photography

Book Review: ‘A Lesser Photographer’

Think about all you’ve learned about photography. Think about the photo blogs, the podcasts, the seminars, the preset packs.

It’s not really “photography.” It’s the business of photography. That’s mostly what we hear about on the web. The gear, the reviews, the tips and tricks. It’s photography as commercialism.

CJ Chilvers woke up from all that one day, hiking in woods in Illinois (I’ve been there – it’s lovely). He woke up from the “gear talk” that pervades most of what is photography culture, sold all his DSLR equipment, and started over.

Then he started the A Lesser Photographer blog, and shared a different philosophy: What if we cared more about the photos and ideas than the camera and lenses? What if we quit obsessing about technique and kept things simple?

Now Chilvers took the best of the A Lesser Photographer blog and put it into book form – short “chapters” with simple ideas and great accompanying art. The chapters are little nuggets to think about. There’s one on The Best Photos of the Year (hint: they’re yours, and they’re wonderfully imperfect), and one on not shooting the clichéd and obvious. Live your life instead of shooting all the time. And (my favorite) embracing the “amateur” in amateur photographer.

That last one really resonated with me. Yes, I do make a little side money from photography. And yes, it’s a part of my jobby-job. But mostly, it’s a hobby. I’m not looking to make a lot (or even a fraction) of my income from photography – either paid gigs or selling prints. So what do I need a portfolio for? My work will (most likely) never hang in a museum. And I have plenty of outlets for my work (Flickr, Instagram, this blog).

Chilvers’ message is today’s photography counterculture. Photography as a hobby is all about gear and technique – about special effects (HDR, light painting, etc.) rather than emotion. Chilvers says, “Enough.”

The perfect camera for you? “Check to make sure you don’t already have a camera.”

It’s an easy trap to fall into, all that gear lust. Starting out, I remember caring about fast primes and ISO sensitivity and all that. I wanted to try cameras and buy the latest and greatest. That urge still grabs me every time I visit canonpricewatch.com.

Technique wasn’t so interesting to me, luckily. I mostly cared about taking good, interesting photos and capturing my friends and relatives. But the gear, man.

Maybe it’s a guy thing, to care about the specs. The latest and greatest. I do care about the tools in the same way I care about my car. There needs to be a certain amount of comfort and flexibility that allows me to get the job done (photos, driving, whatever). And the sports model is always something to drool over.

But Chilvers’ advice is to spend money on the images instead of the gear. Buy a plane ticket and shoot the hell out of your destination. With your old, clunky, dented camera. That still takes good-enough images.

Not all of us can be pro photographers who get to fly to India and test out the latest Fuji. But we can fly to India. I bet our old cameras still work there.

A Lesser Photographer is a good, pointed, fast read, and it does make you question how you approach this hobby. If you’re a pro, says Chilvers, you already know this stuff.

It’s the rest of us “advanced amateurs” that need reminding.

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Pick up A Lesser Photographer: Escaping the Gear Trap to Focus on What Matters at Craft & Vision for $5 (cheap), and follow the blog.


West Michigan, Represent

I lived in Onondaga Twp (on Ferris rd just west of Aurelius rd – I love that spot) from ’98 – ’04 and spent summers growing up in west MI. Though born, raised, currently live in, and love Pittsburgh PA, your work always takes me HOME. Beautiful! With today’s post, I could no longer contain it. Thank you!

Thanks so much! West Michigan is a special place.


Reader Question on Style

Hello Dave. I just recently created an account on Tumblr and stumbling through different photography blogs I’ve noticed that many people post pictures that have a certain style to them, one I haven’t really seen before. The style I would be referring to I noticed in your pictures “Sunrise on the Mill Pond – Concord, Michigan” and “Catching the Dew – Albion, Michigan”. I was just curious as to how you achieve this look, if it is achieved through Ps or Lr, or if it depends on the type of camera.

Those two (catching dew, and the sunrise photo) are two of my favs from the fall, and really a product of the right time of year, the right sunrises, and a healthy dose of custom VSCO editing in Lightroom. The macro lens helped, too, to really get in there and capture the details on the dew shot. And don’t quote me, but I think I used VSCO Film 03 for both. Thanks!


Inspired So Much

Dave,your cemetery photographs are terrific. Im abt to go out and take some photographs myself and im inspired so much! Thankyou!

You’re so welcome. My shots come from two time periods: this past fall, and the winter of 2011 during a magical sunset, grabbing photos while knee-deep in snow. Worth it!

Enjoy your shoot.


Photographers Directory

photographersdirectory:

I’m an amateur photographer based in Jackson, Michigan, who does some pro work on the side, sticking to mainly nature, abandoned sites, and street landscape photography. Capturing light, shadows, seasons, colors — this is my bread and butter. But I don’t shoot bread and butter; others can do the food photography thing.

The platform and tools matter, but only a little. I shoot Canon (DSLR and the M mirrorless) and Fujifilm, with some iPhone and 35mm film thrown in here and there.

I take on personal projects, like old guys who collect model trains, or local abandoned theme parks, or mottled light in dark woods, when a brainstorm strikes. And I use my blog to share my work, not others’ (mostly).

All of my photo work is on Flickr, and I share the best on my blog, natch.

Thanks, Photographers Directory!


Creating Lightroom Presets

Argus

Messed around making my own Lightroom preset, after seeing these images from the Kage Collective.

I’m not into the whole matte black, faux-film look so much, but there is a trendy appeal to it. And I’m usually Mr. Bright Colors guy, but something a little more soft and restrained is good for variety. I made a black and white version, too, just for fun.

This isn’t all that different from the stuff you see sold for $20-50 a pop nowadays. But dig in to a preset you like and you’ll learn enough to be dangerous, and start making your own.

Strong vignettes FTW!


Difficult to Tell

There is such a huge amount of brilliant photography coming from all corners of the world that when I glance through highlights on VSCO, flickr, or Instagram It has become difficult to tell the difference between photographers.

All The Things – 50 Foot Shadows

Agreed. There’s so much good stuff out there, it’s all blurring together. Great portraits, great landscape shots of the Pacific Northwest, great shots of guys with beards in flannel at a bonfire living out of their car.

Lately, I’ve started to follow more photographers focusing on unique portraits, conceptual work, and urban landscapes. For this year, I want to try to find photographers who are not from New York / Portland / SanFran / etc. How about some more Midwestern shooters, or folks from the south?

If you have any follow suggestions, let me know.