Too much technology?

What I love about the new technology, is how many people buy a high end dSLR and put it in P mode, hoping that the camera will do everything for them. There are even some new "advanced" point and shoots that have face and even smile recognition so that you always get that "perfect" shot. Now, I just have to figure out how to get nudibranchs to smile

Seriously, the menu and button systems on most camera do a pretty good job of burying the less commonly used features so that the simple ones are easy to use. There are, however some glaring counterexamples such as the incredibly useful "direct print" button on my 5D, but even so, the standard exposure modes, and EV compensation are all pretty much identical.

If you don't want to use all of those "complicated" features, just ignore them! Learning a new camera these days is much like learning a new car. The basics are all there, and all work pretty much the same way, but the switches for the wiper blades are in different positions. I find that when I pick up a camera from a different vendor, it always feels a little awkward, but only for a few minutes, until I retrain the muscle memory.

Usually, in UWP, the most techno interested are amateurs (not pros....specially Mr Veitch ) and, in any amateur activity, the final target is to enjoy the most so: if a supertech-geek-awful-photographer enjoys more than a conservative excellent photographer, then the geek is having more success at UWP (although his/her pics may be horrible).

So everyone should try to find the way they enjoy the most and not worry about anything else.

Usually, in UWP, the most techno interested are amateurs (not pros....specially Mr Veitch ) and, in any amateur activity, the final target is to enjoy the most so: if a supertech-geek-awful-photographer enjoys more than a conservative excellent photographer, then the geek is having more success at UWP (although his/her pics may be horrible).

 

So everyone should try to find the way they enjoy the most and not worry about anything else.

Spot on. I was once on a liveaboard and another passenger had exactly the same gear as me. His strategy was to follow me around and every time I made a picture he took one too. At the end of the week he noticed he had never loaded his (film) camera. He had a great time though. Mr Veitch was on board as I remember.

Usually, in UWP, the most techno interested are amateurs (not pros....specially Mr Veitch ) and, in any amateur activity, the final target is to enjoy the most so: if a supertech-geek-awful-photographer enjoys more than a conservative excellent photographer, then the geek is having more success at UWP (although his/her pics may be horrible).

I dunno David. That may have been more accurate in the 80s and 90s when things were "analog". But nowadays everyone has had to step up to the technology ball. For eg. Dr Mustard is an honorary techno geek because he studies his craft. He knows optical physics, camera technology and speaks Italian I know a few other technological proficient "elder" pro photogs who can argue crop vs full frame, noise characteristics of CMOS sensor and bayer filter effects on resolution. They have to to keep up and understand their craft.

But you are right in that it's a hobby for many and many hobbyists like to discuss the merits of microlenses and pixel density as it's part of the fun.

Years ago, when a young devil-may-care, I used to take pictures of girls without their clothes on during spare moments in my studio. Sometimes I even had film in the camera! I got to know more about antibiotics than camera technicalities. Was I odd? Probably, but I had a great time!

Years ago, when a young devil-may-care, I used to take pictures of girls without their clothes on during spare moments in my studio. Sometimes I even had film in the camera! I got to know more about antibiotics than camera technicalities. Was I odd? Probably, but I had a great time!

Well it must be many years ago; because sadly antibiotics would be of little use today.

Years ago, when a young devil-may-care, I used to take pictures of girls without their clothes on during spare moments in my studio. Sometimes I even had film in the camera! I got to know more about antibiotics than camera technicalities. Was I odd? Probably, but I had a great time!

Mental Note: Do not share wetsuit rinse tank with Bantin ever!

Well it must be many years ago; because sadly antibiotics would be of little use today

Waayyy off topic but ... The staff of Wetpixel advocate safe & consensual sex, even when taking pictures underwater.

Well it must be many years ago; because sadly antibiotics would be of little use today.

On that subject we can all agree than any technical discussion is too much.

As much of a technophile as I am ... I'm still amused by auto-focus and motor-drives.

I will waste 5 minutes trying to get the Live View autofocus to work on fully-stationary trees when a 2 second manual override would do the trick.

(BTW - one of my favorite techy aspects of the D700 is the ability to zooooooom in during Live View and check focus when on a tripod)

..... the incredibly useful "direct print" button on my 5D,

Yes, I'd noticed that button on my 5D - I still have no idea what its used for, although I did notice something about it in the manual but I've still never bothered to read up on it.

Waayyy off topic but ... The staff of Wetpixel advocate safe & consensual sex, even when taking pictures underwater.

and I thought that taking images with modern cameras was an ample sufficiency of multi-tasking already

Interesting topic! I have enjoyed reading it.

I think that most of us here are in the danger zone of being a bit Geekie. Think about it! There are a lot of Equipement interested people in the dive scene. Ok, most of us are not into Tech-diving. Those guys are pretty geekie with their stuff. Anyway, for most divers the tendency is still there. As Photograpers we are probably per definition geeks. If we then combine these two hobbies

into UW Photography, then we are most likely deep into geek-hood

I am an Engineer, so I don't care anyway

Someone told me, or if I read it. That the Photographing world could be divided into the people more interested in the Technology and people more interested in B/W tones. My feeling is that with the Digital Photography this divider has been pushed a bit towards the Tech side.

However, the discussions about which film to use and the Darkroom stuff was also very technical.

/Erik

As Photograpers we are probably per definition geeks. If we then combine these two hobbies

into UW Photography, then we are most likely deep into geek-hood

Well judging from the images displayed over the years by wetpixelites, I'd say that there is also a great amount of artistic creativity that goes into this activity. Simply knowing your dials and knobs and being able to recite your rules of exposure won't give you content. I absolutely do think that mastering the techniques we use adn having appropriate gear is a prerequisite for creating good images. But geekhood in itself is simply not enough to bear fruit.

I do agree that a certain amount of geekhood helps - else we might as well be using our artistic talents creating something like this!