The Manifesto of the Honest Lens

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The Manifesto of the Honest Lens

Against the Rules, For the Feeling

I. The Great Deception

We recognize that "The Rules of Composition" are not laws of nature, but merely observations of past art. To teach a rule before a feeling is to put the cart before the horse. When we make the "Rule of Thirds" our target, we cease to make art and begin to perform a calculation. We reject the "Standardized Test" of the photographic grid.

II. The Sovereignty of Intent

The only person qualified to judge a photograph is the person who took it, based on a single question: "Did I capture what I felt?" If a photograph is blurry, off-center, or "incorrect," but it successfully preserves the artist's emotion, it is a triumph. If a photograph is technically perfect but emotionally hollow, it is a failure of intent.

III. Curiosity Over Compliance

We will no longer "grade" teachers or students based on their ability to follow a recipe. A leader’s job is not to correct a student's horizon, but to help them discover their own visual voice. We trade the stress of "doing it right" for the joy of "seeing it truly."

IV. The Human Metric

In this club, we measure success by Connection, not Composition.

We value the "Physical Tingle" over the "Golden Ratio."

We value the "Visual Story" over "Leading Lines."

We value the "Honest Mistake" over the "Boring Perfection."

V. Our New Language

We will strike the language of pundits from our critiques. We will not speak of "power points" or "triangles." We will speak of weight, tension, rhythm, and mood. We will treat the camera as a tool for translation—converting the invisible feeling of a moment into a visible memory.

How to use this Manifesto:

Print it and post it on the wall where you meet.

Read the Preamble before every new assignment.

Use it as a shield: When a pundit or a "traditional" critic tries to dock points for a centered subject, point to the manifesto.

Yet another post about Composition?

Is it technical or vision that makes a good photo. 

It's both but great composition can be ruined by poor technically executed photo. Like wise a technically executed photo can be boring.

I believe minor technical errors will be ignored by a strong composition.

Searching my blog for "composition" will have many posts.

This link has another view -> I'm against teaching composition rules. Rigorous following on the rules of composition leads to  a lack of creativity.

I believe that they are guides but it is more helpful to actually show examples of good composition.

This discussion from Light Stalking is more informative than "rules" https://www.lightstalking.com/composition-mistakes/

Am I Getting Better?

How am I getting better?

Using the following criteria;   composition, focus. lighting, exposure, sharpness, would print and show them on your wall?

Go through the photos you took 3 years ago and select 20-24, no more, that you consider are the best. 

 This is your base line. Create a collection or album of that collection.  Perhaps give that album/collection name "Improvement Baseline"

Next go through your photos taken in the last 12 months  and select the 20-24, no more, of your best. 

Now on the last best which, using the same criteria when selecting the  baseline which are better than the first best. If you have 0 you haven't progressed. Now since you progressed use the one's better than you baseline and replace best of the new selection in the baseline. That is the new baseline. 

Replace this process in the next 12 months to note your improvement.

"Rules" of Composition (UP DATE)

Too paraphrase Blazing Saddles, We Don't need no stinking rules. But we do have guidelines.

We have discussed Leading Lines in many photography meetings I've attended. But do you consciously plan your photo based on the guidelines or do you just "see" them. Do they just fit your composition? After you see the "print" do you think. "Oh, good use of leading lines". 

In MattK's course "Inside the Composition (Basic)" he discusses "We take photos of things we know or have seen". Basically what you have seen or learned, like leading lines, develop your ability to "see the photo" often you need to see the photo in the photo, meaning that you need to see less than the wide view and zoom to a smaller area.

I think you get to a point, after taking and viewing many photos, that you no longer think about the compositional guides you just apply them. Of course not every photo you take is compositional great, but you learn from them and put them in the trash. 

Unless you want artistic photo, your photos must be in focus, and doesn't grate like nails on a chalkboard,  https://larrysphotography41.blogspot.com/2023/04/nails-on-chalkboard.html?m=1

Leading lines

Are rules ruining your photography?

https://fstoppers.com/education/rules-will-kill-your-photography-creativity-part-one-469954

When I looked my older photos , maybe before I was aware of the "rules" I photos that looked right. No "rules"

A video of RULES

It's Not That Simple. There are no absolutes (UP Date)

 I'll use [] to show changes and additions.

Pressing the shutter release is the simple part. Everything takes time, knowledge and experience.

Most everything you read, videos you watch, meetings or workshops you attend suggest "do this .." to become a better photographer. 

But there are no, NO, absolutes only guides.

To improve your photography you need to actually take photos and analyze your results.

I would say the only absolute is composition, focus and as MattK says "The Why ..." Why did you take the photo.

Yes there are "rules" for composition but which for this situation?

Aperture Priority for landscape but ...

 [If there is anything that is moving or may move because of the wind or people you need to consider the shutter speed.  Your camera is will create a "proper" exposure based on your other settings such as White Balance, WB, Metering and Picture Profile like Vivid, Portrait, etc. To accomplish, with a fixed ISO, will adjust the Shutter Speed, SS. to get the "proper" exposure.  The general guideline for proper hand held SS is 1/(focal length) so if your are at 50mm that is 1/50 s.]

