I often cruise Craigslist looking for good deals on photo, video, and lighting gear. But "good deals" are hard to come by. Mostly, I suppose, because too many people are willing to pay nearly retail--sometimes even more than retail--for used items. This same problem exists on Ebay. I'm constantly amazed at the bidding on Ebay. Don't these people first determine what the item costs retail? I've seen an awful lot of photo gear sell on Ebay for nearly as much, as much, or for even more than it can be bought, online, at retailers like B&H Photo, Adorama, and elsewhere. Not only is a used item "used," but it comes without a warranty. And yet many people are willing to pay as much, sometimes even more, than the same item can be purchased new with the manufacturers warranty! Go figure.
Today's adventure on Craigslist netted nothing in terms of a good deal for something I think I might need or want. But I did catch a quote in and ad that, unfortunately, is a sad commentary on the current state of photography: "We are getting rid of these 6 foot photography lamps to open up some office space. We used to use them to shoot photos of our products but we have everything edited in Photoshop now." (Note: The "6 foot" refers to the max height of the stands the lamps are mounted on.)
So there you have it: Who needs lighting when you can edit in Photoshop?
I could go on and on with a rant that's, literally, boiling in my brain. But why bother? As a commentary regarding many people's current attitudes about the art and craft of photography, the quote says it all.
BTW, I took my first roll of film, shot with my Canon rangefinder, in for processing yesterday. Should have it back in a few days, allowing me to see if the camera is operating properly. That's all I wanted from the first roll-- To see if the camera works right.
I'm heading down to the Holiday Inn in Torrance, CA, this afternoon for a business meeting with my friend and fellow pretty girl shooter, Moses Marquez. Moses, in addition to his photography, is an event promoter. Today, his Model Showcase Events company is putting on a Christmas Model Expo at the hotel. We're going to discuss some possible, future joint ventures that address the ever-growing, pretty girl shooting, marketplace.
The pretty girl at the top is Alexa Lynn from earlier in the year. I don't know why I wasted my time lighting her when, after all, I could have simply edited the picture with Photoshop.
4 comments:
Nice post Jimmy. The digital/film debate is starting to die down as most people have conceded to digital... but now the new thing is right-in-camera or hours-of-photshop. I read this on my break at the portrait studio I manage and just had this conversation with my boss this morning when he told me not to put the background light's wire under the backdrop because I can just 'shop it out later... except why wouldn't I just move the damn wire in 30 seconds rather than stamping/healing/patching after... which can always go wrong or look funny.
Product shots are the hardest things to photoshop because everything has to be perfect and only looks professional when lit correctly at first.
Just like anything else, the better the raw materials the better the end product.
I would love to tell you that I nail my shots in the camera and then just go home but I 'Shop my shots like everyone else - but to a point. The difference is that I try to spend the majority of my time setting up the shot and minimize the time I spend in post processing.
If I were a digital magician then I suppose it would be the opposite but the intent of my final product is a photograph, not an illustration.
Agree be smart and lazy, take a few seconds to fix things before pressing the shutter instead of minutes or hours is photoshop. Hell I'd prefer to just use Lightroom for processing and not even bother with photoshop.
Mike
I would like to believe that what they meant was, "we're finished taking the photos of all our inventory" but I'm afraid that your interpretation is more likely correct.
Why waste all the space for storing the lights, when all you have to do is use on-camera flash and 'fix' it in Photoshop.
Sad, indeed.
I don't do a lot of product photography (mostly events and spot news) but I can tell you that without proper setup, you can spend 4 hours in Photoshop instead of 10 minutes with the lights.
(sigh.)
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