Snapshots, definition
ginger_55
Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
I have noticed more usage of the term snapshot the last few weeks. It bothers me, because I am not quite sure what is meant.
I would imagine that an answer would be "you recognize it when you see it".
But I think of snapshots as an Art Form unto themselves. Good ones are good ones, are the bad ones the snapshots? In your opinions.
My whole introduction to my smugmug site talks about snapshots. I have seen and enjoyed books on snapshots as an art form.
So, what is on my mind is that it bothers me to hear the word snapshot as a descriptive term that seems to denote "this is not art". I just think it isn't a good snapshot.
What do you all think?
I never have a flame suit on, so please don't.
ginger
gingersnap.smugmug.com
In my introduction I played on the snap in my name.
I would imagine that an answer would be "you recognize it when you see it".
But I think of snapshots as an Art Form unto themselves. Good ones are good ones, are the bad ones the snapshots? In your opinions.
My whole introduction to my smugmug site talks about snapshots. I have seen and enjoyed books on snapshots as an art form.
So, what is on my mind is that it bothers me to hear the word snapshot as a descriptive term that seems to denote "this is not art". I just think it isn't a good snapshot.
What do you all think?
I never have a flame suit on, so please don't.
ginger
gingersnap.smugmug.com
In my introduction I played on the snap in my name.
After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
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Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
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The context the last week is a derogatory use of the word, descriptive of "not challenge" worthy, kind of.
I don't want to name names, but I see it as growing. The first time I noticed it was with my first attempt at the together/alone thing. Two different people referred to my shots, as being snapshots, it was not used as a complement.
I did get to the core of their message, I do know what they are talking about, to an extent..........somewhat, with my stuff. What I object to is the word "snapshot" being used to describe a less than worthy picture.
I am a devotee of the decisive moment (just don't talk about it much), used to love that man's photos. To get to the perfect snapshot, perhaps one would go through the stage of the imperfect snapshot, or something.
But, in my opinion, a snapshot, per se, is not less than a ................portrait that took hours to set up, with the lights, etc.
A lot of the elements are the same, yet they are different. IMO, they are different styles..............I would love to achieve the ultimate snapshot.
I wish I had saved, or had, all the books and articles that talked about the snapshot as an art form. I tried the internet last night, I searched but did not find.
So, by starting this thread, I wanted to have people think about what they mean when they say "snapshot" as a derogatory descriptive word of someone's photograph.
And what they expect to be conveyed by that description to the person they are "saying" it to.
That is all. Easy.:D
ginger
These are taken out of context and not used by the same people. I am trying to maintain anonymity. If I want to say something regard the sentence using snapshot, I put my response in quotes.
_____________
I think all the shots with the people looking at the camera are a bit "snap-shot-y".
__________________
G:"As opposed to people not looking at the camera. What about a portrait."
______________
a bit snapshot-ish, and he doesn't look very happy
_____________________
G: "that is actually the time you remember, Andy, you did not say the first one"
__________________
Still, it seems like a snapshot. It needs a real point of interest
___________________________
G: "This was used last night, it appeared that the person who did the "snapshot" was a newbie to this stuff. One could say that the phrase that it needs a real point of interest overcomes, or explains, the use of the word snapshot in that post. I do not agree. It bothers me.
I am trying to be very nice, just bring up something that bothers me, is a concern to me.
Twice, at least, it was used on my work, but it has been used on others since. As I said, it seems to be growing. I am being as anonymous as possible. I have not given all the examples, I don't know where they are.
As far as wanting you to be tougher, Andy, no I do not want that. That may be how it is going, but early on in the game I told someone, "I would rather be Andy's pet than win a Challenge". I am not at all sure that winning that challenge was a good thing for me.
I do not think I grow more by "tough love". I know I don't. There might be a spurt, but in the end, I am the turtle. I put my head back in the protective shell.
Others may grow and thrive, I am just replying to one statement made about me. I know me, I know no one else as well.
That last sentence with "snapshot" in it, the one to a newbie poster was last night.
Just for a bit of levity. How would anyone here know what I put on my refrigerator.
