Well, I have finally made the transition over to Digital. It was a steep learning curve but in the long run a necessary evil. I am amazed at the amount of effort it takes to process the imagery from camera to Agency. Wow! As an independent photographer not shooting for or having my own studio production company with employees that can handle the work flow, I spend most of my quote "shooting time" in front of a computer. Technology was suppose to make our lives easier, giving us more leisure time. Not true. I feel Technology is coming between us and living our lives in the present. Enjoying the quiet meditation of subjects and taking your time with creating great imagery. Instead, I see photographers quick to shoot everything and anything at break neck speed and once they blitz the subject they automatically check their camera monitor to see if they have captured the subject before racing onto the next quick impression. They might have captured the subject but the subject in relation to what? You can shoot subjects millions of them but with out great lighting and composition and content you have taken the art of photography to a lower level, to a home movie of boring subjects. This recording of minutia of detail, of look at me Face Book postings is not photography.
Douglas Rushkoff said, " As photography becomes less time consuming, less crafted, less intentional and less expressed through physically realized artifacts, it will lose its ability to elevate the moment and subjects it captures". To make a great photograph you have to have intention, a purpose. In shooting digital I have also lost that awareness, it so easy to shoot and shoot and have nothing to show for your effort but snap shots. I will shoot digitally as I did with a film based camera, exploring the subject, looking for the best composition to express purpose in taking the image, immersing myself in the best light and only after I have done this will I move on to the next experience allowing my inner landscape time to be reflected in the subjects I choose.
