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When I was in Japan, in America-mura in Osaka, I saw an exhibit by a local skateboarding-culture photographer. I had been carrying around a Nikon CoolPix point-

When I was in Japan, in America-mura in Osaka, I saw an exhibit by a local skateboarding-culture photographer. I had been carrying around a Nikon CoolPix point-and-shoot with which to take tourist pictures. It turned out that the photographer himself had been hanging around his own exhibit, and we got to talking briefly about my visit and my interest in his work (his English was pretty good). He pointed to the camera and said "Can I see?" I let him leaf through my camera's memory filled with photos from the trip, random things that caught my interest. He handed me the camera back and said "These are some good shots." I was really chuffed to hear this pro compliment my random tourist shots. He must have liked my eye and my composition instincts because the camera was rinky-dink by pro standards and didn't allow me fine-grained control over exposure, aperture size, etc. I know this sounds a bit like a "things that didn't happen for $400, Alex" story, but it totally did happen. Maybe he was flattering me, I dunno. But it helped me appreciate casual photography with cheap equipment as something with its own aesthetic merit. My brief time in Japan was amazing all around.

ben7799 4y ago
He liked your photos because for serious photography the technical side is not as important as the subject matter or artistic, compositional, or journalistic aspects of the work. The technical side only needs to be "good enough" and the photo can still be great. The artistic sides have to be great to make a great photo. The whole "technician" side of photography often loses sight of composition & subject in the quest to have the perfect aperture/ISO/shutter speed and get maximum sharpness.
travisjungroth 4y ago
There’s being nice and then there’s just being nice. Sounds like he’s a nice guy and he also meant what he said. For what it’s worth, I find it very believable because it matches my experience of positive pro/amateur interactions in other fields from both sides. Something about the shots signaled to him “this person gets it”. It’s not that it’s pro level, but it seems possible to multiply what’s already there by time and intensity and get something that is pro. This is very different from someone who wants to talk about the best lens caps, and you look at their photos and it feels like they really missed something.

ben7799 4y ago

He liked your photos because for serious photography the technical side is not as important as the subject matter or artistic, compositional, or journalistic aspects of the work. The technical side only needs to be "good enough" and the photo can still be great. The artistic sides have to be great to make a great photo. The whole "technician" side of photography often loses sight of composition & subject in the quest to have the perfect aperture/ISO/shutter speed and get maximum sharpness.

travisjungroth 4y ago

There’s being nice and then there’s just being nice. Sounds like he’s a nice guy and he also meant what he said. For what it’s worth, I find it very believable because it matches my experience of positive pro/amateur interactions in other fields from both sides. Something about the shots signaled to him “this person gets it”. It’s not that it’s pro level, but it seems possible to multiply what’s already there by time and intensity and get something that is pro. This is very different from someone who wants to talk about the best lens caps, and you look at their photos and it feels like they really missed something.