Is Technology Allowing Photographers to Become Lazy?

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www.dennismook.com

A well known photographer, Chase Jarvis, proclaimed a couple of years ago, that "The Best Camera is the One That is With You".  He wrote a book with that title as well.  He was referring to using the camera you have with you almost all the time, which is the camera feature on your smartphone. 

Zoom lenses proliferate precluding the necessity to walk forward or backward to properly compose one's photograph.  "Fix it in Photoshop" is heard uttered by those who don't take the time to properly master the craft of photography.  Put the camera on P (jokingly "P" for professional!) and just make photographs.  Turn on the auto exposure and auto balancing flash.  Don't worry about shutter speeds, F/stops, depth of field, selective focusing, etc. as the camera will take care of all that for you.  The history of photography is not important.  It doesn't matter what has happened in the past, brother we're moving forward!  The future rules!  Statements such as these, and we've all read or heard them, are troubling to me.

I think the siren call of technology, as applied to photography, has made many photographers lazy and lax in their shooting habits.  An analogy would be to totally rely on a calculator without knowing how to add, subtract, multiply or divide.  You get to the end, but at what price?

I don't subscribe to the philosophy that the best camera is the one I have with me as my opinion is that if one is a photographer, then one should be carrying a proper camera, that is if one are the type of photographer that takes advantage of unexpected opportunities that may present themselves while out and about.  If one is not, then there is no need to carry any camera.  Is it too much trouble to carry a proper camera with exposure controls, varied focal lengths, etc. with you?  Do you know how small and lightweight good cameras are these days?  Come on, man.  Are you a photographer or a snap shooter?  If you are a snap shooter, by all means take photos with your cell phone.  Artificially limit your creativity.  Settle for the lowest common denominator.  Fine with me.  You won't find me doing that.  I have more self-esteem than to settle for cell phone quality images when a real camera isn't much bigger but is so much more capable.  The best camera is the one that can "properly" make the images you want and need to make.

Use a zoom lens. There is nothing wrong with that.  But don't use a zoom in lieu of moving forward or backward to get the proper relationship between the foreground and background in your image.  Zooming from far away to get closer to the main subject is much different that walking up close to your subject and zooming out to change the background relationship.  Works both ways.  Best to get it right and use your feet to change the perspective. Lazy photographers don't look at foreground/background relationships when framing.  They just zoom and shoot.

Cumbres & Toltec Narrow Gauge Railroad

Photoshop can make an ordinary photograph become extraordinary.  I guess I spent the first 30+ years of my photographic career using film and working really hard to get everything right in camera.  I still do.  There are some things that Photoshop can fix that one can never fix at the time of making the image, so there is a need for programs like Photoshop or Lightroom.  But, I suspect most times, one can achieve the desired results in-camera rather than relying on heavy, time consuming editing in an image editing program.  Take your time, look, see, move, set your camera and lens to the proper settings and then make your image.  Don't run and gun, spray and pray or hurry through the process.  If the subject is worthy of making an image, take time to enjoy the process and also enjoy the subject while you are there.  How many times have you made an image of something but never really saw your subject except through a viewfinder? 

Put the camera on "P" and shoot.  That works, but why would you do that unless there were some extraordinary conditions preventing you from using your skills, experience and knowledge to control what you capture.  Why spend money on a wonderful tool only to not utilize it properly.  If you want to use your camera on "P", then I would also advise you to go out and by a Corvette but drive around only in first gear.  Same thing.

I could go on and on, but you get the gist of what I am saying.  Be a part of the entire photographic process.  Control the process.  Don't let the tools and process control you.  Satisfaction comes from doing things yourself, using your skill, understanding what it takes to make the image you see in your mind's eye and then achieving success.  There isn't much satisfaction from automating your life or your photography.  Enjoy!

Thanks for looking.
Dennis Mook