Ken Rockwell – Hobbyists vs. Photography
Amateurs built the ark, professionals built the titanic. That pretty much sums it up.
As much as it pains me to say it(1), he has a good point here. Today, when I shoot I’m trying my best to get the shot right in camera. I think that’s as good as can be expected with digital photography, because the bits and bytes of the file must be run through a computer in order to make a print. Certainly, those times where I miraculously do get a shot right with no processing required, that feels infinitely more rewarding than knowing another trick in Photoshop. Photography should be more like that, and less like calculating Space Shuttle trajectories.
(1) He has a sizable Leica collection, tons of very expensive Nikon gear, nice European cars, shoots only with the really expensive stuff when it really matters, yet we’re all supposed to stick with the D40 forever. Amateurs should stay amateurs, don’t crowd his business, and buy all our gear through his affiliate links to further pad his wallet. It’s not a “he’s rich, I’m jealous” thing, it’s a hypocrisy thing. If the D40 were all anyone needs, that should apply to him as well, but the truth is far from it. And, his images look awful. Over-saturated is putting it mildly. That said, even he can make a good point sometimes.
