Copying photos - at least the ideas. Do u do it?

I struggle with this.

I love looking at pictures that people post here and on other forums for C&C. I admire their composition and their 'creativity'.

I need a more creative eye. Is this something that can be learned? Is it ok to 'imitate' art?

I am getting better at taking pictures of the 'details' that we pass by in everyday life.

For example, I saw someone post a shot of a fallen autumn maple leaf on wet asphalt. It may have been here or at FM, or from a gallery in someone's sig. I can't remember

Yesterday, I had my camera with me, as I was going to take some pictures as a favour for my mother-in-laws friend for a ebay auction. I got to work, and got outta the car. There was a red maple leaf on the asphalt beside my car and it was raining. I was late for work, so I didn't get a chance to snap it.

It turns out it rained most of the day, and when I got outta work, the leaf was still there, and the asphalt was still wet. I metered ( composed) and snapped a few shots. (It's hard to meter asphalt quickly while your coworkers are wondering why u're snapping a pic of the ground.). Anyways's I got the shot, cropped it to 8x10, sharpenned it a little in PS CS2 (smart sharpen) and it is now going up as part of a set of 3 that are going to be hung up in our bedroom ( honey -do list)

When I saw the 'original', I thought, I need that shot. It would go perfect in our bedroom. My dilemma is, I don't know if I would have seen that shot yesterday morning if I had not seen it posted on the web by another photographer.

P

How often do u copy other's shots?

I have wondered about the same thing, and it would be interesting to see what others think about it.

Personally, I seem to do this a good amount - when I saw the water droplet threads on this forum, I just had to try for myself There are many times I see something and think - wow, that is a great idea, I wish I had thought of that. The watch in the "timepieces" minichallenge is a good recent example. This also goes for techniques and actions I pick up from here - gothic glow, midnight sepia, etc. General photoshop workflows, reversing lenses, etc. That's just part of learning.

Can you really learn composition in particular this way? I think so. It does train the eye and expand the way you look at things. With time, this can help one capture more original images. I certainly hope it'll help me

Yah, when I C&C a good image, I try to take mental notes of how I could take that shot, or ways I could improve to get that shot.

Posing people is something I need help with......desparately.

P

I frequently get at least ideas of what kind of images to look for. When I see something that strikes me, it gives me the incentive I need to go out and try the same thing. I think we all do this to some degree.

A few years ago I started to lose interest in what I was doing with my photography, and getting bored. Yet, I loved photography - and my hands would "itch" to hold the camera and push that shutter button, but I never could find what I was looking for.....didn't even know what that was.

I was always amazed at what photographers could do with people on the streets, but I was afraid to shoot people. However, I gave it a try a few times, it was challenging, but I loved it! Now most of what I do is street photography. If I hadn't looked a lot at what others were doing, how they did it, what they shot, I may not be a photographer today!

Just my input...and experience.

Maria
--

Based on our born abilities, we all have a range for everything we attempt in life. There's probably nothing we can do about that range. We are each born with that restriction for everthing wo attempt.

That's what I believe.

Now, having said that, our goals should be to bring ourselves to the upper portion of our range for things that are important to us.

These probably include earning a living and hobbies.

So, if you can move a bit higher in your range for photography, all the better for you.

Now, you may get an idea by looking at what somebody else did. You probably won't copy it exactly. You may just add portions.

Then again. How do you know the person you think you are copying didn't get their ideas from somebody else.

There are probably a relatively small number of very innovative, creative people. We must get our ideas and inspiration from then and use this to improve ourselves.

JMHO.

where you get it from is not the issue its what you do with it that matters.

When I was training as an illustrator we were instructed to find an artist we liked and copy (pastiche) his/ her work. That is how we learned new
and interesting styles. There is nothing wrong in being inspired to emulate

or even copy someone elses work as long as what you eventually end up with is your own interpretation and eventual style of photography.

cheers

phil
--
http://www.pbase.com/digitaldreams

Good artists copy, great artists steal
--

I think the whole purpose of this forum is for everyone to learn and share with each other. As long as you are not ripping someone off commercially, but using their vision, to inspire your own, everyone wins.

--
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JPLane said:

Good artists copy, great artists steal

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, it's not the whole truth and you'll probably never become a great artist if you follow this adage.

Closer to the truth: there are common principles about composition, color use etc that can be followed to create an above average piece of art. You will become a good artist if you master these.

An example in photography is for example the horizon rule that should be shot at two/thirds instead of dead center.

To become a great artist, you have to know when to break these rules in order to achieve something entirely new. It's because they see something that others don't see, that they are able to create a master piece despite using a dead center horizon. (Seeing the result in hindsight, some would consider this stealing an old idea without grasping the full implications of what the artist has accomplished)

For the OP:

My advice is look at other photographs to improve your own technique and learn the possibilities the medium has to offer. But for you own subject matter and style, it's best to seek your inspiration elsewhere or you'll easily risk falling in the trap of copying others.

If you're content with just the technical side of photography, then you can pretty much ignore my ramblings and put all you efforts in creating the perfect water drop, bird shot or a macro of an insect. (Unless you can find some new angle to this type of photography)

Otherwise: You have you're own unique life and world view. Look for the things that are important to in your life and get your inspiration from there. Then try to find a way to visualise it in the form a photograph. Maybe the most important thing you'll need to learn is seeing things most other people simply overlook.

