AlwynS
Senior Member
And to start I have to give some perspective to this:
Firstly I am a hobbyist and strictly an amateur photographer. A quite enthusiastic amateur but at the end of it still an amateur. This means that when I take photographs I do it as a hobby and really only for my own enjoyment. This gives quite a different perspective than some others would have.
Secondly: my principal area of interest is birds and particularly BIF.
The subject of this thread came to me after I was fortunate enough to be given a 12 minute long display of flying by a pair of Bald Eagles yesterday: see thread HERE They were enjoying a "standing wave" of air from an onshore wind and were really just surfing around at relatively low level and close to the walkway on the dyke next to our townhouse complex. This allowed me a lot of time to take numerous photographs (I will admit to around 550 shots!).
Now for an amateur with mid level equipment such as mine, BIF tend to be quite a challenge. But I enjoy it for many reasons: flying birds to me just seem right (and yes: I know they spend more time NOT flying than flying, but flying sort of is their big claim to fame!). Secondly I enjoy the challenge. Yes, I get many, many mediocre to bad (make that "pathetic"!) shots. But every now and then you get some that are immensely satisfying. And it is this definition of "immensely satisfying" that really is the subject of this thread.
I am an engineer, not an artist. Which many of my family and friends would say explains a lot! :-D So my understanding (and appreciation?) of art tends to be.... well, let's just say "somewhat stunted" and leave it there. This is probably why I enjoy a more technical topic such as BIF.
Major fact: In doing what I do, I enjoy "pretty". And we all know how subjective THAT is! Almost as subjective as art!
So I do not have fantastic high end equipment. By that standard I have relatively inexpensive equipment (although there are millions and millions of people all over the world who would vehemently disagree with that judgement). I do not spend days and days on getting the perfect shot. But I enjoy getting outside and trying to get a better (prettier?) shot.
But. And this is a big BUT!
I am NOT striving for perfection. We all know the saying that "perfect is the enemy of good". When I get a "good" photograph (by my standards: also read "pretty" for good), I am totally, totally happy and satisfied. For example: just one of the photographs I got yesterday:
I know this can be torn apart technically AND aesthetically/artistically. Unfortunately Bald Eagles tend to be a quite a bit of VERY white and even more VERY black. Especially when the white head is in the sun and the dark bottom of the wing is in shade. So yes, I know the DR is too limited and I could have done better with a FF camera and taking RAW images and processing better. And I know it is just a couple of birds in the sky with no background or perspective and it tells no story whatsoever. And, and, and....
But hey, guess what? I think it is pretty. Simplistic as that may be, I like it! And I am satisfied and happy.
And isn't that the point of a hobby?
--
Cheers
Alwyn
Firstly I am a hobbyist and strictly an amateur photographer. A quite enthusiastic amateur but at the end of it still an amateur. This means that when I take photographs I do it as a hobby and really only for my own enjoyment. This gives quite a different perspective than some others would have.
Secondly: my principal area of interest is birds and particularly BIF.
The subject of this thread came to me after I was fortunate enough to be given a 12 minute long display of flying by a pair of Bald Eagles yesterday: see thread HERE They were enjoying a "standing wave" of air from an onshore wind and were really just surfing around at relatively low level and close to the walkway on the dyke next to our townhouse complex. This allowed me a lot of time to take numerous photographs (I will admit to around 550 shots!).
Now for an amateur with mid level equipment such as mine, BIF tend to be quite a challenge. But I enjoy it for many reasons: flying birds to me just seem right (and yes: I know they spend more time NOT flying than flying, but flying sort of is their big claim to fame!). Secondly I enjoy the challenge. Yes, I get many, many mediocre to bad (make that "pathetic"!) shots. But every now and then you get some that are immensely satisfying. And it is this definition of "immensely satisfying" that really is the subject of this thread.
I am an engineer, not an artist. Which many of my family and friends would say explains a lot! :-D So my understanding (and appreciation?) of art tends to be.... well, let's just say "somewhat stunted" and leave it there. This is probably why I enjoy a more technical topic such as BIF.
Major fact: In doing what I do, I enjoy "pretty". And we all know how subjective THAT is! Almost as subjective as art!
So I do not have fantastic high end equipment. By that standard I have relatively inexpensive equipment (although there are millions and millions of people all over the world who would vehemently disagree with that judgement). I do not spend days and days on getting the perfect shot. But I enjoy getting outside and trying to get a better (prettier?) shot.
But. And this is a big BUT!
I am NOT striving for perfection. We all know the saying that "perfect is the enemy of good". When I get a "good" photograph (by my standards: also read "pretty" for good), I am totally, totally happy and satisfied. For example: just one of the photographs I got yesterday:
I know this can be torn apart technically AND aesthetically/artistically. Unfortunately Bald Eagles tend to be a quite a bit of VERY white and even more VERY black. Especially when the white head is in the sun and the dark bottom of the wing is in shade. So yes, I know the DR is too limited and I could have done better with a FF camera and taking RAW images and processing better. And I know it is just a couple of birds in the sky with no background or perspective and it tells no story whatsoever. And, and, and....
But hey, guess what? I think it is pretty. Simplistic as that may be, I like it! And I am satisfied and happy.
And isn't that the point of a hobby?
--
Cheers
Alwyn
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