I really just wanted to start a discussion, not throw rocks.
ginger
i remember the shot, and i remember saying it.
to me, snapshot-ish is when it's more like a family album or fridge pic. and there's a difference.
if your subjects/scene engages the viewer instantly and makes them think - reflect - discover then i think it's more than a snapshot.
i stand by my initial reaction, here and here ginger in your post i didn't see the second shot where the man does look happy. but the first one, is definitely fridge material and not street photography or any kind of decisive moment, imo.
am i getting tougher? yep. i know you want me to be, so that we can all improve, yes?
good thread, ginger, thanks for starting it!
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Ginger,
You have been so precise in pointing out your examples, that to say you are trying to be anonymous is absurd. However, I stand by my comments. I think people do recognise a snapshot when they see it. There are a few snapshots that capture such perfect moments that they are elevated above the realm. When the moment is unique, makes us laugh, or cry or think. I mean makes anyone laugh, not just the parent or the person in the inner circle.
In street photography, the photographer is usually just an observer of the natural scene. A fly on the wall, so to speak. The people are just going about their business, not looking at the camera and putting on their best face. Yes, Andy had a guy looking at the camera and smiling, but he was an entertainer who would have been smiling at the viewer anyway. The total scene was engaging and the face was interesting. We became a part of that scene.
When you see people in the park, you are interested in what they are doing there, why they are there. A couple in love, looking at each other. A person reading a book under a tree. An old man sitting on a bench. The person here is important. It can't be just any guy. The face or the person must engage our interest, make us think or feel something, or what the person is doing may make us think or feel something.
Your couple in the park looked like a snapshot because the woman was more interested in having her picture taken than in the man. If she were looking at him, it would have made me interested in them as a couple- How loving they looked, what an inviting scene it made, what do they see in each other, how it made me feel. Looking at the camera in this instance is nothing like a portrait. A portrait is a formal photograph, posed, planned. Because it is planned, studied, it is expected to have good composition, lighting, etc. The person may or may not be looking at the camera. They may be doing something or not. There are informal portraits, in casual settings, where the people look very relaxed. I'm sorry, but, in my opinion, your picture was not a portrait either. I know nothing about portraits. I can't say from memory, but maybe it was too casual or the faces needed to be closer together, the lighting emphasizing their faces. I don't know. A portrait is a picture that does not tell a story or have context and the people are usually looking at the camera and smiling, that's true. A portrait is usually a picture that has appeal to a limited audience. Certainly, some portraits are art. They are so beautiful that they appeal to almost everyone. They invoke feeling in the viewer. They cause us to wonder about them, like the Mona Lisa. But, your picture was not meant to be a portrait. So, why bring it up here? You know that I did *not* say that any picture where the people are looking directly at the camera is a snapshot.
The picture that the nubee posted looked like a snapshot (even if the kids were not looking at the camera) because it was a picture I might put on my fridge because I knew the children and I knew what they were doing. As an outsider, the picture did not tell me what was going on. Without the description, I had no idea it was a parade. The children were definitely cute, but there was no point of interest. If it had an old car decorated for the parade and the kids following it, it might have told a story. Also the kids were walking out of the frame, not into it. The composition was not what you would want in an art shot. (I was trying to be kind in my comments, but you are forcing me to be blunt here. I'm truly sorry if I hurt anyones feelings.)
Now lets say I have a snapshot of my 2 year old son lifting a basketball and looking up at the hoop on the front of my garage. This is taken from behind the boy at a low vantage point, looking up. The whole scene, with the ball being almost larger than the boy and the hoop so high (moreso from this perspective), makes me smile. Yes, he'll throw that ball. He'll try. We know it. This shot moves out of the realm of snapshot. Could be a contest winner. Why, because it makes us smile, makes us remember, makes us feel. I don't have to be the boys mother. I don't even have to know him. It still has the same effect.
Snapshots can be art, but not all snapshots are art. Portraits can be art, but not all portraits are art. To me a snapshot is a picture that has appeal to only a certain audience, the photographer, the family etc. When it becomes art is when it appeals to everyone. It tells it's own story without narration or description. It has something that people can relate to or that causes them to think or smile or wonder or reflect. When I say a picture has a snapshot look, it is not meant to be derogatory or disparaging in any way. It means, it is a shot I might take myself of people I know. It's a shot I might frame and put on my bookshelf. It may be a great shot of those particular people, but it does not have general interest. I take plenty of snapshots myself, and I love them and frame them. To me, it is just easier to say that it looks like a snapshot than to go into a long explanation. I assume that people know what a snapshot is. We all have them and love them.
