Everybody's On Their Own

Well, it was bound to happen.  It was in fact, probably inevitable.  Not that a day would come when I wouldn't take a photo.  Because that's really a slam dunk.  You press a button.  Even a  monkey can do that.  A good picture is another matter entirely.  That requires work and planning and foresight and dedication and commitment and serendipity and even a little luck. But the day would inevitably come when I would shoot nothing but crap and be loathe to post.  And that's what happened yesterday. Despite taking 150 frames.  And having a plan.  And a destination shoot. So, last night at almost one in the morning I said, "To Hell with it", after dicking around with my pictures for over an hour, and went to bed.  And I was less than pleased.  Seriously irked.


Yesterday, I let circumstances get the best of me.  Mostly because -- strangely for me -- I was too nice and too kind and far too accommodating.


Let me be frank here.  Photographers are apparently a lot like car salesmen and the film industry.  It attracts a LOT of the kinds of people who have failed at everything else in their life and then, desperately they think to themselves, what can I do for a career move next?  These people think that to be a photographer, all you have to do is pick up a camera, and maybe, and this is actually a bit of a stretch on my part, they then might take a class.  These people are not photographers.  They are GWC's.  An expression I had never heard before and that recently had to be explained to me.  GWC = "Guy With Camera".  You know this person.  Have probably seen more than a few examples.  Perhaps at your cousins wedding.  The fact that they get paid to snap pictures boggles my mind. Guy is irrelevant.  GWC is gender neutral.  Incompetence is gender neutral.  Interestingly, I would much rather partner up with women over men when it comes to a photo shoot.  They tend to be much better organized by far and they care more about the results.  Women care about quality.  I am growing tired of geeks with cameras.  Geeks are nearly always guys.  GWC's...


After nearly two years of taking classes and workshops and seminars with people who either claim to be photographers or who profess that their sole dream in life is that they desperately WANT to be photographers, I am still astonished by how seldom they ACTUALLY take pictures.  Or even DESIRE to take pictures.  Or think about what it takes to create a GOOD photograph....


On two minutes notice I can be ready shoot anything.  I mean ANYTHING.  I could leave for freaking Africa on two minutes notice.  I could shoot Cindy Crawford in the nude in two minutes.  Bugs, birds, or bat shit.  Long lens, wide-angle lens or macro lens.  I mean, I am ready to go, baby!   In the past week I have worked closely with nearly a dozen different fellow shooters, observed three times that number in action, although I hesitate to call them that - shooters, as the vast majority can't seem to get out of their own way.  As in, can you focus your camera, buddy?  


It's winter time in Vancouver.  It is what it is.  Yet I've lost track of the number of times I've heard the following in the past month....  "I don't like the cold".  "I don't like the rain", "I want to go home", "I didn't bring the right gear", "I have to get up in the morning",  "I'm not inspired", "I don't know what I want".


Photography is not for sissies, the weak of heart, or the uncommitted.  


Next time, if you don't bring your tripod, the right lenses or a pair of gloves, too bad.  And your not using mine.  Moreover, you're clearly not smart enough to be a photographer.  At least a good one, in my opinion.  And you probably shouldn't be allowed to breed either.  


The two pieces of crap I've posted were shot on my Nikon D3s and Nikon 200-400mm f/4 with a Nikon 1.4x Teleconverter.  ISO was 12,800.  I didn't use a tripod because, well, because of the preceding...


I still think this was a great idea for a shoot.  To take pictures of people decorating their balconies in the West End with Olympic Ring lights and there are lots of them.  Doesn't matter how good your gear is or what Ken Rockwell says, you still need a tripod to get a good night shot with a long lens.


Enjoy the crappy snaps.


I promise to be happier tomorrow.


Being bitter and holding a grudge is a little like drinking a cup of poison and hoping it kills someone else.

- Vince Hemingson