But Is It Art

I'm trying to learn how to use my Nikon D70. I've had it for a year and I'm still using it in point and shoot mode. I love photography. I love looking at pictures, taking pictures and reading about taking pictures. I just wish I was better at taking photos. I thought I was doing okay until my brother turned me on to Flikr.com. It's a great photo site and community for sharing interests. I enjoy sharing motorcycle photos with people that have the same passion for bikes and travel as I have. There for awhile though, I started getting absorbed in the push to get my picture views up. I joined a couple of the "rate my photo" groups. My brother said it best when he noted that nothing sucks the fun out of something like having a know-it-all point out that your picture titled Sunset doesn't show the sun setting. Nevermind that it was taken at sunset. It took me about five minutes to quit all those groups and erase the comments. Life's been happier for the most part. There is however a recent thread in one of the discussion groups that got my ire up. In the Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Photography group one fellow thought that there was a lot of potential but far too much garbage there. He was one of those people that has become so prevelant since the advent of the world wide web. You know the type. He just wants to have a rational discussion, it's just his humble opinion. This guy was a little more civil than most but still had that smug attitude that drives me crazy. I try to stay out of these "debates" but made the mistake of getting sucked into this one. I found myself defending some of the pictures this guy was criticizing. He of course took this to mean that my feelings were personally hurt. The bad part is the guy came in, stirred up grief and left, and it was all for naught. I don't even think he was a regular member of the group.

I don't want it to sound like I can't take constructive criticism, I've learned quite a bit and it's usually from the people that are polite. I've actually been reading the owner's manual for my camera today and experimented a little with settings other than the auto features. The instructions are a little similar to the shuttle owner's manual. I want to get some experience under my belt in preparation for our honeymoon to England next year. Even if I don't improve I'm sure my pictures from England will make Lisa and me happy. The problem right now is that I think I actually took better pictures with my cheap 5 year old Kodak DC290. I'm not sure why, maybe I'm depending on the camera to do it all now. The picture above is an example from the old Kodak. I really like this one. Hope I can get that good with my expensive new D-SLR.