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Night Work--"...the enemy of the good (enough)."

Started 2 months ago | Photos thread
Cyril Catt Veteran Member • Posts: 5,453
Re: Night Work--"...the enemy of the good (enough)."
1

Jon_T wrote:

Cyril Catt wrote: "If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing badly" G.K. Chesterton. That's my guiding principle for snapshots!

Yep there are numerous variations of that quote. "IMO" that one has a "defeatist attitude"; i.e., set your goal low enough so you'll never be disappointed.

I prefer the (most likely the original): "Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well." Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, in a letter to his son back in 1774

As to "doing well" I've previously posted:
"... All dependent on how you want to use the image ..."
"... To each his/ her own needs/ preferences ..."

I agree. The bare Chesterton quotation is certainly open to interpretation as "If it's worth doing - anyhow will do, whilst the Earl's is "If you can't do a good job - don't bother doing it".   When I first started photography, with costly film and processing, and little pocket money, I favoured the Earl's attitude.

But now, with much more automated imaging equipment, and almost costless 'snaps'. I prefer to interpret Chesterton's maxim as "If it's an interesting / unusual / amusing / rare subject, or likely to only be available for a brief instant; or the lighting's not right / or you don't have time to set up your camera properly, or the camera's quality's not suitable - at least make your best attempt."

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Cyril

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