Photography Quotes - 10 photography quotes that you should read
Photography quotes help to remind us of the most important aspects of photography. I'm always trying to distill photography down to as simple a terms as I can. Having rules and remembering small anecdotes and quotes helps me stay focused. There is one quote that stands out to me, more than any other. I"ll share it with anyone that's inclined to ask me about photography. Here's is my favorite photography quote.
"The more you photograph, the more you realize what can be photographed and what can't be photographed. You just have to keep doing it." - Eliot Porter
Here's a list of 10 photography quotes, with author's, that I like. This list includes some quotes about capturing photos, while others are focused at the business of photography.
10. "There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are." - Ernst Haas
9. "It's more important to click with people than to click the shutter." - Alfred Eisenstaedt
8. "If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera." - Lewis Hine
7. "Light glorifies everything. It transforms and ennobles the most commonplace and ordinary subjects. The object is nothing, light is everything." - Leonard Missone
6. "Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera." - Yousuf Karsh
5. "Sometimes you can tell a large story with a tiny subject." - Eliot Porter
4. "One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you'd be stricken blind. To live a visual life is an enormous undertaking, practically unattainable. I have only touched it, just touched it." - Dorothea Lange
3. "A photograph is usually looked at but seldom looked into." - Ansel Adams
2. "Photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place . . . I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them." -Elliot Erwitt
1. "The more you photograph, the more you realize what can be photographed and what can't be photographed. You just have to keep doing it." - Eliot Porter
If you have a quote you like, post it, with the authors name, and tell us why it resonates with you.
Tony Bynum
Breaking my own photography rules pays off with this Montana photograph
I arrived at the lake. Calm morning, no wind, perfect reflection, great light, nice color, no people, just what makes my office so desirable! But wait. The clouds. The clouds were covering the peak of Sinopah Mountain. Oh shit, now what? I was ready to pack it in and go home. I'm one for breaking photography rules. I do it all the time just to keep my senses about me, and to evaluate whether my own rules still apply. Most of the time, I've set my own rules because I need to be efficient, focused, and I can not afford to waist time shooting photographs that I know I can not sell. My rule, "you can't sell a photograph of a mountain with no peak." In this case, that rule that I've learned over and over again, just went out the door - sort of.
This Montana photograph of Sinopah Mountain, in the Two Medicine Valley of Glacier National Park captured in 2012 show's me how wrong my rule was and supports my belief in breaking my own rules from time to time. Up until this photograph appeared on the fall 2014 cover of, "Montana Quarterly" magazine (you should subscribe to this magazine if you have any interest in Montana), I had always said to myself, and the people who hire me to teach them outdoor and landscape photography, "you MUST have the peak of the mountain in the photograph."
Well, as it turned out, Scott McMillion, the owner and editor of Montana Quarterly Magazine thought the image worked well enough to put it on the cover of his magazine - thank you Scott McMillion! I have photographed mountains for many years. All sorts of mountains in just about every lighting situation you can imagine. I've photographed mountains all across the country and over the years I've learned - or so I thought - that I'll never sell a photograph of a mountain with no peak.
Mountain peaks are really what distinguish one particular mountain over another. I've waited for hours for clouds to clear from peaks before photographing them, even when the light was good it just seemed to me, that a mountain without a peak is like a human without a head. If you look closely at mountains, you'll find that they are almost like snow flakes, no two of them are exactly the same. So, it was my thought that in order to present a mountain, the peak, the most distinguishing feature of a mountain must be in the image, even if most of the rest of it is not. Moreover, I've look at thousands of my own mountain photographs, and felt that in almost every case where the peak was absent, the photograph did not work. I still feel that way - sort of.
This photograph of Sinopah Mountain reflecting in Pray Lake, in Glacier National Park, is a perfect example of how a photograph of a mountain, without a peak can work. Do you know why it works?
What are your thoughts? Do you have examples of photographs of mountains where you've either cropped the peak, or it was there but not visible? Or maybe you've seen other photographs of mountains with no peak that you think work? What do you think? Does this photograph of Sinopah Mountain, in Glacier National Park work? Scott thought so, and I agree with him.
Tony Bynum
Montana Based Photographer
Drones, Photography, get your footage before it's too late!
I have to share an article about drones and photography, but before I do, I'll make a comment or two. After using drones on and off for about a year now, I can say that they offer an amazing new way of capturing a scene or event that before was only the domain of the most elaborate and well funded productions. Today, we can film for about the cost of a mid range camera. But this new tool is creating a lot of controversy and there's a lot of questions being raised about their use. For the record, I'm all for using them in just about every legal application imaginable! The word legal though is where everything gets hung up.
I've been watching carefully as the future of drones and photography becomes more evident. It seems like just about the time something new and innovative comes a long the system finds a way to put binders on it. This is the case with drones and photography. I can honestly understand all the fuss, privacy issues, noise, liability, etc, but it seems like the future is to tell everyone, "NO" in order to protect everyone from what could be a hugely useful tool.
It seems to me that because no one can manage it, the system is trending toward, "no one should have it." It's kind of like our freedoms. It seems like we are moving farther from a free nation mainly because freedom is too dangerous. I dislike very much the though of our freedoms being taken away due to the stupidity of a few.
On the other hand, we do have to protect the innocent, it's a fine line. As for drones more specifically, I say get out there and get filming before it's a crime. . . Just so you know, it's already is a crime in some places, so be wise before you fly. I think Alaska has implemented some new rules, and I know the national parks are banning them as we speak.
I though you might like to read this NYT article about drones and photography. I found it very interesting.
Before you go check it out, please let me know your thoughts on the use of Drones for photography and video capture and outdoor media!
Sincerely, Montana based outdoor photographer, Tony Bynum
If you want to make a difference in the outdoor media world, join the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)!
Why we are Photographers - dedication, passion, purpose
We are photographers because it is who we are. I have run across few things that explain the details as well as Dave Black, Robert Beck, George Karbus do in this video by Cory Rich. If you are a photographer, you might not be able to get through this without sharing Dave's reaction yourself. Don't blame me, I warned you.
DEDICATED from Corey Rich on Vimeo.
Sincerely,
Tony Bynum
Montana Photographer
Two Days with Montana Photographer Tony Bynum - once in a lifetime opportunity
You have until Friday evening to get your bids in for two days of private photography with Montana Photographer, Tony Bynum. Tony Bynum is donating two days of private, one-on-one photography to the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Anyone can bid. Better hurry, winner awarded Friday night, at the Professional Outdoor Media Association's, National Conference in Knoxville, TN, March 21, 2014! You can put your bid in here, or bid on any number of other items, at this link http://conta.cc/1lGT8ky . Other items include a fishing trip with Jim Zumbo, a privately catered meal from Bill Miller Outdoors, Optics, outdoor gear from Alps Outdoors, an African Safari, an Argentine Dove Hunt, and much much more!
