Constraints, Big Bend National Park, Texas | Mar 2009

Photo: from March back in Big Bend National Park in Texas, plugged in from the campsite, lost in my own bubble for the evening. Campsites are usually places to relax and enjoy a disconnected life; once we get wireless broadband into the outdoors I’ll be perpetually sleep-deprived.

Also: Check out the refreshed details on the expenses behind the first loop of my “Drive-By” Road trip across the USA on my other site, Unstructured Ventures.

Aggregating thoughts and comments from me and others on photography about constraints, the opportunity (and threat) of video and more:

• Mike Johnston of The Online Photographer, Is What The World Needs a Really Good 3-MP Digital Camera?, my comment:

  Yes. Exactly. With almost all photography ending up being “printed” on the web, the real innovation opportunity is in everything else in the camera and lenses. I would love to see a real “decisive-moment camera” along the lines you’ve discussed over the years…

  I’m a big believer in “embracing constraints”. I’ll explain more later.

• Benjamin Ellis, Becoming a Videographer with the Canon 5D Mark II, my comment:
  

  I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews about the quality of the video output… and I’m now looking forward to what people will actually do with new capabilities. I have a feeling that widespread video will expose the video & film industry to many of the same trends sweeping through photography, and will continue the “devaluing” of photography and photographers that we’re currently seeing.

• Nicolas Gabbard, Fakesumption:
  

  Fakesumption, a very nice presentation by Jörg Jelden, trends analyst at Trendbuero, at LIFT 09 in Geneva.

  The main point is that companies may consider fakes as an opportunity rather than a threat to their core business.

  The idea is rather provocative : if fakers are so succesful (despite the risk of prosecution for the buyers), they must have done something right : Fakes are the best “good enough “solutions for a fake buyers who are also brand customers, who love the brand but are not willing to pay the band premium…

  The biggest shift in the photography industry is not just in the technology in the hands of creators, but the quality demanded by buyers and how they want to access and use content.

  Again, I’ll explain more later.

• David Sanger, WordPress and reworking the website, my comment:
  

  It is amazing how much creative professionals are having to learn. I feel it’s part of the broader “democratization of the tools of production”; not only do we all have the opportunity to access the tools to create and distribute at scale, but we’re almost being forced to learn how. Companies making this cheaper, easier and better (and critically, more meaningful) for mass market adoption stand to reap the benefits.

• Mike Johnston of The Online Photographer, No Burning Bush:
  

  Amateurs are often surprised by how limited the technical knowledge of some famous and successful photographers can be sometimes. It’s not that they don’t know technique—far from it. They learn what they need to know to do their own work, and they know their own technique backwards and forwards, inside and out. But they feel no compulsion to learn other photographers’ techniques. Garry Winogrand probably never used a 300mm lens in his life; Ansel Adams was said by his friends to have had no color sense, based on the clashing clothing he’d wear to parties; and most of Richard Avedon’s iconic portraits weren’t made with studio lighting at all—they were made with white background paper set up outdoors in open shade.

  No need to know everything; but you better be very, very good at what you do know :)

• Miguel Garcia-Guzman at [EV +/-] Exposure Compensation], An interesting way you can use to promote your work, my comment:
  

  … While MOO is interesting for business cards, the real opportunity is to create very small runs of unique images and promos; the opportunity for customization is huge…

  The lack of “wow” in business cards comes because business cards are created for delivering information from the person on the card; it’s pretty hard to get people to care about something that is only about you.

  But it doesn’t have to be that way, it just takes some thought, creative ideas and time.