A photographer's frustrations

As an amateur photographer I mostly feel lucky to have discovered an activity which is not only fulfilling and creative but also gets me out of the house, and afterwards I have something aesthetically pleasing to hang on my wall, or someone else's. It is not all roses, though. Like anything else, photography has some frustrating elements, and I am (in no particular order) going to explain some of my frustrations here.

Perception of non-photographers
As many have said before, when we tell people we are photographers, or show them our work we are often assaulted with a phrase like "Wow, you must have a really good camera!". As if cameras are autonomous machines which only need to be purchased, charged and taken outside. A good camera does not make good pictures, a good photographer does - even with a lower quality camera.


Time as a harsh mistress
A photograph captures a single moment in time, and therefore (unless in studio conditions) can never truly be repeated. So often I find myself in the situation of seeing a great scene, and capturing it as best I can, only to later - usually in post-production - see that I could have taken the shot in a better way. A different composition, or different camera settings. I know this is what I should see as a learning experience, but it frustrating nonetheless.


The Photoshop stigma
Traditional analog (film) photographers have a host of darkroom techniques at their disposal to influence how the final print of an image will look. Many of these will be familiar to digital photographers, as they are emulated in photoshop; such as masking, dodging, burning, cross-processing etc. Yet for some reason, when I show anything which is anything other than a straight-from-the-camera untouched photograph, people tend to react with comments like: "Ah, that's photoshopped.", as if that is somehow cheating, or no longer real photography. I personally spend a long time post-processing my images to get them just the way I want, and I see that as a skill additional to knowing how to handle a camera and recognise and shoot scenes. You never hear anyone attack an analogue photographer with the slur: "Ah, that's been darkroomed."


Invisibility cloak
I love street photography. I love to see the images produced by good street photographers. I am not so good at it myself, as for some reason I draw too much attention from my subjects. People are curious and self-conscious by nature, and when they notice the camera they change their behaviour, stance and expression. I wish I had an invisibility cloak.


There are more things which frustrate me too, which I will not get into now. But please let me be clear, I love photography and would not trade it for anything. The joy it brings me is priceless and wonderful.


What frustrates you about photography?

Eating is not a skill

OK, so be warned - this is a rant post. I know this and I don't give a shit.


I was never really a big believer in social convention, rules and etiquette, but there is a base level that is absolutely fundamental to me. Like holding a door open if someone is following you through it. Standing to offer a public transport seat to elderly, pregnant or disabled people, and so on. Even more fundamental than this: being able to eat using cutlery properly.
Last night, while enjoying a few beers and some food with my girlfriend at a long table in a basement bar in Prague, we were joined by a mixed group consisting of a Czech couple entertaining a Mexican girl and a Japanese girl. Being of a curious nature (sic: nosy) I was subtly observing them and listening in on snippets of their conversation.
The 2 visiting girls asked what typical Czech food they could order, and the couple suggested pickled sausages to the poor girls. That's jumping in at the deep end, I can tell you. But anyway, that's not what this post is about.
The Czech girl was sitting closest to me, and from the moment she started eating, she horrified me.

Doing it right.

First off, she was holding her fork like a left-handed person would hold a pen. Not only does this look retarded, but it made cutting her food an unnecessarily complicated operation. I watched with fascinated disbelief as she dumbly pushed her food around her plate, chasing it with her fork while trying to find purchase enough to hold it still and perform the necessay cuts.
Now I can understand that you may not react to this as I do, it could be quite personal to me. Granted.
What happened next, though, almost made me throw up a little in my mouth. While talking to the the visiting girls, she raised a slice of bread to her mouth and took a bite. Without removing the bread from said position, she chewed and swallowed, took another bite and repeated. Ew. Then she proceeded to SUCK the piece of bread. SUCK it. No biting, or chewing. What the FUCK?
So, I will end my rant there, as I am beginning to feel a little unwell again thinking about it.
Bon apetit.