is photography about technical excellence?

[haven]

http://cjchilvers.com/blog/2013/12/06/how-to-make-perfect-photos

Here' another iconoclastic view of what makes a "good photo." The author starts by searching for examples of the most important and most popular photos of all time. He concludes that most are technically flawed, but tell a compelling story. So his advice to improve your photography is to tell a story you personally care about.

 

[DaveInDenver]

That's an argument I've been making for a long time about art. People swoon over the latest and greatest in pixels and mechanics but it's more common to my eye to see snapshots rather than photographs. Not to say top dollar isn't useful, but I've seen as much beauty and meaning come from a K1000 with a 50mm as anything.

 

[pappawheely]

If you nail the shot it doesn't matter what you used to get it. Most photographers learn the rules, then go out and break them. I don't care about the gear but a crappy photo is still a crappy photo no matter how many likes on facebook it gets.

 

[BretEdge]

Photography is kind of a weird art form in that it mixes creative expression with technical mastery, and it isn't common to find someone with the aptitude for both. I lead a lot of photography workshops and it's always interesting to observe the participants. Some are naturally creative and they frequently blow my mind with amazing compositions that I never would have seen, but they have difficulty executing their vision because they don't understand the technical aspect of photography. Other participants (especially engineers) can rattle off all kinds of information about camera gear and all the technical stuff, but their images suffer from a lack of creative vision. We always do group image critiques at the workshops and it's interesting to see the techies respond to the non-techie images with oohs and aahs. I've always said that a monkey can learn the technical crap if he/she applies him or herself, but it's much more difficult for people who weren't born with a creative mind to learn to "see".

I guess this is a long way of saying that while I think it's important to have a handle on the technical stuff, it's more important to nurture creativity if you hope to produce interesting work.

 

[nat]

My sister turns out amazing art using a Holga with a Polaroid back. Its all about your "eye".

 

[Honu]

Nice to have technical perfect images

Ask yourself this if you were to be stranded on a island could only have one photo ? What would it be and why ?

Would it be about technical perfect look or about the emotions it brings

If you are going to get a family portrait no reason it can't be technically great though a good pro can handle the tech side and hope to get emotion out of the client

If you are getting shots done for say product technical is more critical really depends what it is ?

Scenic shot I would buy perfect timing great shot first

My fav shots are not perfect technical but capture emotion