It's Photography, but not as we know it..?

[Graham_of_Rainham]

With the way camera technology is developing, how long will it be before you will be able to buy an "Image Production Unit" that you can set up in a room or at a location and it will automatically produce pictures for you according to a set of "rules" that you pre-select.

With Face Recognition, Image Stabilisation, 40fps, Pre-Trigger Recording, HD Video, WiFi, etc., etc., etc.. I can imagin these things "learning" the types of picture we take and by attaching it to a Pan/Tilt head it will take all the "Party Pictures" for you while you go off and enjoy yourself. On holiday it will sit on the beach and capture all the fun of you building sand castles for the kids (while they play with the gameboy) I can envisage all sorts of situations where it will free the photographer of the need to hide behind the camera and once again be able to mix socially.

But - Is it photography

[Barr1e]

Re: It's Photography, but not as we know it..?

Hi Graham -

If you are working on a prototype I'm not sure I would be first in line - although it sounds promising for those who don't have the wherewithall.

I rather like getting my hands dirty with the manipulation side of things.

When you see the advancement of cameras like the Panasonic Lumix DMC G1 your thoughts might not seem far away.

Regards. Barr1e

[Ian]

Re: It's Photography, but not as we know it..?

It's interesting to see how movie makers see the future of photography. In 2001 (made in 196 a photographer on the lunar base is shown taking pictures of conference. His camera looks like a cine camera, with a pistol grip. In Star Trek the Next Generation and other series, the camera becomes a huge boxy like device, probably because it takes high definition three dimensional images. In Blade Runner we don't see th camera, but the 3D nature of the images is important to part of the plot sequence...

Ian

[Stephen]

Re: It's Photography, but not as we know it..?

With the way camera technology is developing, how long will it be before you will be able to buy an "Image Production Unit" that you can set up in a room or at a location and it will automatically produce pictures for you according to a set of "rules" that you pre-select.

With Face Recognition, Image Stabilisation, 40fps, Pre-Trigger Recording, HD Video, WiFi, etc., etc., etc.. I can imagin these things "learning" the types of picture we take and by attaching it to a Pan/Tilt head it will take all the "Party Pictures" for you while you go off and enjoy yourself. On holiday it will sit on the beach and capture all the fun of you building sand castles for the kids (while they play with the gameboy) I can envisage all sorts of situations where it will free the photographer of the need to hide behind the camera and once again be able to mix socially.

But - Is it photography

If all you need is a few holiday snaps, then it sounds like just the thing. In fact it would probably do a better job than some I've seen recently

However proper photography is about much more than having a camera with fancy gizmos, whistles and bells, and the latest must have technical advances.

Henri Cartier Bresson proved that 'the decisive moment' was what made many of his classic shots. So it is and has been with many of the great photographers. It is their personal input, visualisation and ability to know what they were after that sets them apart from the those who simply rely on the gear to get them shots.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, to produce good photos, you need to be a image maker and not simply a picture taker. I don't think you could program your IPU to "make" an image do you?

[Graham_of_Rainham]

Re: It's Photography, but not as we know it..?

...I don't think you could program your IPU to "make" an image do you?

Kasparov didn't think he would be beaten by Deep Blue.

We now have regular contests to see if AI machines can fool you into thinking that your talking to a human.

CGI is used so much it's hard to tell where reality ends and the rest begins.

I'm on your side however, and while I love to play with pushing technology to the limits, I still shoot slides and enjoy having the control.

Also if I'm taking pictures I don't have to dance with aunty Maude

[yoshi]

Re: It's Photography, but not as we know it..?

But - Is it photography

I would say it's not a hobby anymore if human's proactiveness is no more necessary. That's not what a hobbyst wants.

yoshi

[Graham_of_Rainham]

Re: It's Photography, but not as we know it..?

I would say it's not a hobby anymore if human's proactiveness is no more necessary. That's not what a hobbyst wants.

yoshi

Hi,

Personally I'd agree. However there are people that get great enjoyment from "Programing" devices to do things.

Is a CNC machine programmer any less an artisan than the bodger of old

I really am facinated by the way technology in photography is changing the way we do things. I'm now using digital in the same way I used Polaroid years back to set up the shot before attaching the expensive film back

Thanks for adding to the debate, I hope it keeps going