"Instinctive" versus "Deliberate" Photography

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

One of the most beneficial outcomes of the radical transformation of photography from film to digital gear and media, is that photography has now been opened up to millions of individuals who, in the past, would never have thought about taking pictures except at some family functions or on vacations.  That is evidenced by the fact, in mine and others' experience, most people we knew had a single roll of film in their camera for a year or more.  Yes, a single roll of film, with either 24 or 36 exposures, for over a year!  That now sounds incredible, but that was the norm for many years.  Several sources I checked estimate that about 3.5 trillion photographs have been taken since the dawn of photography.  The estimates also indicate that every two minutes, more photographs are made than in the entire 19th century.  Additionally, during the last 12 months, about 10% of all photographs taken were made.  That means that 350 billion photographs were taken last year!  Three Hundred and Fifty Billion!  350,000,000,000!  That represents a lot of electrons and a little bit of silver!

I used to resent the fact that I had worked so hard for so many years to learn the theories behind exposure, densitometry, composition, light, how shutter speeds effect the image, apertures, depth of field, proper development of film for the contrast of the scene, making prints while understanding the proper paper grade and how the paper developer not only affected the paper's contrast, but also the paper color AND doing all this in an archival manner so my images would have the best chance of lasting throughout my lifetime without staining or fading.  And it goes on and on.  Needless to say, I spent years as a journeyman trying to understand and be proficient at all aspects involving photography.  I loved every minute of it.

Now, I see many wonderful images taken by individuals with an inexpensive mobile telephone or basic digital camera and kit lens that put most images made in the history of photography to shame.  Part of that is the technology and part of it is instinct.  Which brings me to my point.

The other day I was thinking about all of the wonderful images I see all over the web, again, taken with mobile phones and inexpensive digital cameras by individuals who have had absolutely no training in photography.  I would also bet that most of these individuals have never given photography, as art and craft, a second thought.  They just see something or walk up to a scene on vacation, whip out their electronic device, snap a picture, then move on.  No thoughts on composition, exposure, position of the sun, ISO, aperture, shutter speed, color balance or anything else we enthusiasts think about before we push that shutter button.  What gives?  How do they do it?

I think there is something called instinctive photography.  The opposite of that would be deliberative photography.  These individuals who walk up, snap and walk away with a wonderful image can instinctively point the camera in the right direction, compose the image without thinking, level the horizon when necessary and push the shutter button without giving it more than a second's thought.  They have some innate ability to see the right composition, subconsciously understand timing and, by utilizing the advanced available technology, walk away with wonderful images.  They are, as our friends on the radio Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers say, are "unencumbered by the thought process."  It just happens instinctively for them.

Here is my quickly devised definition (which I'm sure can be improved) of an instinctive photographer:

Instinctive Photographer:  "One who is able to create technically and aesthetically images, that are generally accepted as good, by nature and without training or engaging in the photographic thought process."

The rest of us have to work hard to accomplish what these people do without even thinking.  We are very deliberate with our photography.  We spend time thinking about the time of day, direction, intensity and quality of the light and the use of tripods when necessary; thinking about the optimal shutter speed and aperture; deliberate over whether to accept the camera's recommendation for exposure or feel that we must override the camera's recommendation by overexposing or underexposing the scene as well as patiently wait until we think the moment is perfect, before pressing the shutter.  We think this process through using all the knowledge and experience we have acquired, sometimes for decades.

Deliberate Photographer: "One who, in one's approach to photography, thoroughly thinks through the process, contemplating every aspect of the craft by calling on all of one's knowledge and experience as well as using all tools available, to create photographs."

I don't hold anything against those instinctive photographers.  I'm just happy they are out there enjoying the craft (without even knowing it, of course), making memories and recording their lives and goings on for posterity.  Good for them.  Twenty-five years ago, they would not have been recording those important aspects of their lives and sharing them with family, friends and strangers.

This revolution in photography has a lot of downside and a lot of upside.  I think the biggest upside is the ability of people to capture their lives and share them.  For that, I think we all benefit.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


All content on this blog is © 2014 Dennis A. Mook.  All Rights Reserved.  Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution.  Permission may be granted for commercial use.  Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.