dodoskido says...

I've been thinking on the topic of digital imaging, photography, and art in general. I listen to a couple of digital photography podcasts on iTunes while working the day away at Microsoft. One such is Secrets of Digital Imaging by Dennis Hays. A recent episode of his podcast had his sister and him discussing the merits (or lack thereof) of digital photography and digital manipulation. This brought me back to my core conundrum of what separates those true artist photographers and those digital amateur posers like me? Aside from the fact that they know what they're really doing and can use the tools more effectively than I, sometimes it's difficult to tell the difference.

I have a few really nice photos that I would say are pro quality, but most of my snapshots are just ok. Could it be that pros yield a higher number of "good" photos than shmoes like me? I've been meaning to get up early take some photos during the "golden light" hours right after dawn to see if I can get any closer to reproducing what I've seen as professional quality photos with my rinky-dink digisnapper. After some thinking, I couldn't quite put my finger on what it is that separates a pro from a hack like myself, but I think Blogola has pointed me to the words that I think are a large part of the answer: Visual Literacy.

Not that developing a sense of Visual Literacy will turn everyone into Ansel Adams, but it would help people (yours truly included) avoid the common photographic snafus that plague almost every amateur photographer's porfolio. Since we are recording more and more parts of lives and sharing them with others, the one time novelty of photography is becoming part of our shared vocabulary. Should we teach visual literacy in schools? Definitely. It is akin to learning grammar or mathematics. Everyone should know the basics in photography, videography, website building, and perhaps even post production tools like Photoshop, Premiere, and others. Will this turn everyone into professional photographers or videographers? No. It may help find a few more hidden gems of the professional photography world but overall, I think it will just make the average photo-joe like me more satisfied with their own creations and be able to communicate their experiences more effectively with those they care to share with.

I've been looking back at my photo collection and have been picking out a few here and there to color correct possible use to create a photoblog. Of the 13,000 or so digital and film images I've taken in the past 5 years, less than 5% are what I'd say are good enough for a photoblog or to make large prints for framing from. I'm curious to find out if this is a normal yield level or do pros get much higher yield?

Originally from Blogola...

As costs continue to drop, and more and more people carry digital still and video cameras, the number of individuals who create their own media and self-publish via the internet is growing.

The quality of the imaging devices available today is amazing considering the low price, and web-based video publishing tools are emerging which will make it easy to get images and video out onto the web. The new video codec h.264 (mpeg 4 Part 10) will make video publishing on the internet a viable option for both professional and amateur content producers.

Today millions of individuals document their heartaches, fears, passions, and opinions on any number of topics via written weblogs. As the market continues to be flooded with picture phones and digital cameras, and as more and more individuals get onto the web with a desire to self-publish, the opportunity for visual storytelling is growing.

Soon inexpensive high-definition (1080i) video camcorders will give storytellers new tools with which to share, as exemplified by this under-$2000 entry HDR-HC1 from Sony (pictured above), with an expected â??streetâ?� price of $1500-$1600.

Prosumer level digital still image cameras are becoming less expensive as well. Nikonâ??s D50 Digital SLR is a professional level camera costing approx $700 (w/o lens) - a full $300 below Nikonâ??s D70, a comparable Nikon digital SLR camera introduced just last year.

As digital still and video imaging tools continue to drop in price and become more accessible, the importance of developing a visual literacy, the ability to communicate via images and video, will increase for those interested in publishing more than just text or simple graphics.

Here a look at a few of todayâ??s efforts at developing that visual literacy.

• The Center for Digital Storytelling - based in Berkeley, California
• The BBCâ??s Capture Wales Project - additional workshops in Humber
  and Lancashire.

Additional Reading:

• The Visual Literacy White Paper (pdf): written by Dr. Anne Bamfor, Director of Visual Arts and Senior Lecturer in Interactive Media, Art and Design at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
• A Plea for Media Literacy in our Nationâ??s Schools written by David Shaw, Media and Technology columnist for the Los Angeles Times.