You know I always say in class that if you don’t like your pictures don’t blame your camera. I meet so many people who would love to make better pictures and their route to doing so is to buy ever more expensive equipment. Don’t misunderstand me, I recognise that good equipment is important but one of my favourite photographers, Jane Buekett, still only uses her Pentax K1000, that is not the digital Pentax, that is the the film one that is at least 30 years old. Actually that is not exactly true, the bit about Jane ‘only’ using her ancient film camera, I recently converted her to a bit of digital and now she carries a Canon G10 too. This is all beside the point, which is that on our courses we stress that the route to better photography is not through spending more money on cameras or lenses but by learning how to use them properly and how to improve your ‘eye’, your vision, your craft.
I have purchased many of the Craft & Vision ebooks because for me other peoples’ version of the things I do is valuable, another viewpoint, a different way of expressing is uplifting and re-affirming. It is for this reason I recommend you read Tom Dinnings Blog. One of the great things about the internet is the ability to engage with others who you may never meet but who share your version of being creative, your vision. That doesn’t mean they take the same pictures as you or that it is a mutual back slapping club but that you share attitudes and thought processes about how you make pictures. In class last night on our Intermediate Photography course a student, Sarah, explained that in German the term is distinctly to ‘make a photograph’ rather than the ‘take’ that we consider here in England. I definitely prefer the idea of making a photograph. What do you say wherever you are in the world, I would be very interested to hear, and does it infer a difference of approach?
Another photographer whose attitudes I concur with is the man behind Craft & Vision, David du Chemin, his work is completely different to mine, how I would enjoy his life for a short while, traveling almost continuously making images with the intention of making a difference. Go and have a look at his site, sign up to his blog.
So the Craft and Vision ebooks. As I said I have purchased a number, they cost almost nothing, are beautifully produced and interesting and informative.
Here is a link to their pages, go and have a look, save money on equipment, make better pictures
Oxford School of Photography 