Technology can be a wonderful thing: I think I highlighted that in my last post about the D7000. Today's equipment is amazing, especially in low light which I like to photograph in. Cameras are allowing photographers to capture images we never could have in the past and to me that is what I like most about the advances. Take the image I chose to accompany this post. I used my Nikon D3 and a 12-24mm lens. The camera does a great job in low lighting and the lens is amazingly sharp (as most lenses now are because the camera's sensors are so good now at capturing detail).
The technology I used to capture this image was helpful but in the end I was the one who had to understand my subject. I made the decision how to frame the image and when to make the exposure. Technology alone does not make a great photograph and I think people outside of the profession may not always understand this. Technology helps the photographer get the exposure right, technology helps the photographer obtain a sharp image, and it allows you more creativity in certain situations based on things like lens options or post production software options. But it does not help you see, or frame an image, or decide when to make the exposure. The value of the photographer comes in that quality of the photographer's eye.
In some ways the quality of today's equipment is damaging the profession. In some cases there are situations where companies handle their photographic needs in-house now by having an employee use a point and shoot camera for situations where they would have hired a professional photographer in the past. The reality is the point and shoot cameras today are pretty good and many people don't realize the quality differences. Another thing that is happening is people are becoming "professional" photographers just off their equipment and with little or no education about photography. I think this is true for the vast majority of paparazzi and I think the technology advances have helped to create the current state of paparazzi photography.
What prompted these comments today is I have seen several examples lately where it is obvious a "professional" photographer is running a business without much real skill as a photographer. Their equipment in some cases helps, and they often understand business and marketing more than I do, but at the end of the day they aren't that good. Hopefully my blog and web site will be able help to educate some viewers as to the value of hiring a good photographer and to start to be able to discern between well and poorly crafted images.
