Hi. My name is Elliot Madriss and I teach a successful class at the continuing education facility as part of the University of New Mexico called “Stop Taking Crappy Pictures!”. This class was created as a direct result of my reaction to the very poor quality of images being posted on the Internet and on many professional sites – in my opinion, collectively we are losing our ability to take great photographs. With the advent of incredible cell phone technologies as well as the great sensors that now populate most DSLRs, taking snapshots has been made much easier. However as always, photographs (which are great works of art) are still difficult to take. But don’t blame yourselves, its in your DNA not to see photographically!
DMC-FZ1000 @ 31.05mm, ISO 80, 10/2500, f/8.0
The Dilemma – Our Failed Biology
Our eyes were not designed for photography. Our 50-55mm eyes, great as they are, were designed to find food and prevent us from being eaten by saber tooth cats. Try this little exercise. Go to a location with lots and lots of people – it could be a parade, the Rio Olympics, a party – my ideal location would be Times Square at 6:00 PM on a Friday night. Once there, safely close your eyes for 10 seconds and then reopen them. What do you see? – what our ancestors saw – absolute Pandemonium! Lots of people with no photographic acuity whatsoever – its takes the trained photographic eye to separate out the confusion, find the details and create a real photo.
DMC-FZ1000 @ 143.76mm, ISO 125, 10/1000, f/5.6
The Fix Is In
So what does a person to do after spending thousands of dollars on equipment only to produce crappy pictures? A favorite quote of mine that I use in my class penned by Henri Cartier-Bresson states, “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst”. How true and he would know. The quote that I have created for my class is, “The camera is the least important part of photography”. Blasphemous – how can this be? Doesn’t the camera take the picture? No – YOU take the picture – actually your mind does with its accumulation of millions of photographs previously viewed, hundreds of pages of manuals read, classes taken, dozens of books studied and more than enough cameras used to last a few lifetimes!
DMC-FZ1000 @ 146mm, ISO 100, 10/2000, f/4.5
I have invented a photographic game called “Where’s the Photo”. Its kind of like the game “Where’s Waldo”, where the player had to identify a person within the confines of massive confusion and among the extremely crowded scene. So wherever you are, your mission Jim (again without a camera), is to discover the photo within the confines of environment madness. Look for texture (the interesting flooring of a restaurant for example), color and saturation, the pretty waitress serving you some delicious sushi etc. This little game will exercise you mind’s eye and develop your visual acuity so that when you are at your dream location, your pictures will be great.
DMC-FZ1000 @ 146mm, ISO 80, 10/600, f/5.6
Closing Thoughts
Above all else, be gentle with yourself. Unless you are a genius or a savant, photography can be difficult. Bear this in mind when you are editing your images: every photographer whose has every lived has struggled with taking great pictures – yes even the greats. However, passion is the engine and energy that will propel you to greatness. Shoot what you love and shoot often. Like a Buddhist monk, become one with your camera – learn everything about it so that it just becomes an extension of your mind in the field wherever you shoot. I encourage you to make a ton of mistakes but learn from them. Now go out, have fun and take some great photographs!!
DMC-GH3 @ 19mm, ISO 125, 10/400, f/5.6
The images found in this article are from the trip I recently took on a 7300 mile journey across America and back.
This guest post was submitted by Elliot Madriss. You can check out more of his work by visiting his online gallery.
Stop taking crappy pictures! I have probably taken my one and only trip to London and Paris. It was a Trafalgar tour. The bus (called a coach) is traveling around the city and the driver/guide is telling us about the things we see. There are only a few stops as we travel through London. I have the camera set at a fast speed. Still the bus is in motion. So some of those snaps are really terrible. A blur as we do not stop at the Queen’s stables. It is the only photo I have and is a memory. I am not showing it to anyone but sharing with my family. It’s what amateur photographers do.
For Ned and Sam,
Why don’t you two kiss and make up. Or otherwise “Koff into the Distance”
Such childish bickering lowers the tone of the conversations !!
Got a bite, lighten up
I’m as light as the glowing fish in the heron picture.
Ned, your comments and remarks speak volumes about you.
Some of your points may be valid but in that way you make them you come across as quite an angry and bitter little man and for that you have my pity. Try to imagine you were someone else entirely and you came across this discussion and read through the responses – what would your opinion of Ned be? Attacking people and calling them names must be a great way to get people to take you seriously. How’s that been working out for you in life so far?
You certainly kept that bottled up for a while , Kevin. It’s clear that you didn’t like Ned’s criticism of the O.P.’s work and have been nursing something of a grudge ever since.Complaining about “name calling” whilst simultaneously calling people names will never help to convince anyone that you aren’t just making your own personal attack.Your old mate Sam seemed to have started this whole disgraceful mess when he impugned Monte’s work way back at the beginning, but you’ve apparently chosen to ignore his “efforts” for reasons that are quite clear to everyone.Hopefully Nasim will sort this out before it gets any worse.
