I had a chance meeting with a surly photographer just as I was getting started with my first dSLR. He was arrogant and condescending, making sure to point out that he was a real photographer, while people like me were just an irritation that had eroded the art and business of picture taking. In his eyes, the exploding popularity of digital photography was a travesty, and he had no interest lending his experience to help hacks like me get better.
The impression stuck with me, and I began to expect that "real" photographers would be guarded, even grouchy, about where they shoot and how they get the shots. Unfortunately that expectation stuck with me for more than a year, until quite by accident I found the Photo Walking Utah group and realized that grouchy photographers are the exception, not the rule.
I attended my first Photo Walking Utah event last weekend and learned more in few hours of conversation than I would have learned from hours of solitary study and effort. The photographers who run the group all volunteer their time, their knowledge, and even lend out their expensive gear to help others get better.
Others have summed up the event last weekend quite nicely, so I'll skip that and just post some pictures I took. Not only are they some of my favorite shots, I even had some of these professional photographers "favorite" them on Flickr--something a grouchy photographer would never do!
0 comments:
Post a Comment