4.03.2025

"If you give someone a hammer then everything looks like a nail." I have a photographic corollary that says, "If you give a photographer a big empty memory card everything looks like a photographic opportunity."

 If you have a rationalization for why you enjoy digital better than shooting film you might think of this analogy that a highly successful female photographer once told me when I asked her why she was still carrying around her medium format camera. 


She said, "The difference between a big, wonderful film camera and a digital camera is like the difference between one of those all you can eat buffets and really fine dining. In the bargain buffets the people rush to the serving lines and pile their plates high with lots and lots of mediocre food. Then they sit down and stuff themselves. It's hardly a unique experience, not one you'll remember with fondness, and nothing stands out as special. But, in a really fine restaurant with a talented and artistic chef you go for the experience of trying delicacies and masterpieces. You will not fill your plate but you will have a unique experience, the flavors of which will infuse and enrich your life, and memories, for years to come."

She went on to say as she put her camera into a straw basket and got ready to bike home, "I can't always afford the fine dining experience. Sometimes I just need to eat because I'm hungry. So we need both kinds of restaurants. But the times when art meets food are the times when I feel like I've had an experience that will subtly change my life. The rest of the times I'm just placated until I'm hungry again and go off to refill my plate with inconsequential food."

"But what does this have to do with my question?" I asked.

As she peddled off on her bicycle she turned over her shoulder and suggested, "Isn't photography a lot like food?"

1 comment:

  1. Your headline was somewhat addressed in a recent James Popsys video, where he pledged to be shoot more carefully, to greatly reduce the number of shots taken to achieve the desired photo. I can be guilty of overshooting. I took around 1500 photos at an airshow two summers ago. I figured I would be more disciplined about my shooting when I returned last summer. HA! I took around 4000 photos. Some discipline!

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