The Artist's Eye - Warren Mars

My Philosophy Of Photography

Theory is useful, and quality equipment is useful, but they should not be allowed to get in your way. You should never let such things, or their lack, prevent you from taking the shot, and from taking it YOUR way. If you don't understand everything that you are doing, so what? If some shots work and others don't, so what? If you don't have the right tools, IMPROVISE! Don't listen to the nay sayers: HAVE A GO! It is by doing that you learn. It is by trying again that you improve.

One of the greatest things about digital photography is that once you have bought your equipment, IT IS FREE! Go ahead, knock yourself out, take 200 pictures in a day, take 2,000 pictures in a month. TAKE EVERY SHOT THAT OCCURS TO YOU. It is only your time that you are spending. Look at your pics as often as you like on your computer, play with them, experiment with all the alterations that are available, find out what they all do. Read about photography on the net or in books. Listen to what other people say but don't just take someone else's word on something, try it out yourself, form your own opinion.

I take a lot of photos, AND I EXPERIMENT!

But most of all, I USE MY EYES. I know a shot when I see it and I can tell if a picture is good, bad, or indifferent. You would think that everyone would have this talent but strangely ... they don't. Even amidst the enthusiasts there are many who think that a good picture is produced by numbers. There are those that will argue until they are blue in the face that their pics are better than yours because they have greater resolution, better white balance, RAW output, haven't used any enhancements, etc, etc when all the time the eye can see that their picture just doesn't work. You don't need technical training for this, just an artist's eye.

At the end of the day, the most important ingredient in a good photo is the brain and eye of the photographer, then the subject, and last of all the camera itself. Sure, a high end digital SLR with a good lens can produce results that will stun from 40 paces, but only in the hands of a good photographer. YOU are in command of the first requirement, and you can find the second with a little imagination, so you have at least 2/3 of what you need for a good photo, just the same as the professionals. If you can't afford the best equipment your pictures will run into limitations that the pros can exceed, but if you work within the limits of your equipment and your equipment is reasonable there is no reason why you can't produce pictures 90% as good as the pros, and on occasion ... even better.