The Craft

Photographers often talk about practicing the craft of photography.  Do you refer to photography in this way?  Some opinions vary, but I feel that photography is a visual ART FORM, like painting or sculpting, and many of the same principles apply to any of these visual medium.  Perspective, light/shadows, color, textures, etc etc.  I’m also of the opinion that those who practice the craft of photography can indeed call themselves artists.  At least, if they aspire to.  I remember when I made the mental shift from calling myself a photographer to calling myself an artist.  Whether it was true or not at the time I made that switch, at least it was aspirational for me.  I wanted to be a visual artist, which to me was more than just taking pictures.  It involves creating images that could be beautiful, inspiring, emotional, thoughtful, and so on.  Something more than just a pretty picture.

To do this I knew I had to develop the knowledge, skills, and experience to create moving, connective images.  This is the craft.  Developing the knowledge about color theory, light qualities, compositional techniques and many more topics.  Plus, the technical mastery of my tools, from the camera and all of its possible settings, to each lens, filters, and accessories.  I’m a strong believer that you have to get a good mastery over your tools before you can really get in the zone and create compelling images.  I see this over and over again, folks who don’t know their cameras very well and struggle in the field trying to find a setting, meanwhile the light is changing fast and they may miss it.  And, when we are focused on the technical side of photography, we do not have the capability to be fully present in the creative side of photography.  The goal for me, and maybe for you, was to get to the point with my tools that it became second nature to use them and when on location, I don’t have to “think” about my camera and step out of the creative zone.

Being and staying in the creative zone while on location helps me connect with my subject and capture better images…ones that are more connective, emotional or telling of the location.  In the digital darkroom, this is where I can really bring the images to life and have them shine their brightest.  Massaging the color distribution helps to convey more of the emotional story.  Massaging the light and shadows helps me to highlight areas I want people to look, or features I want to highlight, while using darks/shadows to steer away from other less important areas of the image.  When we are on location, our brains do ALOT of processing and selective filtering of what we see.  The camera doesn’t do this when we press the shutter button. So it’s up to me in the darkroom to bring back some of the selective attention that I saw and felt on location.

I was thinking of the craft today as we just finished a podcast episode with Brenda Tharp over on We Talk Photo. At one point in the conversation Brenda was talking about the craft, the artistry and one of the things she continually strives for and tries to instill in her workshop students, is to get the image as “right” as possible in the camera so that when it comes to post-processing, you have the best image possible with which to work with.  None of this “I’ll fix it in post” stuff.  That’s not what practicing the craft is about.  To be a true practitioner, one must strive for the “best” possible at each stage of the process.  Our conversation went on around this subject and then we moved on.  I was left with a lingering thought though, that the art and craft of photography extends in to the darkroom, whether physical or digital darkroom.

We often celebrate Ansel Adams as one of the great photographers, at least one of the most popular, of the modern times.  I am not going to dispute this at all, he did amazing work photographically, and for the preservation/conservation of our wild lands.  However, what isn’t talked about much is that he was a master in the darkroom!  He has a famous quote, relating photography to music, that says “the negative is the score.  the print is the performance”.  Meaning that the capture, the raw file, is the foundation for an amazing piece but it’s not until it has been finished in the darkroom that it is in its final state ready to be shared with the world.  I will say that the processing of an image is almost just as important as the capture.  This is where we take the raw ingredients and really make them shine and reflect what we were trying to do, what we were feeling, and what we want others to feel when they look at our images.

When we think about the craft of photography in general and practicing the craft individually, I think the definition “needs” to include the process after the capture.  Some photographers only talk about the steps leading up to and including the capture.  Getting it “right as possible” in the camera, then, they don’t talk much about the the rest of the process.  To them, the joy of the craft lies in the capture, not the final presentation of the image.  That’s fine and I can totally support and accept that point of view.  To make a general statement about the craft of photography across a wide range of people, I do think we need to address the post-processing, and even the printing, of the image.

Please understand, I believe fully that the pre-capture and capture steps is where a lot of the heavy lifting takes place.  Composition, color, eye movement, patterns/textures, technical execution…this is a HUGE part of the final image.  And it is done on location, often in a beautiful location, so what could be better than that!   Of course it is the most talked about part of the craft of photography.  But the processing and printing of the image carries a huge weight as well.  That old saying “garbage in, garbage out” holds true with photography.  If we don’t make a good capture, no amount of post-processing magic is going to “save” the image.  It is essential to get it right in camera.

I hear alot of comments from folks that they “just don’t like” processing, or “don’t understand” it.  Yep, I can understand that. Who wants to sit in front of a computer for a couple of hours working on an image.  We have enough screen time in our lives already.  If we view processing as a “chore” or something I “have to do”, then we will be resentful of it and not embrace the important place it holds in turning a well-shot raw file in to a beautiful finished image.  Back in the film days, many photographers didn’t have the space or inclination to develop their own negatives, so they outsourced that work, and along with it, outsourced control over the final image.  When the transition to digital happened, many people didn’t embrace the newfound power and control we had over our own images to develop them as we wanted.  This largely persists to today with folks saying “I’m a photographer, not a computer person”.   Welp, if you want to practice the craft of photography and believe it extends from concept to print, then you need to embrace and become proficient with the steps post-capture.

Again, holding up Ansel Adams as an example, I encourage you to read this article about his famous photograph, Moonrise Hernandez.  It talks about how he re-interpreted the print, moving from subtle shading to the more dramatic contrast that we know this image to possess.  It’s a great example of knowing your subject, being a master of capturing the image, and then taking the time to interpret and re-interpret the capture in to a final image that you are proud of and that shows what you want to show.

We all spend a lot of time and money on gear and travel to practice the craft of photography and capture amazing images.   If you consider yourself an artist, or aspire to be one, I feel it is essential to embrace and master all of the steps in the photographic process, from concept to print, including developing the images in the digital darkroom.  If you’re intimidated by the processing tools, start small with a few adjustments and work your way up to more advanced editing.  YouTube is a great source of “how to” videos.  If you don’t want to spend alot of time in front of the computer, find ways to streamline your editing.  Most of all though, you need to embrace the thought that artful editing of your images is an essential part of the photographic process and provides that “special sauce” which makes your image uniquely yours and conveys why you took the photograph and what you want people to walk away with.