After a lifetime of taking photographs, I still believe today as I did 67 years ago when I photographed a building at the British Empire Exhibition in Glasgow that photography is a magical process. And now thanks to digital technology it is more magical than ever. However, like all magic the process is not automatic nor is it easy. Yes, you can point and shoot and come up with acceptable and even good images. But (fortunately) there is a factor that distinguishes one photographer’s images from another’s, that gives the photograph its ‘signature.’ This factor is essentially a way of looking, which, for me at least, is primarily an instinctive physical reaction to the subject/object to be photographed be it a graffiti-sprayed subway car or Andy Warhol on a red sofa in his Silver Factory. Instinctively doesn’t necessarily mean instant. Sometimes catching the right (decisive) moment to take the picture requires waiting for the confluence of light, shadow, and other elements to coalesce. At other times the picture is just there for the taking. I still like the old term “snapshot.” But, of course, before you can “get” it, you must first and foremost see it.

Do all my years of picture-taking, fifty as a professional doing editorial, corporate, portraiture, and fine-art work, make me a better photographer? Not necessarily. At least, it gave me a reasonably good understanding of how film-based still photography “works” under a wide range of different conditions. But with digital, we are back at the beginning of a new learning curve. Yes, it’s now easier and certainly quicker to get the image you want onto the camera screen. But that’s just the start. Prepare (and train) for relatively long sessions with your computer and Photoshop or other software to get the image to the level of resolution, color saturation, hue, and other adjustments you want. Learning to master the magic of this process is at least as difficult as old-fashioned developing, printing, dodging, or retouching. The big difference is that many of us, especially professionals, are (almost by necessity) becoming our own photo labs. Does this newly-acquired knowledge mean we take better pictures? Again, I find the answer to be “Not necessarily.”

You can judge for yourself by looking at the black and white and color photographs in this website to determine to what extent you “get the picture.”

I look forward to your feedback,

Cheers!

Jon Naar

jonnaar@comcast.net