Shutter Priority for motion but ...

[Similarly your camera will give you a "proper" exposure.. To do this your camera will adjust the aperture to accomplish it.  However your photo may be soft at the extremes of your scene Consider you are taking a landscape on a windy day and you want the foreground, middle ground and background free of blur. Say your SS is 1/600s  The only thing your camera can adjust is the aperture. Your camera analyzes the scene and  determine the proper Aperture is f/4.0. Is everything acceptably sharp? maybe, maybe not.]

Low ISO for a cleaner photo but ...

[Back in the day, actually not that long ago, many preached "always use ISO 100". Modern camera sensors and software have come a long way. Yes ISO 100 is cleaner, less noise, than 12800 however IMHO get the shot, well exposed, acceptably sharp and focus. Let your camera sensor or/and processing software take care of the noise.]

Never use AUTO but ...

[Consider using AUTO to guide to your settings, when you hand your camera to someone else to take a photo. Frequently the photo is acceptable.]

Use JPEG but ...

[JPEG when you don't do much postprocessing or immediate posting to others. Remember that JPG is like a  wrapped deli ham sandwich.  You can unwrap and add some condiments but it is still a ham sandwich. ]

Use RAW but ...

[On the other had a RAW file might look like a ham sandwich on your cameras LCD. And you can use postprocessing to make is a toasted turkey and ham sandwich. Your choice.]

Fast shutter speed to eliminate or reduce motion blur but ...

[Is that what you want? It is an artistic choice. Do your want to show motion by blur? Do you want to stop an arrow or bird in flight. These are artistic choices.]

Aperture controls DoF but ...

[Yes a large aperture, small f number, yields a shallow DoF. However there are other variables in play. Such as sensor size, distance between camea, subject and background and add focal length. Often those variables are more important than aperture. See dof simulator]

What is DoF?

["is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a photo that appear acceptably sharp"]

Use evaluative metering but ...

[All consumer cameras are set to evaluate the light reaching the sensor so  that the brightest and darkest to 18% gray or grey. What is 18%grey? Also remember the other metering modes, center weighted and spot all measure the 18% grey of that area.]  

Use Scene mode but ...

[IMHO use them as a guide. Once you have traveled the photography path I seldom use them. Usually for talking points.]

Full Frame or Crop is best but ...

[Yes Full Frame, FF, has a lot of advantages over than other sensor sizes. When you view an image is it half full or half empty? You need to evaluate your needs and make your own decision.]

Lighting, back, front, side, shadow, harsh, soft, golden, blue, ... hour, ...

[Again you need to learn what they are and when to use them. Sometime you have to deal with the light you have. Basically use you feet and walk around the scene to see what light works best for your photo.]

[A new camera will improve my photography

No it will not! If you take bad photos with your current gear new equipment will still take bad photos. New gear may be easier to use for you, maye assist or improve the Auto focus, and provide other features you desire BUT it will not make bad photos better.  Learn you current camera to the max.]

There is no one thing that makes you a better photographer. It is the combination of all the items above and more that make you a better photographer. But, in my opinion, you need to know your camera. What buttor, what menu item, what ... If you don't know your camera you will be unable to utilize it to your fullest. This applies to the simplest Point and Shoot, Cell Phone camera to the latest wize bang Mirrorless.

Let me paraphrase President Kennedy's quote "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

This way, We choose to become a better photographers not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

[You only get better by taking photos and analyzing your results.]

Horizons straight or not?

Recently I read, more correctly viewed, a post of award winning photos. Of those I saw none were "wow I wish I took that". One comment was that the horizon was not level. To me it was about 2 degrees off. A response was to the effect that it was an artistic choice. Maybe. But to me an artistic choice would have been several degrees off.

My friend Daijah created this photo which is an artistic great choice. Leading lines with purpose.

Thanks Daijah for permission to share your work.

Why Worry? It's the Ratio that's why!

Why Worry about your cameras aspect ratio? In my digital darkroom I can crop to any desired ratio. Why Worry?

Composure!

It looks good on my device doesn't it. Yes it does but it may not print, on your chosen media, what you expected.

It's all about the aspect ratio. My camera sensor has a 4:3 ratio. Yours may be 3:2. The most common printing size is 8x10, 4:5 which didn't fit either.

So why Worry? Because when you compose your image and don't allow for the chosen crop the print may be too close to the frame. So worry about it.

Most modern cameras allow you to choose a ratio. In my Olympus camera I can choose a 1:1. When I review it on the cameras LCD display I see a light white 1:1 frame so I know my print wouldn't chop off important parts.

I use the RAW image so the sensor image is the native ratio not a jpeg crop display.

 Just another reason to use RAW.

This is a good discussion.

I have added this from my facebook Larry's Photography group, 

Camera aspect ratio and your desired print ratio should be considered in your composition. These articles may help.

https://expertphotography.com/aspect-ratio-photography/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/photographylife.com/aspect-ratio/amp