Do we rely too much on Technology

Its not the size that matters but how you use it !

.... or so someone told me

Howard

You live and learn. At any rate, you live.
As for technology, if it would work flawlessly we wouldn't have this discussion since it would be utterly stupid/useless to spend your time on something that could be done by pressing a button, but some people do find joy in that.
As long as technology doesn't work we need to know the basics to check if technology is working correctly.
But photography means painting with light and is an art form, and art is not to discuss since it's personal so technology will never work flawlessly.

Why am I even writing this comment?

Maybe I've misunderstood. Please forgive me if so.

Just because art is personal doesn't mean that it isn't to be discussed.

Expressing a view that something is good or bad, liked or disliked, for one reason or another should not be discouraged just because that view is subjective.

We don't all like, or value the same things, and our views change over time. Not to discuss both our similarities and our differences would mean we'd lose a lot, I think.

And even an expert can sometimes learn something from the uneducated view.

I thought that remark might topple a few readers off their chair!!!
I have a friend who is an ex Film SLR user who now uses a NIKON DSLR, His hobby is Steam Railways and he has no concept of how his Camera Works, He does not care that Skies are White or that the composition is not up to competition standard. His Hobby is not Photography he just uses it to record the Steam Trains that he loves. Nothing wrong in that.He is more Than pleased with the results.
But if your hobby is photography then it is usual to want to improve your skills. By learning to use the Camera in Manual for every type of Photography that you might come across you can then use the modes more appropriately and probably more sparingly, The modes only do what a more experienced photographer would do in Manual the only situation where i use TV (for instance) is if there is a quickly changing scene with continuously changing light but i still check to see if the Camera is doing what i would do myself!(only quicker)
I have no doubt that everyone here is a quick learner, And using manual only is not as daunting as it was when i first started. With better light metering built in and to be able to review images immediately is a great bonus of Digital Photography so Manual need not be as daunting as it once was but it still takes time to be instinctive in every scenario. Which is why i feel a couple of weeks to be insufficient time to absorb something so very fundamental!

Best Regards - Pete

My wife informs me this is an urban myth started by a man with a very small winky and she assures me size does matter. Technology it is for me then.

Impotmentspider said "I suppose this is an extension to a question I posed several months ago about whether newbies were relying on digital manipulation to produce good images".

No!,the manual tells me what does what,I,as the user learn how that alters the result.

Surely,for most,photography is a hobby and Modern technology has opened the genré up to a wider,possibly less descerning,audience which expands the addage "Beauty is in the Eye of The Beholder"....or is it that photography is much less elitist nowadays?


Nic

HG said

and I thought it might be interesting to analyse how much manipulation was required for my entry to the fortnightly competition following on from this valid point. I once again assert nothing here is personal but in the spirit of discussion.




I used most of the benefits in camera. I used Av mode to get the DOF I wanted and let the camera sort out the shutter speed. I reviewed the histogram and it was OK so no Ev adjustment. In this case I did focus manually and have the AF confirm it was OK - the only reason for this was that what I wanted in sharp focus was not central and I am not quite as trusting as to the position of the red rectangle matching the AF point as I was.

What I don't understand is at a number of levels:

How would using manual helped me? I would have had to muck about getting the exposure right whereas the camera indicated what it thought was best and the histogram confirmed this.

In PS I reviewed the shot and I could quickly see that the histogram needed to be spread more which was the work of a moment with levels. No amount of mucking about in camera would achieve that - or am I wrong?

Then I could see that a little more brightness was required and at the same time I softened the contrast. Now how do I do that in camera using manual mode?

Truly, barely any manipulation and far easier than in film.

I'll be delighted if I'm told how I can do this in camera as I am a lazy so and so.

I'm not bragging or anything just taking a real life example which I believe illustrates the futility of ignoring the automation available to us. Maybe I am missing the point that was intended that using manual forces you to work out what is required and that I cheated a tiny bit as I already knew I should control the aperture and that as I was using a tripod the shutter speed was immaterial.

I do hope this post is taken in the spirit intended as a discussion point not an attack nor the big I am.

Mike

In response to Mikes Post above (and some others) I think a few of you are actually missing the point of the topic, I cant see any problem with what Mike is doing (above) he is using the camera to its full potential and whereas he is using the modern technology he's not actually blaming the camera when it doesn't pan out, at least I hope he isn't, and thats the question I was posing.

I personally see nothing wrong with utilising whats available on any camera, except maybe machine gun modes, god forbid I ever have to ditch my K20D and return full time to film or a simple manual camera, Both my K's are more or less permanently set to Av, spot metering and centre focus point, both have the front command dial set to change ISO.
I have no issues with using SR or AF nor have I any issue with using many of the other technological wonders incorporated in the bodies.

I dont expect newbies to switch their cameras to manual or switch off the AF, but I would expect them not to think that the camera in their hands is the B all and end all, and blame it and not themselves when the results are not what they expect.

With this clarification I admit I misunderstood the point of the original post buy hey we've had 5 pages of fun

Mike

Well I'm glad that's cleared up. I was about to write 'If the hat doesn't fit, don't wear it. It'll just give you a sore head!'

Mikew`s image (above) does hi-light the joys of "Modern Technology"...If Miss Webb was a "Robot",a program would have had to be written and run to instruct which pencil was to be picked out and broken...and where it was positioned in the first place.

RED!!!..don`t tell me,that`s the hole point of having the inscription on the pencil.

Now where`s my KitKat?.

Nic

Whilst at an Outdoor event this year,where there where more cameras than one could shake a stick at,SWMBO overheard a comment made by a chap with a Compact digital P&S camera in his hand,to his other half..."All these blokes with there expensive cameras and lenses,what a waste of money.You wait till I get home and get these pictures on my computer,my pictures will be as good as any they`ve got"

Now that`s what I call "Over Confidence in Modern Technology"..he he

Nic

Mike,

Take anything that`s said personally?,why in the heck should anyone who`s contributed do that?.

Nah,it`s all been extremely thought provoking I assure you and,to be honest with you,very similar to a "arguement" when I took my RAE back in the 80`s between the guys,most of them ex forces,who had coverted old kit or constructed their out stuff and the Newbies who had come up from 27Mhz and bought our VHF stuff,we were known as the Cheque Book and Black Box Brigade.

Time?...well,it waits for no man.
Debt?...just wish I could get a better rate on my ISA

And anyway,I`ve made sure I`ve ducked,after clicking "Add Comment",so no mud has stuck..he he.I`ll just be glad when I`ve got my camera back so I can sit down and learn how to do what,there`s been alot of helpfull comments posted up on the forum thus far.


Nic

As this thread does`nt specify Camera related technology i have a story that i recently witnessed... I shall be as non specific as i can to protect the guilty!
Not so very long ago a large aircraft belonging to a non UK operator landed at an Airport expecting to be met by his fellow countrymen. When they did not materialise he used his cellphone to contact them only to find they were still waiting for him to land! He had relied on his GPS to get him to his destination but had chosen the wrong one of two destinations offered to him by his equipment. He was not even in the right country!

Regards - Pete.

Actually it did Peter, the opening sentance of the first post; Specifically that is when it comes to photography.

But we'll let you off for such an entertaining story, but please name the airline so we can all avoid it