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[tedgrant at shaw.ca (tedgrant at shaw.ca)]

Mark the Rabiner offered:

>> Mark Rabiner <mark at rabinergroup.com> wrote:

> Unfortunately the show and tell of pix on the LUG is done on a very very
low evel. I find it amazing that so many of us are experts on financial areas
of photography but have never taken a class in photography of any kind
ever. 
Never had a portfolio or "tray". I think people who have other hobbies take
them more seriously. Leisure time is 10X more valuable than work time.
But it would seem that photography is for very lazy people who like to
shuffle around an area of their personal total net worth.

In any photography class I ever took at any level a teacher would lay out a
ramework of how criticism was done in class. It was not a mindless pat on
the back thing of people showing each other their kids and their flowers in
their garden or the cute girls in the neighborhood. That gets dealt with
after the first class and never seen again. We need to disenthrall
ourselves. See the big picture. Get with the program. Work it.<<<<<

Hi Rab,

Let's have a look at this as buddies all these many years. :-) No intention 
of pissing you off as we've been buddies too many years for either of us to 
get that way with one another! However! ;-) Maybe a different view point?

>>> Unfortunately the show and tell of pix on the LUG is done on a very very
low evel. I find it amazing that so many of us are experts on financial areas
of photography but have never taken a class in photography of any kind
ever.<<<<<<<<<<<


Oh sometimes there's a shocker or two but generally as a group most of the 
pictures are ok as we're not dealing with everyone having the professional 
years of experience you and I have. No I don't mean yer an old fart.... 
that's reserved for me! :-) Most of the crew are basically amateurs, or some 
who did it for a living but today they are loose and cool in a form of 
retirement and don't really have to dot the i's and tweak the levels for 
perfection, but have fun making exposures. And the fun of showing their 
exposures to other like minded folks.

As far as finances? I find some of that information helpful, obviously not 
all. Some of these folks were involved in the financial world so their 
expertise can be valuable at times, but we don't see it other than at times 
a financial topic triggers a comment.

And I can say without hesitation that I've given far more lectures and 
critiques than I've ever sat through myself listening to someone tell me 
how, what for and "taking a photography lesson." And when I did attend a 
"class" over the years only created a greater sense of photo confusion than 
did me any good. WHY? Quite simply because some people can teach and others 
just stand there and repeat what they've read in a book without any real 
world life experience. Or they get all techie!

And I can quite openly say since my first days in joining the LUG I have 
learned more cool photography things here than I ever learned taking a 
class. 

Besides my high school motto was... "We learn by doing!" And that means even 
though we have some bent photos here on occasion the folks posting receive 
critiques and they improve. My goodness we've seen that on many occasions 
over the years and folks admitting it.

We as seasoned veterans' of this craft may look at some and think ... "Oh 
Crap not another flower or cat or whatever repeated." 
But the poster may receive encouragement and his or her next posting is a 
marvelous B&W image that blows everyone away!

Yep right about now yer thinking... naw you wouldn't, would you because 
we're buddies! But both of us have looked and swallowed hard while viewing 
some images on the screen. Best bet when that happens??? Pass along a quick 
note of encouragement or potential "how to correction." Yep I know you do 
and so do I. WHY? Well as I said we're the seasoned veterans with the 
experience so best to swallow hard and offer a tiny bit of how to correction 
to an on screen friend.

>>>Never had a portfolio or "tray". I think people who have other hobbies 
>>>take
them more seriously. Leisure time is 10X more valuable than work time.
But it would seem that photography is for very lazy people who like to
shuffle around an area of their personal total net worth<

Another confession: 
I started photography 1959 and I never had a portfolio or tray to show until 
1982! Honest! I suppose my published works were my portfolio, my good 
fortune. As far as being lazy at any time in my photo career is unthinkable 
and shuffling about? I really don't think so. Being serious about it 
compared to others? Be in my way at the wrong moment of a shoot and I'd not 
hesitate for one split second to kick the person solidly in the butt! Not 
shooting? "I'm joe cool." ;-) Camera to eye and he becomes a killer monster 
if a body creates a distraction at the wrong moment or the right moment my 
trigger finger applies pressure on the shutter release!

I don't really think photo people are lazy or not serious! Oh sure there are 
always people who dabble, so that maybe a sort of non-serious type. But that 
doesn't make that person lazy, it just means that's their level of interest. 
No problem with that as we all have more interest in some things than 
others. These days for me no matter what my mind tries to motivate me 
into......... I'm a damn waste of sitting about, waiting and wondering where 
the next assignment of my life will be. Yep I'm still plugging away shooting 
as the medical situations come up. Each in their own time and my ability as 
long as I can hold a camera steady in my hands. That surely does not make me 
a lazy photo person. My net worth? Hell man that's another tale all 
together! :-) 

>>>In any photography class I ever took at any level a teacher would lay out 
>>>a
ramework of how criticism was done in class. It was not a mindless pat on
the back thing of people showing each other their kids and their flowers in
their garden or the cute girls in the neighborhood. That gets dealt with
after the first class and never seen again. We need to disenthrall
ourselves. See the big picture. Get with the program. Work it.<<<<<

You're quite correct, however this isn't a "class with one teacher" and a 
bunch of folks sitting about a round table, beer in hand learning 
photography. This is a wonderful mishmash of guys and gals who simply enjoy 
photography good, bad or otherwise! It isn't truly meant to be a serious 
event. If one isn't having fun why waste ones time hanging out? No I don't 
mean you as we'd be lost without your wit and camaraderie! And solid 
teaching things from your experience.

In any event I will tell you a little happening earlier this morning about a 
Friday Flower picture.

When I got up at 5.40a.m. becasue my stupid mind was racing about a 
non-event but troubling piece of crap because I couldn't turn it off and it 
looked like this was going to be one of those days all hell was going to 
happen. :-(

Grabbed a coffee, clicked computer up to speed and opened the LUG and the 
first "Friday flower post" nearly knocked me off the chair... Ric Carter's! 
Generally I don't spend much time looking at flower pictures, usually a blur 
of clicks as I much prefer looking and shooting mine in the garden. However, 
for one little moment I was stopped in my mouse clicking and began to "smell 
the flowers!" I sat there quietly and slowly relaxing looking through his 
beautiful portfolio of "roses" and the elimination of what I'd perceived to 
be a rotten day.

It never occurred to me that what I'd done was... "stop and smell the roses" 
relax and enjoy the images  that truly re-geared my day to being not so bad 
after all. Kind of puts a whole new perspective to posting Friday Flowers.

talk to you later old buddy.
cheers,
ted