The Van Wert County Courthouse

Tuesday, Mar. 19, 2024

Competition subject spotlights a necessity

By Rex Dolby

The Van Wert Area Photography Club’s next regularly scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, April 13, 7 p.m. at 114 S. Race St.  Toilets (outhouses, portajohns and the like) will be the competition theme.

You just had to have been there to comprehend how the theme was selected.  It will be interesting to see what is submitted.

Changing thoughts, you should have a purpose for the image prior to releasing a shutter.  Is it to express yourself, please those who view the image, or satisfy a client?

Does it capture an event, a significant moment in time, or something from the past? Will this image inform, inspire to action, or evoke an intended emotion?  Yes.

Your photograph can do any of that-if you shoot with a purpose!

Some photographers feel that no image should be improved in the darkroom or with an editing program.  It should all be done in the camera.  But how is it different to reposition yourself before the shot to eliminate a distracting feature in the foreground or background or to simply crop it out postproduction?  It goes back to your philosophy of photography and the purpose for the photo.

Other photographers, such as Ansel Adams, hold different views of photography.  Adams is quoted as saying,  “The negative is the equivalent of the composer’s score, and the print is the performance.”

He also said, “Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas.  It’s a creative art.”  Those shooting with his philosophy may do it for a different purpose, but regardless of what your definition of photography might be, begin each photo with a purpose.

POSTED: 03/29/17 at 2:38 pm. FILED UNDER: Camera Club News