Wow…so much negativity.
“Why don’t you knock it off with them negative waves?” Oddball, Kellys Heroes (1970).
Think I’ll leave for awhile and go take some snapshots with my point-and-shoot…
Hi Elliot,
thanks for that nice article. I really like some of the presented images, especially because of the used non “Pro” cameras.
But why this yellow press headline? And my be it is just me, but when i read that somebody teaches a “successful” class, i feel uncomfortable.
Thanks again
best regards,
Markus
“But you know what they say? If they’re shooting at you, you must be doing something right ☺ (I get shot at a lot!). ”
Actually, Alpha, they also say there is no smoke without fire. If a very large number of people are criticizing you, maybe it is not jealousy, but that the work in question is crap.
The way I see it, this whole discussion is a clash of two different approaches to photography. There are folks who enjoy tack sharp high-res wall prints (which obviously requires top notch gear), and there are others who focus more on the feel of an image, the message, the moment captured (with anything) rather than the technical detail. Both approaches have their own merits, of course, but one side should not really criticize the other based on their own favoured standards – the goal is different for “the other side”.
I for one am with the pixel peepers and I put great value on image quality, therefore something like the last landscape would land straight away in my recycle bin. However, I’ve read enough posts from Alpha Whiskey to be able to see where the other camp is coming from, and I think it’s nice that both sides get a say here on PL – as long as there’s a balance between the two.
Wow, Z Rostov, not sure what I did to incur your wrath! :O But try to relax and enjoy life a little. It’s short. :)
I never claimed that anyone should be jealous of my work or that it wasn’t crap. On the contrary I’m usually the first person to criticise my own work and I’m happy for others to tell me how bad it is (Maybe Nasim will eventually come round to agreeing with you. Then we’ll all be winners). My purpose on PL as an occasional contributor has never really been to teach or preach but has always been to encourage people to go out and make some actual photos. I don’t doubt their results would easily trump mine.
But thanks for setting me straight with the smoke and fire thing. That was neat.
Bye!
You sure don’t sound very happy for others to tell you how bad it is …
I’m guessing he was talking about the work in this article, not yours.
Or not.
Ha ha, it’s clear this guy hasn’t been on this site before or read any of your posts Alpha. Anyone who has would know you’re the person with the best vibes and positive attitude on this site. These guys are just bored bitter people who perhaps lack the creative side or artistic flair and this choose or need to concentrate on and criticise images from a technical perspective. Whether they like it or not there are hardly any memorable images that immediately spring to mind which were technically flawless whereas on the other hand most of the famous and well referenced photography is far from being a pixel peepers dream, most are not exposed “correctly”, some are out of critical focus, some haven’t even been shot at the right shutter speed and are blurry yet the feeling they convey is what makes them stick inside out minds.
The idiom “there is no smoke without fire” combines at least two logical fallacies:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…ad_populum
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…ralization
I deleted your earlier comment hoping that you would be nice, but you came right back and posted another nasty one. If you think you are a better photographer, why not show off by submitting an article with your images? Until then, your criticism is just a blabber.
Hope to see a post soon!
Appreciate you trying to keep the discourse positive, but the whole “oh yea, let’s see YOUR pictures” thing is a pretty childish response. It’s like asking to see all of Roger Ebert’s amazing films before you’ll take his word that Gigli is a terrible movie.
Not childish at all! A measured and professional response.
And that should end all comments!
I would be damn proud of these photos…
Zeissiez is wonderful, I hope Nasim will invite him to submit some articles.
“Lots of crappy [not!] photos here: www.zeissiez.com/!bangladesh/ewkyj“
Ned is right, you don’t have to be a better artist to judge art, or a great musician to say heck that was off key. The heron pic is over exposed.
The background of the heron picture looks like a parking lot, and your exposure was so bad the fish looks like it’s made out of pure light. You’re right, nobody should take pictures like this.
Ned, please point us to examples of your work so we can see how to do it? Or don’t you have any?
Ned is a troll, Ned has no decent shots to speak of and thus feels the need to criticise others’ work, don’t be like Ned.
You have made no relevant points to the conversation we’re all having. You made baseless claims and hurled insults. I believe there’s a word for that in Internet slang…
Oh Ned you again! Great! And I see you are still unable to string more than a couple of post-relevant comments together. I’m sure you must be one hell of a photographer which should compensate for your shortcomings in other areas.
For such a dedicated troll, you’re really terrible at it. You’re the comedic equivalent of a slice of whole wheat bread.
Even if I’d never touched a camera in my entire life, these photos would still be amateur, and your post would still be off topic.
Ned, you call Sam a troll and say he has only “made baseless claims and hurled insults”, yet you say Elliots photo of a Heron was “so bad the fish looks like it’s made out of pure light”…I know I have NO idea how to get photos half as good as this…y’all need to shut up & examine your own shortcomings before you start abusing others.
Congratulations Elliot on your photography, and the post…at the very least you gave these idiots something to do.