You knew all of that, I'm sure. But, I will be very careful not to use the word "snapshot" in any comments on your pictures. I believe that you have chosen to interpret the word as derogatory and that is very sad. Personally, I don't think you should call your pictures on your Smugmug site "snapshots". They are "candids", and very fine ones.
Susan Appel Photography My Blog
thank you for your great words.
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Me too, and so does Michael Reichman - see his article right here about how to go from a snapshot to fine art.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/snap-art.shtml
Here is a whole article describing the difference between a snapshot and postcards and images -
Both of these articles are worth reading. Many of the images I see here on dgrin ARE snapshots - I SHOOT snapshots - Andy sometimes shoots snapshots - Michael Reichman says he shoots snapshot too - they are for our own personal use - they are not to impose on other people.
IMAGES are universal and compel the viewer to become involved somehow. I shoot lots of postcards too - I like them, but they are not art unless they also involve the viewer in some way. The skill is being able to see in advance which we are shooting. Sometimes we find that we are not shooting what we thought, but skill can sometimes transform snapshots to images - see article #1
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/abstracting.shtml
Snappy I thought your paragraph was excellent
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
thanks for the links and response, pathf - great stuff.
one guy in know takes what for most of us would be snapshots and elevates it to supremely good stuff imo:
photos by jim fuglestad
http://mishuna.image.pbase.com/u36/jfuglestad/upload/23572230.Img_1782c640x480.jpg
http://mishuna.image.pbase.com/u16/jfuglestad/upload/4955790.Dsc05394b640x480Bw.jpg
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I know mine are snap shots and post cards but after the few weeks on this site I have learned to try for more. Andy if you do not say it the way it is no one grows.snapapple thanks for the links more info more learning greaper always great in put . dif. I think now is well defined
“PHOTOGRAPHY IS THE ‘JAZZ’ FOR THE EYES…”
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Thanks Greaper, Pathfinder, Andy, for the reference material. I wish I had known about them to quote them. I am pleased that my own feelings, from the heart, were shared by others. I hope it's alright for us mere mortals to post snapshots on this site. If even "Saint Ansel" only comes up with one great image per month, what can we expect of ourselves? We aspire, of course. And with the help of "professor Andy" and the others here with great artistic vision to critique our shots, we may come up with a few semi-worthy images.
That's why it's important to keep posting those snapshots. Sometimes we don't spend enough time studying our own shots to see their value. It takes the critical eyes of our peers to point out the good and help us see it for ourselves. Sometimes we have a gut feeling that something is approaching being good, but we need help with the details, the perfect crop, the finishing touches. I believe Ginger said she hadn't seen the value in her image for the lines and curves challenge, the fence on the beach. Sometimes we take so many shots that it all becomes a blur and we get confused. We need help to sort it out. But, I think we are learning to recognize that good image. We are all growing as photographers and we are trying to help each other. These links you give us are great learning tools. Thanks again.
Susan Appel Photography My Blog
It is a sore subject, hurts a bit, but I enjoy the links, and I am glad we had the discussion.
ginger
I have to admit, I got snobbed once on OMP for my amateur image site being nothing but snapshots. I think he only went to my Shock Therapy albums though. I don't think my nature or macro shots would be considered snapshotish...would they?
(I'm not fishing for compliments here...but I wouldn't mind a critique or two on my nature and macro stuff. Oh..and before anyone comments on d.o.f. on my macros..I have F8.0 to work with, which does seem to limit me sometimes...)
http://mainfragger.smugmug.com
photograph or snapshot?
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snapshot is a hunting term arising from a hunter being surprised by game and snapping off a shot without having time to slowly aim-rather they have to basically point the rifle in one quick movement at the target,maybe being able to get the target in the sights,and pulling the trigger.sometimes it comes off sometimes it dosent..just like photography
you can see how this translates to photography, however the meaning of snapshot has been lost and it is now equated with group shots of your friends and family,looking into tha camera and saying :"cheese" etc etc and are usually taken with a flash which gives red eye etc etc
the term is now changing into "happy snaps" ,at least in Australia which means the same as above.
in reality a snap shot can be very satisfying and a testament to your eagle eye and sharp reflexes and can be a wonderful photograph.
you might have gathered that I am an amateur etymologist....
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