Photography is also artistry. And artistry is not something that can be containerized by rules.
Yeah... I think that you're getting the wrong message here. The term "rules" is perhaps a poor one and a better way of thinking of it would be of building a framework of different ideas that CAN work very well. The goal then is to develop to a point where you have a sense of which compositional ideas from the framework that you've developed are going to work best in a particular situation. The idea that learning and understanding the "rule of thirds" somehow will hamstring the photographer into overusing it is really missing the point of all of this. The point is that you use utilize these concepts when they're appropriate. It's just like a carpenter: he knows when it's most appropriate to drive a screw rather than a nail and has practice with each of these techniques so that he's most effective no matter what technique is being used.
If you only learn a few compositional techniques and use them over and over again, your work is likely to become stale rather quickly. If you lean a lot about composition though then you'll have lots to draw upon and then the quality of what you do is likely to be much more consistent then if you aren't putting any thought at all into what your doing. The process is really no different than that of a jazz musician who though it may appear that they're working off of nothing but pure inspiration when they're playing (that's the idea!), the truth is that before they got to that place they really needed to understand much about music. You learn and then that knowledge becomes an almost subliminal part of the process so that it will appear that you're not working from any kind of knowledge at all...A photographer who has no knowledge of the medium might come up with some decent photos by accident (it is certainly possible to do that in this medium) but unless they've bothered to learn some things about the medium, both technically and aesthetically, either from trial and error or research then the good stuff that they've done is unlikely to be repeatable...
You know that many photographers have never used the auto-scene features on their cameras. You know why? They feel that those things are for beginners. And it's a shame too, because they're occasionally a delight.
I think that you're really making a stretch to connect the idea of folks having fixed notions of composition with unwillingness to play with some scene modes on their cameras. I know that for me, I much prefer to have a greater degree of control in the effects that I might apply to an image. I just fail to see how this is so much having a knee jerk opinion on such things as just haveing a differnt preference of how I like to work... Nice try though!
Some cameras can be set up to make very useable JPEG shots. But most people in a forum won't accept that, or allow anyone else to accept such a notion.
I accept that 100%! I just don't agree that it makes you a better or worse photographers. I happen to enjoy the post processing part of it and want more control over the images than what I'd be able to get with a JPEG. I freely admit though that there are photograhers out there who are producing work that is much more impressive than my own and shooting JPEGs. It seems to me that you're conflating the idea that others don't agree with you that there's more skill somehow of "getting the JPEG right in the camera," with the idea that those folks also don't have any respect for those that shoot JPEGs. I guess that I don't have that binary, "one way is going to clearly be better than the other" view on lots of things... It's merely a personal preference as far as I'm concerned.
The webpage as a whole described a man who had learned photography from people such as those who enforce their will over others here- Who would mock, insult, and ridicule anyone who disagreed with them. He learned photography just as most of us learned it; by force. We come here ignorant and eager for knowledge, and we all get force-fed a bunch of technical nonsense.
Well... I've studied both graphic design and photography formally and it wasn't my experience that learning either was really all that dogmatic. With both, it seemed that I had teachers who taught some concepts and best practices but who also left room for individual creativity. Learning and becoming really dogmatic about the subject doesn't have to be the case. Often learning about something can actually open your mind to the possibilities as well as helping one develop a working method that helps one to attain a more consistent level of quality in their work.
Because some folks here seem to preach a really dogmatic way of doing photography, doesn't mean that learning something about the process necessarily means that you need to follow their advice. I just don't quite see at as the binary, dogma vs freedom argument that you seem to be making...
The only thing that the rule of thirds does is put a box around your art. It's not a frame either, it's a prison. Do not go past this. It prevents. It shapes something that should be unshapeable. It tries to quantify emotion with math. It is the antithesis of artistry. It is the opposite of what you want. And what you want... That's easy. Freedom.
As I've said, it's merely just one of many things to think about and yes if you ONLY think about the rule of thirds when you shoot then it certainly is a prison.
"The camera likes you". I'm sure you've heard of this. It's much like that. When you are free, you point the camera wherever you will. You use your mind to make it look right, but you use your heart too. It isn't a blind guess, it's intuitive creativity.
The idea of intuition though can come from some learning: see the above example of the jazz musician. Knowledge and intuition can co exist and this seems like the strongest space to work in.
The rules of thirds and almost everything else that is based on equations lacks emotion.
No... the emotion is the x-factor that the artist brings to the work. An effective composition or any kind of technical knowhow doesn't have to negate the emotion of a piece. In fact, employing some tecnical or compositional knowhow can actually help convey the emotion that the artist is trying to put fourth in the work. Again, the example of the jazz musician, there can be plenty of emotion happening but yet there's an understanding of the mechanics too... the musician understands how certain combinations of notes and certain rhythmic phrasing can effect the emotion... so that's all part of it
Photography is not that complicated.
True, it can be very simple. it depends on what you want to do though, if your vision requires a certain aesthetic then this might be a little toucher then "simple." Also, if you want to be able to get consistently repeatable effects so that you can pre-visualize what you want and come close to getting that, then this can be a bit more compicated.
The reality is that some people really do have a better eye.
Yes... but we can learn how to se better. I feel like I've done that and lots of other folks would claim the same experience. To some degree the potential that we have is inmate, but we aren't necessarily realizing that potential if we don't make some concerted efforts to learn something about the medium that we're working in. Some folks will pick up some things fast and others who end up creating really great work had to make much more of an effort to get there... so the idea of the "instant genius" seems like a rather naive idea of how artists develop. I've seen just the oposite of that plenty of times.
The reality is that some people actually do have talent and others do not.
Yes... but to realize that "talent" it might take much more effort for some people. Again the idea that any kind of ability is going to be obvious from the get go is a bit simple minded.
The reality is that photography is easy. You're not painting anything from scratch. Just learn a little bit about cameras and if you have any talent at all, you can take excellent pictures too. You'll change over time, your work will mature, and that's all.
If you're serious about the medium, you might bother to study it and learn some things. If you're an intelligent, creative sort of person you'll be able to use this information to improve what you do rather than to let it narrow your artistic vision.
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my flickr:
www.flickr.com/photos/128435329@N08/