A good exercise that helped me a long and should keep you busy for at least a month:

Week one: Textures. Take you camera along with you everywhere and seek out textures you come across in your daily life. Wallpapers, clothing, leather seats, asphalt, etc... and photograph it.

Week two: Pick a color. Photograph everything you come across that has that particular color.

Week three: Rhythm. Look for objects, scenes that depict rhythm. For example a row of trees lined together.

Week four: Contrast. Seek out scenes that depict contrast. light/dark, small/large, open/closed, there/not there etc...

If possible, find an experienced photographer to help you make a selection of the best photo's after each week. Take as many photo's as you can and then bring down your selection to 10 pictures or less. Filtering your photo's is just as important as taking them.

Lot's of luck!

Take a course from your local college?

--Erik

You may have heard of an English poet and playwright named William Shakespeare. You might know that he's considered one of -- no, THE -- greatest author in the English language, ever.

You probably don't know that very few of his ideas were his alone. The reason they called it the Renaissance (rebirth) is that EVERYONE during that time was basically imitating the Greeks and Romans. And, that's considered one of the high points artistically in the last millenium. Yes, it's ok to imitate. In fact, it should be encouraged.

Study the masters, but remember not to lose yourself.

--
Conglomoreum is dead! Long live Conglomoreum!
http://www.artistlies.com

Sometimes I just happen to find myself looking at the same scene I've seen in someone else's photo that I liked, and take the shot - primarily to see if I can achieve a simlilar result.

An example is the second shot here:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=20354795

--
Paul.
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Kit on profile.

Hi Katania...Nice to hear from you again!

About Picasso, I think what he meant was:

"Good artists copy other's work, great artists steal their creative visions"

...in the sense that great artists are capable to adopt previous creative stances and fully integrated them in their work in a seamless way.

PK

--
“Loose praise may feed my ego but constructive criticism advances my skills”
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http://www.pbase.com/photokhan
(Pbase Supporter)

I think all artists look at the work of others for ideas that they can incorporate into their own work. Even painters do this as shown in the picture I snapped below at the National Gallery of Art.



Jim
http://www.pbase.com/jcassatt

The picture you posted as nothing to do with creative emulation or repetition.

These guys do that to perfect their technical skills on oil (or other mediums) painting.

What that guy is trying to do is to find out if he has the technical merits (not artistic competence) to duplicate the artist's prowess in handling the medium.

It is the equivalent of us seeing a particular photographic technique, studying it and then trying to successfully apply it.

Copying artistic style is another different matter...like, during the 80's, several architects started to use Pieter Mondriaan's blue, white, red and yellow squares separated by black frames all over their interior designs.

PK

--
“Loose praise may feed my ego but constructive criticism advances my skills”
************************************************************
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http://www.pbase.com/photokhan
(Pbase Supporter)

...Just saw your photos from Mongolia. As Patrik would say: "Beautiful"!

These photo alone are worth the whole trip:

http://www.katania.be/mongolia/mongolia059.html

http://www.katania.be/mongolia/mongolia081.html

http://www.katania.be/mongolia/mongolia088.html

http://www.katania.be/mongolia/mongolia094.html

http://www.katania.be/mongolia/mongolia116.html

http://www.katania.be/mongolia/mongolia124.html

http://www.katania.be/mongolia/mongolia165.html

PK

(Some free proofing: photo 31 has the caption truncated. Photo 151 has "it" instead of "eat" in the caption)

--
“Loose praise may feed my ego but constructive criticism advances my skills”
************************************************************
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http://www.pbase.com/photokhan
(Pbase Supporter)

You are quite right, but I couldn't resist posting it.

Jim

PhotoKhan said:

Hi Katania...Nice to hear from you again!

Click to expand...

Thx, I'm back after three weeks of China. Took lots of photo's again, so once I get them all sorted and online, I'll be posting it here too.

PhotoKhan said:

About Picasso, I think what he meant was:

"Good artists copy other's work, great artists steal their creative
visions"

...in the sense that great artists are capable to adopt previous
creative stances and fully integrated them in their work in a
seamless way.

Click to expand...

Yes, something like that. Artists like Van Gogh created a revolution by doing something completely new. In Van Gogh's case, he was already dead before people started to understand his work.

The art that followed was more of evolution, inspired by what had come before it, but in turn also inspired the art that followed. But with each step, the artists we still remember today brought something new to the table.

In my field of work, I see a lot of designers that use that saying as an excuse to copy what other designers have done before, but forgetting to add something of themselves in to it. The result is a lot of sameness that gets boring very quickly.

Back to photography: I do feel that most of the attention in these forum is spent on the technical side of picture taking. Which is understandable, it's a lot easier to explain. But it would be nice if the more experienced photographers here would share where they get their inspiration from.

As for me and my inspiration: the photo's I enjoy taking most are impressions of things that happen around me. I'm more interested in capturing the mood rather then depicting how things actually were. As far as I'm concerned, a photo is allowed to tell a completely different story. Sort of like uncovering a hidden world the participants of my photo's didn't know existed around them.