Somebody asked me before on one thread here and that was at the time when I still used to give critics on images that I should explain what I mean by tourists shuts! (I’m smarter now and don’t give any critics any longer)
Now the time is here and I do explain what I mean! As you probably know by now I’m using a whole range of cameras and I own a couple 8x10’s too. Mainly I use one and that is an old Liberty because the weight! All equipment around this is a light weight as possible because when I’m out I’m not stoppable and walk a lot’s of kilometres with my camera in the forest and on the fields! I hate mud and I’m afraid of quicksand! I do believe that you do understand why!
Now of course everything is closer to your car than 500 meters is a tourist shut! I have unfortunately seen this in many sites and sometimes I think that a lots of those LF, and ULF should considering to walk around with a 135 mm camera and learn photography because the images they showing says absolutely nothing.
A bus with full of tourists stops for a pause somewhere on the road with all those cameras and taking pictures of the scenery. It's nothing wrong with that but, when you arrive on very same spot than it does!
Just driving around with your car and stop now and than you probably nothing else but just a tourist taking some shuts! You know, things like this give a bad name to the art! People don’t want to see things they already have seen before. They want to see things they haven’t seen, can’t see or have no time to see.
Scenarios like not carry your camera further than outside of your house or studio and taking images of dried flowers in the vase or some useless other things subjects which we all know it's existens and you can see in a millions don’t get me exited! A museum does this all around in the world to document things for future generations! Or alternative printing process to make in it more interesting still it's a poor image but in a different dress! Some of those even miss treat the print to justify it as art and showing a failure as some kind of victory!
I like Weston as he was a good printer but pepper #264 not carry me far! I mean one could have waited until find that right pepper not to take hundreds of images to choose one out of it! Do you know what I mean?
I understand that sometimes you do ramble on things but to be a photographer is the art of seeing and the painting with light and it doesn’t matter which camera you use! You are not selling grains you are selling the content but, a higher quality can be achieved with Lf cameras. That means of course you must offer and suffer you must hold your body in good shape as there is weight you carry around, buy a very good shoe to be able to walk. And last of course the urge of creating must be there!
Actually I need some half an hour before I psychically begin to see when I’m out or in the streets! It’s like walking off all other things and cleaning my mind to see the important thing around me! It really doesn’t matter where I’m on the street or on the field it’s just a different tool! Believe me I can feel totally alone with a hundreds of people around me and just concentrate on what I’m post to do. Show what I see and how I see it!
So my advice is to build your equipment which you are able or willing to carry around miles and miles because your image is probably right out there behind that hill where no roads lead!
I think and this will stay on me that photographers should work a lot around their close surroundings because people let me tell you one thing! I have waited for almost a year to get the right light conditions to get one of my image and visited a some others many times before I actually took a shut of it and I still have some which I’m watching!
I never go out with out a camera because one shut a day is better than no shut at all!
So people keep up a good work and create some beautiful art!
Yours Frankie!