# How to be a bad photographer.



## dr croubie (Oct 9, 2013)

http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2013/10/world/how-to-be-a-photographer/index.html?hpt=hp_c4


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## Sella174 (Oct 9, 2013)

Spot on each time!


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## Rienzphotoz (Oct 9, 2013)

dr croubie said:


> http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2013/10/world/how-to-be-a-photographer/index.html?hpt=hp_c4


Thanks for sharing ... but I lost my interest the moment I saw the tiny font size and the bad layout, very unfriendly webpage for reading.


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## Marsu42 (Oct 9, 2013)

dr croubie said:


> http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2013/10/world/how-to-be-a-photographer/index.html?hpt=hp_c4



"GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrom) - a terrible pathology that affects a lot of amateur photographers" :->


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## captainkanji (Oct 9, 2013)

G.A.S. can be bad if you are poor. I don't mind wealthy amateurs buying lots of gear they don't need. Someone needs to fund R&D. It doesn't make them bad photographers. Bad photos make them bad. I'm in the semi-poor camp. I like to drool over the 1DX but it'll never happen . Getting some sweet overtime saving for the 135L. Doh! Feel some gas coming on ;D


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## Marsu42 (Oct 9, 2013)

captainkanji said:


> G.A.S. can be bad if you are poor. I don't mind wealthy amateurs buying lots of gear they don't need.



Well, being definitely on the rather poor side I do enjoy reading threads about "should I get 2x 5d3 or 1x 1dx?" because it puts my personal GAS back into perspective  Also neither the article or I said that GAS *makes* you bad, just that it often goes along with it to compensate for the lack of skill and/or experience.

I'm absolutely in favor of people buying €6000 1dx or €10000 1dxs so Canon can lower my 6D to €1500 (which is still very expensive for me)... that's why I voted against Magic Lantern hacking the 1dx into a 1dc, rich people should cross-fund r&d and profits when they buy the premium gear, I'll stay 1-2 levels below that.


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## Sella174 (Oct 9, 2013)

Marsu42 said:


> ... that's why I voted against Magic Lantern hacking the 1dx into a 1dc, rich people should cross-fund r&d and profits when they buy the premium gear, I'll stay 1-2 levels below that.



How about Magic Lantern developing for us really poor folks with *DiG!G II* cameras?


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## Marsu42 (Oct 9, 2013)

Sella174 said:


> How about Magic Lantern developing for us really poor folks with *DiG!G II* cameras?



Um, ml does run on your 5dc with digic2 just fine, so what's the problem? 30d isn't supported though.

Btw: every digic version needs massive reverse engineering, and only very few people (I can think of 2-3 just now) are able to do that. "Just" coding some modules or patches for ML like I do is different as you're building upon the proven and working ml framework and don't need to do the reverse engineering yourself. But you can ask Canon be more supportive and release the digic specs/addresses and firmware hooks


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## Lichtgestalt (Oct 9, 2013)

> How to be a bad photographer



no need to post that here.. 

a better article would be "how to cure your GAS problem".


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## LDS (Oct 9, 2013)

Lichtgestalt said:


> a better article would be "how to cure your GAS problem".




Don't feel compelled to list your gear in the footer of every post.
Ignore what other posters feel compelled to list in the footer of every post.


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## captainkanji (Oct 9, 2013)

A big problem I have is that I spend too much time on YouTube and forums. Nothing wrong with them, I just need to get out more. I am planning on going to 5 or 6 events next year, but more local stuff would be affordable. Attending Dragon Con is gonna feel like getting punched in the kidney


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## And-Rew (Oct 9, 2013)

couldn't be bothered to read the article - probably contains all the old cliché's

how to be a bad photographer? by not being true to yourself - taking the pictures you want, with the gear you are comfortable with. use PS etc if that gets you what you want, use SOOTC if that is what you prefer.

Photography is open to more opinion and debate than any amount of politics - heck if the US Economy was based on photography, you'd still be shooting with glass plates!


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## YuengLinger (Oct 9, 2013)

Thanks for this post. It has enriched my life...and saved my soul.


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## Rienzphotoz (Oct 9, 2013)

LDS said:


> Lichtgestalt said:
> 
> 
> > a better article would be "how to cure your GAS problem".
> ...


Don't feel compelled to put your foot in the mouth without understanding why others list their gear in the footer and understand that it is automatically added if you set it up once.


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## dstppy (Oct 9, 2013)

dr croubie said:


> http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2013/10/world/how-to-be-a-photographer/index.html?hpt=hp_c4


They certainly have "how to not design a webpage" spot on . . .


