Hello

[StephenBatey]

Indeed it has. But I have the night pictures to remind me 

[Oldboy]

No other photographer will see what you see as you take a photo. It therefore follows that the photo you take can't be taken by anybody else, and if you are happy with it that's all that matters. Reinardina might have only a small camera, problems with her sight but it doesn't stop her from taking cracking shots and seeing things others might miss. It's not the camera or the technical skills that makes a photo but the person who presses the shutter release button. 

[StephenBatey]

If no other photographer (why not "person?") will see what you see, haven't you failed in the final image, since they should be able to understand why you made the exposure and see or feel something equivalent to what you saw and felt? (Note the assumption in this question. I am well aware of it.)

One of my main points was that photographers are obsessed by equipment. It shouldn't have been necessary for you to make that point, and I therefore deduce that I am correct about the warped priorities photographers in general have.

As to the technical skills. We'll part company there. Yes, an artistic image will trump a technically perfect but sterile one (which covers an awful lot of what I see in galleries, both on the Internet and in high street galleries). But a technically imperfect image will still be imperfect; and the imperfections will certainly detract from the artistic impact simply because you are aware of them.

[Oldboy]

If no other photographer (why not "person?") will see what you see, haven't you failed in the final image, since they should be able to understand why you made the exposure and see or feel something equivalent to what you saw and felt? (Note the assumption in this question. I am well aware of it.)

I used the term photographer as we are talking about photographs not snaps. You are getting confused about composition which we should all see in the final image and perception which applies to the photographer taking the image. For example, Abbers sees the photo in black and white whilst I see the same scene in colour. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate the finished photo and the skill involved but, it still isn't what I saw looking at the same scene. It doesn't mean Abbers is wrong or I'm wrong rather, that we see thing differently.

One of my main points was that photographers are obsessed by equipment. It shouldn't have been necessary for you to make that point, and I therefore deduce that I am correct about the warped priorities photographers in general have.

I didn't make that point at all, rather I was referring to the fact that any camera can take great shots. This doesn't mean that all cameras can take all the different shots, as a point and shoot isn't good enough for taking pictures of Swifts flying.

As to the technical skills. We'll part company there. Yes, an artistic image will trump a technically perfect but sterile one (which covers an awful lot of what I see in galleries, both on the Internet and in high street galleries). But a technically imperfect image will still be imperfect; and the imperfections will certainly detract from the artistic impact simply because you are aware of them.

Again, you are reading things I didn't write. A bad photo is a bad photo but you don't need to know about the 'rule of thirds', to take a good balanced photo, to some people it just seem right. 

[Graham]

  Welcome Stephen. I can see we're going to get along just fine! 

[Reinardina]

No other photographer will see what you see as you take a photo. It therefore follows that the photo you take can't be taken by anybody else, and if you are happy with it that's all that matters. Reinardina might have only a small camera, problems with her sight but it doesn't stop her from taking cracking shots and seeing things others might miss. It's not the camera or the technical skills that makes a photo but the person who presses the shutter release button. 

Thank you for this OB!

I think I'll bow out now, as I haven't been 'into photography' long enough to have developed strong opinions on anything.
I'm a simple soul who 'likes what she likes,' and happily continues on the learning curve, gleaning a bit of wisdom here, a valuable tip there, till ... well, I don't know till when.

[Jediboy]

Oldboy makes some good points here.

Different people enjoy photography for different reasons and want different things from their hobby.
Whatever their experience or skill level, surely the key point is that they enjoy it.

[Graham]

No other photographer will see what you see as you take a photo. It therefore follows that the photo you take can't be taken by anybody else, and if you are happy with it that's all that matters. Reinardina might have only a small camera, problems with her sight but it doesn't stop her from taking cracking shots and seeing things others might miss. It's not the camera or the technical skills that makes a photo but the person who presses the shutter release button. 

Thank you for this OB!

I think I'll bow out now, as I haven't been 'into photography' long enough to have developed strong opinions on anything.
I'm a simple soul who 'likes what she likes,' and happily continues on the learning curve, gleaning a bit of wisdom here, a valuable tip there, till ... well, I don't know till when.

  I would say that makes you "Open minded", a major asset for a photographer I would say. I find folks with "Strong opinions" to be a bit, you know, blinkered, surely a drawback for a photographer. 

[Reinardina]

No other photographer will see what you see as you take a photo. It therefore follows that the photo you take can't be taken by anybody else, and if you are happy with it that's all that matters. Reinardina might have only a small camera, problems with her sight but it doesn't stop her from taking cracking shots and seeing things others might miss. It's not the camera or the technical skills that makes a photo but the person who presses the shutter release button. 

Thank you for this OB!

I think I'll bow out now, as I haven't been 'into photography' long enough to have developed strong opinions on anything.
I'm a simple soul who 'likes what she likes,' and happily continues on the learning curve, gleaning a bit of wisdom here, a valuable tip there, till ... well, I don't know till when.

