What do you think about?

[johnastovall]

In military circles there is this old heirarchy of what ranks think about.

Lieutenants think about tactic,

Colonels think about strategy and Generals think about logistics.

Could we say about photographers?

Beginners think about lenses and cameras.

The advanced think about lighting.

The serious about color management.

What do you think about or stopped thinking about and started thinking about as you grew in your art?

[Detonate]

I think about all of the above.

I'd say anyone who doesn't is naive.

[PeteQ]

I no longer think about Tri-X when heading out the door. But I often long for the results....

I think less about the gear itself (mega-pixels and MTF charts) and more about the subject and composition. I worry less about the equipment, meaning I am happy with my Nikon but feel that I could get similar results with the same lens/camera combo's and a Canon logo on them...

[hookem]

I tend to think about exposure first, then lighting, DOF, compostition when taking a photograph. Color management afterwards.

John, I visited James Nachtwey's site... amazing work. It moves you.

[Holly]

When I started I thought about equipment and composition, now I think about emotion and character. I remember starting out thinking I wanted to make portraits as "good" as Sears did with the nice, even, flat lighting...now I get insulted when compared to Sears... lol

[engstrom]

Don't worry Holly - you're unlike Sears in so many ways.

[brad]

Ok.. and I'm not naive.. but I don't think about any of those things specifically while I'm making the image. I think first and foremost about the composition of the image and the mood being created.. trying to capture the essence of the subject..

for a person - the emotion and personality..
for an animal - the character..
for a still life or natural landscape - the essence of being there and seeing the beauty that I see all around me
for PJ - to document the event by capturing most of the above

Lighting becomes more secondary..
the equipment doesn't matter, I have what I have, I know it and I work with it..
Color management isn't an issue until later and isn't a concern until I'm trying to put it in its final form

This should be an entertaining thread, though... might as well have titled it "Is it art?" LOL

[Detonate]

He didn't say "as you were making an image", but "as a photographer".

So even if lighting is secondary, you think about it.
The equipment per se doesn't matter, but I'm betting you have to think about what lens you are going to use to achieve the look you want.
So again, even though it's the final thing you think about. Color management is given thought.

In my opinion, ignoring any part of the photographic process is just cheating yourself.

[engstrom]

I believe when John said "color management" he was not referring to post processing monitor calibration and printer ICC profiles but the concept of having the colors of the scene work together with the exposure and composition to produce the desired effect. Then again, I could be wrong and don't presume to know what he was thinking about.

[Killeenguy]

i've struggled with this for the past year...
instead of thinking about satisfing my needs...i choose to satisfy my clients desires.
and when i'm feeling hard headed i do both and reach for a compromise of what will work in the end.

[CaptainTom]

Since moving away from the day to day commercial side of photography I think more in terms of what I would like to shoot, rather than what the client would like. I spent a whole evening recently just organizing a soft box and taking some still life shots. I got nothing to write home about, except the satisfaction of having done just what I wanted to do.

As I progress (?) in my craft, I think more and more about the dark as much as the light.
I am starting to experiment with HDR.

[xseption]

Originally Posted by CaptainTom

As I progress (?) in my craft, I think more and more about the dark as much as the light. I am starting to experiment with HDR.

Okay, I'll bite ... what is HDR??

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by xseption

Okay, I'll bite ... what is HDR??

High Dynamic Range - feature of CS2, read all about here.

[ShutteredEye]

Originally Posted by johnastovall

High Dynamic Range - feature of CS2, read all about here.

This guy has some great HDR images.

[lscottpht]

I think about all of the above, plus new ways to capture the images along with new angles that others around me don't see...anything that will make my images different from the norm and more sellable. I also think about new stories that haven't been covered or new ways to cover old stories. Lately, I've been trying to add to the type of photography I shoot and broaden the scope of what I shoot, so I can be well rounded. Agencies are wanting photographers that can shoot anything assigned to them, and photographers that are comfortable with both natural and artificial lighting both in studio and on location. I am basically looking for ways to set myself apart from my competitors, which is not easy since they are so dang good!