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## distant.star (Oct 9, 2013)

.
Loved it.

You rarely find sophisticated satire these days.

Especially loved the Martin Parr reference!

Thanks for posting the link.


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## GmwDarkroom (Oct 9, 2013)

distant.star said:


> You rarely find sophisticated satire these days.


Indeed.

Loved it too. Good post.

As well as the irony of some of the ensuing posts.


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## unfocused (Oct 9, 2013)

GmwDarkroom said:


> distant.star said:
> 
> 
> > You rarely find sophisticated satire these days.
> ...



Same here. Loved not only the Martin Paar reference, but also the Bechers and of course Barthes. The guy is not only funny, but obviously knows his photography. And yes, many of the resulting comments here are unintentionally ironic.


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## marceloshak (Oct 9, 2013)

Very good post.

If you want to be a bad photographer you need to find inspiration here: http://youarenotaphotographer.com/


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## Botts (Oct 9, 2013)

marceloshak said:


> Very good post.
> 
> If you want to be a bad photographer you need to find inspiration here: http://youarenotaphotographer.com/


Excellent site. I disagree though when he says photographers shouldn't burn their finished images and let their clients print them how they want.

I'd much rather spend $3k on my wedding photography, get all the images on disc, then print them myself or make my own albums. I'm probably not the average client as I have a 19" printer at home, and am a couture book and asuka book client.

Paying $2-3k and then having a potentially ballooning print cost with insane markups from the photographer bugs me. Could be that personally I'm used to being paid by the job and not charging per print though.

Thankfully though my GAS has been mostly cured.

I've slimmed down my fleet of camera gear and rent when I need to for specific tasks.
Now my gear list is: 6D, Sigma 35/1.4, Canon 70-200 f/4IS.
Recently I've rented: 500L II, 5D3, 200/2 IS
Down the pipe is: 1DX, 200-400, 5D3, 70-200/2.8L II, 16-35.

I ran the numbers and it makes way more sense for me to rent than tie up capital in gear. Rental is also 100% tax deductible which is good.


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## LDS (Oct 9, 2013)

Rienzphotoz said:


> without understanding why others lost their gear in the footer



_Lost _ their gear in the footer? Oh well, I guess that explains everything... they lost it here and can't get it back... ;D

I know it's automatic - yet you have to spend time to write it down there, and keep it updated... why?


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## ME (Oct 9, 2013)

Very amusing  I have to admit that I probably fall into the GAS category a little bit. Though I am not rich, and I dont bother other photographers. I have learned some very helpfull tips via websites such as this one and believe that my photography has improved because of it, and saved me money because of the advice given on various equipment (and at no cost to me for the advice, just time). My job is not boring, but very stressful, as i am sure many people's are. But I would rather be working at creating the "perfect images". It's all fun for an amateur.


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## Rienzphotoz (Oct 10, 2013)

dstppy said:


> dr croubie said:
> 
> 
> > http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2013/10/world/how-to-be-a-photographer/index.html?hpt=hp_c4
> ...


+1


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## Rienzphotoz (Oct 10, 2013)

LDS said:


> _Lost _ their gear in the footer? Oh well, I guess that explains everything... they lost it here and can't get it back... ;D


 ??? ??? ??? "Lost" was a typo ... it was meant to be "list" ... I'm sure you already knew that but decided to use it anyway for an unhelpful comment :


LDS said:


> I know it's automatic - yet you have to spend time to write it down there, and keep it updated... why?


If you know it is automatic, I am sure you also know that it takes only 2 minutes to type it *just once* and a few seconds to update it (as and when we update our gear), it is *helpful* for those who are interested in that gear, I've had several people message me about a particular lens that I have listed ... I have also consulted several CR members about their listed gear and got *very helpful feedback/info, which saved me money and/or time* ... listing our camera gear is a lot more helpful, to at least some people, than picking up on typos and making unhelpful comments ... *that is why! *


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## AprilForever (Oct 11, 2013)

Marsu42 said:


> captainkanji said:
> 
> 
> > G.A.S. can be bad if you are poor. I don't mind wealthy amateurs buying lots of gear they don't need.
> ...



Nice scheme! May it drop the price of the 7D mk II!!!!


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## LetTheRightLensIn (Oct 15, 2013)

keep the lens cap on


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## LetTheRightLensIn (Oct 15, 2013)

dr croubie said:


> http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2013/10/world/how-to-be-a-photographer/index.html?hpt=hp_c4



Hah pretty spot on, although I think he is misguided on the last one and he sounded like someone being cliched and doing a bad job about writing about how to be a bad amateur photographer more than actually pulling that one off well.


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