Reply To: My favorite local fauxtog

[fstopper89]

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this story before, so I apologize, but it is relevant to what iliketag just said. When I “snapped” last fall on one of the “looking for a good photographer” posts on the buy/sell page and said, without mentioning names, something to the effect of “anyone here looking for a photographer should really look for someone who has a background or education in photography and high-quality equipment and knowledge on how to properly use it. Some people here are charging for work done with a point-and-shoot with little knowledge in photography.” and I got jumped on by a handful of fauxtogs from my town (the real photographers were the ones “liking” my post.) One comment was “Well education in photography is just an added bonus really. Both myself and my friend have never taken a photography class and we both do really amazing work. And anyways, sometimes the photographer’s eye is better than a trained eye!” For one, I looked at her work and it was nothing better than horrid. For two, she was rudely insinuating that a person with education is somehow going to lose any and all creativity on the subject or that they never had the creativity (the photographer’s eye) to begin with and only learn technical aspects. The whole comment made me laugh in disbelief that a person would actually think that. Most real photographers, or any artists for that matter, are born with a creative eye. I always felt I was. Training the eyes to see how the elements of art work together to create a more effective photograph is important. Training the brain to scientifically be able to use the equipment you are given to get the best possible end result is also important. A person who doesn’t have the creative spark isn’t going to decide they want to be a photographer or artist… unless, as proven much with fauxtographers, they are solely in it for a quick buck because they thought it would be easy money.