  I would say that makes you "Open minded", a major asset for a photographer I would say. I find folks with "Strong opinions" to be a bit, you know, blinkered, surely a drawback for a photographer. 

You've got me blushing here Graham.

[jinky]

Welcome Stephen. I suspect most of us feel that we don`t fit the standard photographic forum profile - no-one wants to be catagorised  .
I don`t know what the standard is to be honest. I don`t see a lot on here of peopel obsessing / arguing / challenging about gear and equipment. You get requests for information about all sorts of things photography and non-photography related met with a genuine attempt to help by those that may know a little more than the one asking which I find useful. Other than that it is a place to hang out and share your snaps/ images / artwork - call it what you will. I shoot for myself and for customers daft enough to book me but even then shoot what interests me alongside any client requests. I started in film more years ago than I care to remember, went the B& W self printing route and avoided digital until satisfied I could get a camera that at least got close enough to film and must say the learning in getting into digital processing opened up a whole new world to me that I would never have got in film days. I don`t expect people to see any meaning in what I shoot - sometimes there is an emotion there for me , other times a memory but as it`s for me I don`t really care what others see.
The great thing about the explosion of photography for me is that people can record personal histories and share them through social media / print - even i9f the abuse of that leads to situations such as when at Whitby last week when I was showered with small pebbles from the prom way up above with shouts of "Hoy - paedo with the camera" from 2 small boys above.Quite what was paedo about shooting ships at sea just then is beyond me but maybe I am lacking in levels of sexual deviancy 

BT tried to find you on Flickr with a name search in people to see your stuff  but no sign. You can embed it in your signature

[Alfonso_Frisk]

Best bit of advice I was given is -
"Remember, good photography has very little to do with the camera – it's just a recording device – your eyes and brain are what matter most."

[Oldboy]

The great thing about the explosion of photography for me is that people can record personal histories and share them through social media / print - even i9f the abuse of that leads to situations such as when at Whitby last week when I was showered with small pebbles from the prom way up above with shouts of "Hoy - paedo with the camera" from 2 small boys above.Quite what was paedo about shooting ships at sea just then is beyond me but maybe I am lacking in levels of sexual deviancy 

Funny you should say that but, I was called that and a perv by two chaps in Dartmouth Park a couple of weeks ago. I had just taken a picture of a woman sitting on a bench in the sunlight checking her phone. A woman around forty I might add. I went over and explained to the two chaps that I took photos in the park for the newsletter/website of the Friends of the park. They told me to go over and speak to the woman which I did. The first words she said were, " Are they giving you grief." I explained who I was and where she could see the results of the shot but she was OK about it. I then went back to the two chaps who said sorry and then asked me to take their photo. 

[StephenBatey]

BT tried to find you on Flickr with a name search in people to see your stuff  but no sign. You can embed it in your signature

I just tried and found me. StephenBatey - no space - and make you you specify search members. A general search does fail .

I'm not putting up a flickr link because I find the new flickr layout terrible, and disapprove of my images being displayed that way. I copied them all over to ipinfinty (which looks exactly as flickr used to) and will remove the flickr account in due course.http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenbatey/

I'm afraid I take the view that a person's opinions and advice should be judged on their own merits and the reasons behind them; I've found that many people prefer to take a short cut and look at the photos, decide if they're any good, and accept or discard the photographer's opinions/advice accordingly. I don't believe that (for example) you have to be able to play better tennis than Andy Murray to act as his coach; and I even saw a TV program where a football coach said that he didn't think that a coach needed to have been a player. Be that as it may, I react adversely to the idea that my views are to be accepted or rejected based on irrelevancies (in my eyes).

I know that you didn't say or imply anything that required this response - but I have met it several times on other forums, and only created a flickr account in the first place to shut someone up.

[jinky]

That`s what I did Stephen - and just did again searching all Flickr members / people   with your name and no result again. Bit odd! Very defensive / bristly there! I was merely looking to see the style of photos that you shoot and have no interest in attacking people`s views whatever level of photography they are at. You seem to assume I would be looking to then criticise opinions based on your photography. Not my style.
Maybe you have been hanging out on the wrong forums if you expect that and you`ll find it more tolerant here - if a little quiet of late.

PS - used your link and some nice shots there including a few from Yorkshire where I now live. Took a similar shot of the Whitby pots last week - we must be similar types 

[StephenBatey]

Sorry for being bristly - or perhaps even beastly 

You're right, it is a defence reaction brought about by experiences on other forums.

Who knows, I may even eventually decide that I can get away with making a reply to people who disagree with me without expecting to be told that that displays arrogance (because I can't accept that I'm wrong and need to defend my position) and browbeating (because I give reasons and try to convince).

I have come to expect that sort of thing...

I have no idea why our flickr searches work so differently. I just tried using Go ogle, and was fascinated to find a page showing my greatest hits - well, my most popular flickr photos according to flickr users!

(Note: I spell checked this, and decided to accept the correction for Google which appealed to me. Is it accurate, I wonder?)