Well Grace, you’re in luck, I can teach you to “get photos half as good as this”!!! First get your hands on a disposable camera from Walgreens and break the flash bulb out of the camera with a hammer. Then, find the darkest room you can, and take a picture of the wall while jumping up and down. You did it!
Congratulations Elliot for providing excellent examples of what can be produced, when often you
have a limited time to get the shot. have found that most birds don’t wait for you to set up a $1,000
tripod, take 5 light readings from 3 different angles, change lenses, have a cup of coffee, chat up
the subject as do portrait photographers. A 30 yr old camera with a standard 70-300mm lens is
enough to allow one who is keen and competent enough to produce good results provided you
have your camera pre-focused on about 30-40 metres, allowing for minor adjustments, ISO depending
on light conditions to give shutter speeds above 1/250th sec, f7 to f11 and automatic multiple frames set,
as at times you may only have 3 to 10 seconds to take the shot.
remember the definition of an expert is “A Drip Under Pressure”
I like the content, I’m ok with the photos as the words delivered the messages already.
Lots of crappy photos here: www.zeissiez.com/!bangladesh/ewkyj
After following your link, I would say ”This is really pro work congrats……”
Thanks Luc, glad you like them :-)
After showing your work, it gives much more credit to your message than the ones who only critisize the work of others. without showing their own work….
Have a nice day
Luc
Well, photography is art, there’s no right or wrong in art, we appreciate things differently. My dad even told me when I first change my career, after looking at my photos:”Son, why don’t you give going back to your old job (in telecommunication) a second thought”. Arrrr………!!!! So there’s no point criticising.
Although good articles are scarce, especially articles from real, hard-core photographers, but when I read an article, I try to take the bits which I think useful. The more you shoot, the more you are able to distinguish the useful bits and the negligible l bits. At the end of the day, it’s still much about getting to the locations, practice and learning from your mistakes than learning from information that you have no idea right or wrong, which is unfortunately often the case with articles from the internet.
Wow! Terrific web site.
Thanks for the compliment, more to come :-)
Zeissiez,
A true Master of the art. You “put your money where your mouth is” except you didn’t say one boastful word!!
Was truly astounded, for all the problems in your country, you have found the time to create some masterful
results. although I have been taking photos since 1960, I realize there is still much to learn. That is why I follow
this forum, thank all of you who can make constructive criticism, ignore the big noting trolls.
Hi Old Coot,
Thanks for the nice words. If I can contribute my experiences to the community, I would gladly do so :-). I’m glad I was born in this poorer corner of the world, because Asia is culturally rich and diverse.
Hi Zeissiez,
What an incredible bunch of images! Congratulations!
My favorite places in the world to travel to (like most here I am American) are in Asia for exactly the reason you mention – “…Asia is culturally rich and diverse” Sadly, I have not yet had the opportunity to visit Bangladesh, but that will probably happen before I die! This year it’s Myanmar for a month. Next year, Papa New Guinea. We’ll see what happens after that.
Welcome to Asia again! Bangladesh is awesome, it’s easy to get great photos. The best time to visit is 7th-15th Jan. It’s a Islam country, but the people are extremely friendly. Before u go I can give you a list of locations for great shots.
Myanmar is one of my fav. Nov-Dec is the best time to travel. One month is great, it’s enough to explore much of Myanmar. I like the untouched beaches down south, and the mountain areas in north east.
Hope u have a good time in Asia!
I can attest that Bangladesh is a beautiful country. I was there last November and the people are warm, friendly and generous. Perhaps *because* it’s an Islamic country rather than in spite of it? ; )
(I’m agnostic but I never subscribe to media stereotypes about people’s faith. And Nasim is a Muslim and probably the nicest person you could meet :))
You have some great shots from there :)
I think u r right about that, due to the religion, they are very well self-behaved. I noticed they were nice not only to visitors, but also towards the local people. It’s amazing how such a poor country can remain socially so peaceful.
Hi Ziessiez,
We are going from Oct 19 to
Nov 21. I was told this was a good time. We are very excited because we have traveled extensively through the rest of South East Asia, but not to Myanmar. I wanted to go earlier but had misgivings about supporting their government financially. That is now less of a concern. I am sure we will enjoy the friendly people, amazing sites like Bagan and the Swedagon Pagoda, great food, and the opportunity to get great photos.
I will ask you about Bangladesh when the time comes.
I will come back to your website periodically to see your terrific images.
Have a great time in Indonesia!
If El Nino doesn’t alter the weather too much, the period you mentioned is good. Before OCT, it’s the rainy season. In OCT, the sky clears up. After DEC, there’ll be few clouds in the sky. I prefer end of OCT ~ mid of DEC. Myanmar is opening up to the world, soon it will be much more touristy, u made a wise choice of going there now :-)
Exceptional images. Thanks for sharing.
I’m glad you like them :-)
Great work. Hope to see more :)
Thanks for the compliment, I’m off to Indonesia next week, more to come :-)