from a 25 year old Canadian who said he always found away to tweak his images by removing distractions.....USUALLY NEAR THE BORDER SOMEWHERE. Now I'm pretty sure that won't help anyone here but it sure helped my work. Â (now in my life, where photography is concerned there are very few absolutes so please don't read any of the above as loaded with profound absolute statements that are above refutiation) Â In the interest of full disclosure, I am simply a mortal and not pretending to be anything other then that ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 16, 2012 Posted August 16, 2012 Hi Your Old Dog, Take a look here COULD we be better shooters if we taped up our LCDs for a month. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
mija1789 Posted August 16, 2012 Share #22 Â Posted August 16, 2012 ... I'm wondering if going without the lcd might cause us to think through what we are doing instead of just snapping the pic and seeing how lucky we got. Â A friend of mine used to say "better to make pictures then to take them". ... Â And your friend is right. First create pictures in your mind and then take them. However, it does happen that the eyes and the sensor do not always agree on what they see, because of the brain processing that removes the clutter and focus only on the subject (i.e. who never got a tree coming out of the bride head or anything similar?). The LCD allows to find out in real time such a potential discrepancy and take the appropriate corrective measures (exposure, depth of field, composition). This being said, I only use the LCD to check composition from time to time. Of course, IMHO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted August 16, 2012 Share #23 Â Posted August 16, 2012 You don't need to tape up your LCD, just develop your self-control by not permitting yourself to chimp. It's your choice; don't demean yourself by giving that choice to sticky tape. Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted August 16, 2012 Share #24 Â Posted August 16, 2012 First create pictures in your mind and then take them. Â Save yourself a lot of disappointment and just make pictures in your head. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalArts 99 Posted August 16, 2012 Share #25 Â Posted August 16, 2012 Save yourself a lot of disappointment and just make pictures in your head. Â Which is actually closer to what will make one a better photographer (sorry, but I hate the term, 'shooter.') Â Learning to see, and to see critically, is really what it's all about. And you can learn that without a camera in your hand. It's a mental/intellectual/visual sort of symbiotic thing. Spend time looking without a camera (and carry a small cardboard cutout with you all the time if you're concerned about composition.) Â It's really all "about looking" (to borrow from a John Berger title About Looking by John Berger - Book - eBook - Random House) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mija1789 Posted August 16, 2012 Share #26 Â Posted August 16, 2012 Save yourself a lot of disappointment and just make pictures in your head. Â You are so correct. Very frustrating process. But a lot more rewarding than taking snapshots. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted August 16, 2012 Share #27 Â Posted August 16, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hell yes but I'm saying we get lazy and just bang away so we can get onto the next shot. Â The history of photography is littered with examples of photographers who 'work the subject' in order to get the best photograph. How has this simple fact passed you by? Â Recommended reading would be 'Magnum Contact Sheets' published by Thames and Hudson, it will save you from 're-inventing the wheel'. Â Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted August 16, 2012 Share #28 Â Posted August 16, 2012 ... littered with examples of photographers who 'work the subject' in order to get the best photograph. How has this simple fact passed you by? Â Another fact often seen but rarely noticed: people are different. Â Some people become better photographers by forcing themselves to concentrate on the preparation and framing and so on. Others make better photographs by quickly (or not so quickly) taking many variants and by perhaps pruning on the spot. Â Which one is the better photographer? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Printmaker Posted August 16, 2012 Share #29 Â Posted August 16, 2012 Maybe it's just my old eyes, but the histogram is about all I can make out when looking into my M9's LCD in bright sunlight. So I check the LCD once or twice to make sure I'm not blasting out the highlights and then forget about it until the light or location changes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Your Old Dog Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share #30  Posted August 16, 2012 The history of photography is littered with examples of photographers who 'work the subject' in order to get the best photograph. How has this simple fact passed you by? .....................................................................................  Steve  They didn't have the ability to use the old LCD screen, they didn't have them.  I think I've read enough to see that most on this board do not feel it is any longer necessary to make your camera a natural extension of yourself. Just use the LCD screen God....strike that, Leica gave you and chimp away.  Just so you all know, IMHO in general, the best work is done by those who know their equipment the best and not just where to look for the lcd screen  I'm done here. I either haven't gotten my point across effectively or you are all truly great shooters (a vulgar slang term some feel and used by many who raise their families with cameras).  So, to change the topic, what do you all think about that newly proposed M9-27 with the 27" foldout widescreen chimp screen? Have a good day all.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted August 16, 2012 Share #31 Â Posted August 16, 2012 ... I think I've read enough to see that most on this board do not feel it is any longer necessary to make your camera a natural extension of yourself. .... Not sure how you come to that conclusion. Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted August 16, 2012 Share #32 Â Posted August 16, 2012 Â I think I've read enough to see that most on this board do not feel it is any longer necessary to make your camera a natural extension of yourself. Just use the LCD screen. Â If shooting without ever looking at the display on the back of the camera makes you a better photographer, then shooting without developing the film surely makes you a still better one? Â For what it's worth: I personally use the screen to check things on which I'm uncertain. Mostly, I spend entire days without looking at a single image. Other times, I take several shots and corrective measures until I'm quite satisfied (or fed up). That's when the wifey gets kind of restless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianv Posted August 16, 2012 Share #33 Â Posted August 16, 2012 Logging off of the camera forums for a month will allow you to focus on actual photography and not get sidetracked by threads like this. Â Rather than disable a salient feature of your Digital camera, load up a roll of film. If your results are better with film, stick with it. If a Digital camera is making your photography less rewarding, why use it? There is an alternative, and no tape required. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianv Posted August 16, 2012 Share #34  Posted August 16, 2012 Leica M8, C-Sonnar at F4.  from 4 separate dives, sequentially. Checked the LCD, waited slightly longer for each shot in the sequence. This would have been harder without the review.  dive1 by anachronist1, on Flickr  dive2 by anachronist1, on Flickr  dive3 by anachronist1, on Flickr  dive4 by anachronist1, on Flickr  My daughter liked them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted August 17, 2012 Share #35 Â Posted August 17, 2012 just turn it off and get on with it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Your Old Dog Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share #36  Posted August 17, 2012 just turn it off and get on with it  Oh...... Yea...... How come I didn't think of that? I thought to breath, shit, shower and shave but I never thought of turning it off? Could it be that YOU have missed the larger point? THE POINT IS...YOU DON'T LOOK AT IT AS A CRUTCH How you accomplish that is irrelevant to the main point. I need some duct or gaffers tape, my head's going to explode  For people who are/and or want to be playing in an artistic endeavor many of you are sure bent on the technical aspect of the conversation and have little ability to read between the lines looking for the inference rather then the nuts and bolts.  Are you guys just fun'en with me? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlatkob Posted August 17, 2012 Share #37  Posted August 17, 2012 Train yourself not to look at the LCD. It's not difficult. Why would anyone do that? The LCD is a brilliant tool — easily one of the best features to come to photography in the entire history of photography. It's a tool, not a "crutch". I chimp whenever I want to, and don't chimp whenever I don't. There is a time for chimping and there is time for just shooting without chimping. The LCD has helped me countless times, so I will never have any tape over it except the clear protective kind. Just because the LCD exists doesn't mean we have to "snap" the picture and see "how lucky we get" (although there is a time for that too). The LCD doesn't compel anyone to turn off their brain. Thankfully, the LCD preview can be turned off whenever one wants, thus eliminating the need for tape. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlatkob Posted August 17, 2012 Share #38 Â Posted August 17, 2012 The history of photography is littered with examples of photographers who 'work the subject' in order to get the best photograph. Excellent point. Working the subject is indeed part of the photographic tradition and has been used by many of the best photographers. Having the LCD as a reference makes working the subject a little easier, but the "work" part of it is still there, and checking the LCD from time to time simply becomes another part of the work (along with pre-visualizing, composition, timing, focusing, etc.). Checking the LCD is work; it is not "being lazy". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
waileong Posted August 17, 2012 Share #39 Â Posted August 17, 2012 Q: COULD we be better shooters if we taped up our LCDs for a month? Â A: Yes, for some. Â There's three levels of shooters: Â a. The newbies. They don't know anything about photography, some of them even hold DSLR's at arm's length when shooting, like they were using compacts. Â For this bunch of shooters, they would be dead without LCD's. I doubt some of them have even used film cameras before. Â b. The serious amateurs. These guys know their cameras, maybe they even had GAS. Turning off their LCD's could help them improve. It will help them break the chimping habit, think hard before pressing the shutter, and convince them that the camera's autoexposure is pretty damn smart. Â c. The pros. These guys make a living from photography. They don't need our advice. They use the LCD's when they need to (eg to check tricky lighting situation, check for camera shake, etc). But when they shoot, they just shoot. If it's a wedding for instance, you can bet the guy will not be checking his LCD after every shot. Â However, the rise of digital has created a mentality that photos are free, ie there is no 36-shot limit per roll any more. Hence even pro photographers are more trigger-happy nowadays than their predecessors ever were. So sometimes they use LCD's to review and delete unwanted shots, esp if their memory card is running low. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted August 17, 2012 Share #40 Â Posted August 17, 2012 Perhaps not better shooters, but better shots: Being out in the cold and rainy winter weather here in Scandinavia gets great shots, but looking at the LCD is the last thing I want to do when the fingers are frozen as it is Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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