some new black and whites...

[mikezilla]

took these on a pretty crappy photo jaunt, but was still fun. and got a few

[Kosmo]

Mmmm... focus *drools*

The first one has some interesting shapes but the other two are just fillers.

[Evert]

I like the last one a lot.

[DaanO]

I'm with Kosmo. The first one fascinates, i'm not really sure what it is which is good. If i look at a photo and see what it is right away, understand it 100% i will look away and forget about it. I've seen hundreds of photos the last months (been to a few professional photo galleries) and only those that i don't understand right away will stick in my mind. Close-up photos for details with unsharp backgrounds make pretty pictures but a good photo needs to be more than just a pretty picture. You've got some great talent for photography and an awesome camera so skip the fillers and go for those really special photos. Don't take photos because you want to but wait for the one special picture you'll only see once in a while.

[mikezilla]

Don't take photos because you want to but wait for the one special picture you'll only see once in a while.

That's the single most hideous advice I think I've seen on the photography forum so far. I do take photos because I want to and love it. Why the hell wouldn't I? I have no interest in pandering to some academic crowd of snobbish photography buffoons. I don't consider any of the photos I took to be filler. I don't even understand the implication. The first photo is just an over exposure, nothing really all that special. I almost didn't post it.

I'm not trying to jump on you, but just remember that the people on this forum are having fun and posting their art. THEIR ART.

Personally I like the termites.

[DaanO]

It's a piece of advice ("hey this is what i'd do") not an order. You can ignore it if you want pfffffff. I was gonna tell you what i ment with what i wrote but i don't think i can be bothered really. Let's just say that you shouldn't take things all too literal. I didn't mean only take 1 picture a week, but more like, if you want better photos, take a few 'serious' ones and do the rest for fun. If of course you want to take better picture. That's all, i'm not some dictator telling you what to do, it's a suggestion.. Have fun with photography i guess.

[Kosmo]

What I think Daan0 was saying is, in the age of digital photography, you tend to take hundreds of pictures and look if there is anything good, compared to analog, where you take a look if there is anything good to take a picture from. I started photography with film and still use b&w film and medium format to take photos.

Just take photos, but don't lose the focus on the way, sometimes when I shoot with digital camera, I'm not taking photos, I'm documenting a happening/something and then the pictures suck.

[DaanO]

I just think that every artist is always trying to improve and i'm willing to bet that the majority of people in mapcore thinks of himself as an artist. Making photos that are more than just pretty picture but that are pictures that are pretty and surprise and have some extra quality in them that extends beyond just pretty. I'm not talking about snobistic pictures or anything but more like stuff i've seen from Mike already. Making a really good picture takes time and some thinking. When taking dozens of pictures the quality suffers. The introduction of the digital camera almost encourages to take those dozens of pictures so yeah that's what i ment. I think that if you want to make really great pictures, see those as 'your art' those pictures should be seperated from other photos. People should always seperate artwork and hobby, even if those are both photography. Else the quality suffers and nobody will improve. That's at least how i feel.

[PhilipK]

awsome contrast and focus.

I like the last one most.