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The Photography Thread


MrChupacabra

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Just picked up a sigma 105mm macro and a 10-17mm tokina fisheye lens for less than 650 bucks for the both of them. Havent gotten a chance to mess around with them yet..however, I am stoked.

 

Cool story br0.

 

I've got the Tokina, fucking love that lens.

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so i have a question/rant for everyone. it's about drawing inspiration vs taking a shot that someone else may have taken at the same spot that's similar, etc if that makes any sense. this is kinda a long rant so sorry in advance haha.

 

i started shooting graffiti about 4 years ago. what got me into it was a lived with a writer at the time and i would go out with him and try to paint, but i sucked, so i decided to document graffiti instead as i always liked photography as a hobby and had kinda gotten burned out on shooting punk and hardcore bands.

 

so i got a camera and started documenting graffiti around where i live. at first i really sucked at it, but i took some classes learned more about my camera and started going out with other photographers i met through flickr and learning from them and drawing inspiration from one another. it was cool to see how different people shot the same thing you shot from a different angle, different exposure, etc.

 

so today it's nice out and i don't have anything to do so i decide to drive around and see what's new graffiti wise in my area. i drove up on some people painting a legal wall, so i stopped and get out of my car with my camera and go up to the dudes painting and say hey what's up i'm so and so from flickr because a lot of graffiti dudes i've run into know my flickr account or whatever.

 

so this one dude who's hanging out there turns to me and accuses me and my friend that i shoot with a lot of ripping off his photos. i'm like excuse me and he claims that we copy the exact photos he does blah blah blah. i try to explain that with graffiti in some spots you can only really shoot a piece or whatever a certain way and if you look on flickr there's like 10 people that will have the same photo, etc. dude doesn't wanna hear it. he basically keeps telling me i copy him and i need to get my own style, etc. i tell him i'm sorry if he feels that way and i'm def not trying to copy his style or whatever and that when i got into shooting graffiti i was inspired by him, etc but still dude was a huge prick about it and just walked away.

 

it's funny because i totally understand where he's coming from. graffiti can be competitive in the sense you see a spot and you haven't seen it on flickr yet and you wanna flick it and post it before 10 other people have or before the spot is gone.

 

i don't know i'm just pretty pissed as a photographer i'm def trying to be original with my photos and do my own thing. i don't think it's a bad thing to draw inspiration from someone else. the reason i got into shooting bands was because i saw glen e. friedman's photos and was blown away.

 

sorry for the rant. i'm just really pissed off about it right now. i'm a nice dude and it takes a lot to get me angry and that def did. and for anyone that cares you can look at my photos and dudes photos and let me know what you think...

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loseryouthcrew

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gypsyrock/

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Someone needs to get rid of HOWHIGH's posts... This is for personal photography. don't fuck this thread up..

I'll have some shit to post soon on another note.

 

 

so i have a question/rant for everyone. it's about drawing inspiration vs taking a shot that someone else may have taken at the same spot that's similar, etc if that makes any sense. this is kinda a long rant so sorry in advance haha.

 

i started shooting graffiti about 4 years ago. what got me into it was a lived with a writer at the time and i would go out with him and try to paint, but i sucked, so i decided to document graffiti instead as i always liked photography as a hobby and had kinda gotten burned out on shooting punk and hardcore bands.

 

so i got a camera and started documenting graffiti around where i live. at first i really sucked at it, but i took some classes learned more about my camera and started going out with other photographers i met through flickr and learning from them and drawing inspiration from one another. it was cool to see how different people shot the same thing you shot from a different angle, different exposure, etc.

 

so today it's nice out and i don't have anything to do so i decide to drive around and see what's new graffiti wise in my area. i drove up on some people painting a legal wall, so i stopped and get out of my car with my camera and go up to the dudes painting and say hey what's up i'm so and so from flickr because a lot of graffiti dudes i've run into know my flickr account or whatever.

 

so this one dude who's hanging out there turns to me and accuses me and my friend that i shoot with a lot of ripping off his photos. i'm like excuse me and he claims that we copy the exact photos he does blah blah blah. i try to explain that with graffiti in some spots you can only really shoot a piece or whatever a certain way and if you look on flickr there's like 10 people that will have the same photo, etc. dude doesn't wanna hear it. he basically keeps telling me i copy him and i need to get my own style, etc. i tell him i'm sorry if he feels that way and i'm def not trying to copy his style or whatever and that when i got into shooting graffiti i was inspired by him, etc but still dude was a huge prick about it and just walked away.

 

it's funny because i totally understand where he's coming from. graffiti can be competitive in the sense you see a spot and you haven't seen it on flickr yet and you wanna flick it and post it before 10 other people have or before the spot is gone.

 

i don't know i'm just pretty pissed as a photographer i'm def trying to be original with my photos and do my own thing. i don't think it's a bad thing to draw inspiration from someone else. the reason i got into shooting bands was because i saw glen e. friedman's photos and was blown away.

 

sorry for the rant. i'm just really pissed off about it right now. i'm a nice dude and it takes a lot to get me angry and that def did. and for anyone that cares you can look at my photos and dudes photos and let me know what you think...

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loseryouthcrew

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gypsyrock/

 

Both Flickr's are good, if anything the other dude should have approached you as another person to shoot with. Should have just told dude to shut the fuck up, he sounds arrogant as fuck. I'm somewhat in the same boat as you, well.. A similar boat at least.

I started shooting more because I was wanting to have better photos of my own pieces and other peoples. Sick of crappy phone photos online so I started to shoot more and from there expanded into shooting other subjects and in turn left graffiti behind a bit. I still paint when I can but mostly I simply document the scene here.

 

I've had multiple Flickr, Deviantart, Pbase, etc.. Accounts over the years and I've had the same problem, people saying I've ripped off their photos but really, it's graffiti. Someone is gonna take a photo and there's only so many ways you can do so. people shouldn't get pissed about it. It's not like straight biting a concept for a photo shoot or something.

My other problem was people jacking the photos and me finding them in magazines/forums, which is fine if they give credit but it was a waste of my time putting effort into getting to spots and getting good quality photos to have them thrown around everywhere.

 

Keep doing what you're doing though, you're just taking photos, you have every right to be pissed at the other dude having a cry about it. If you took a photo on your phone of a same spot the dude shot I'm sure he wouldn't care, he probably feels threatened that you might take his viewers or something.

 

I probably ranted too, I'm heaps tried. Uploading shit now.

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so i have a question/rant for everyone. it's about drawing inspiration vs taking a shot that someone else may have taken at the same spot that's similar, etc if that makes any sense. this is kinda a long rant so sorry in advance haha.

 

i started shooting graffiti about 4 years ago. what got me into it was a lived with a writer at the time and i would go out with him and try to paint, but i sucked, so i decided to document graffiti instead as i always liked photography as a hobby and had kinda gotten burned out on shooting punk and hardcore bands.

 

so i got a camera and started documenting graffiti around where i live. at first i really sucked at it, but i took some classes learned more about my camera and started going out with other photographers i met through flickr and learning from them and drawing inspiration from one another. it was cool to see how different people shot the same thing you shot from a different angle, different exposure, etc.

 

so today it's nice out and i don't have anything to do so i decide to drive around and see what's new graffiti wise in my area. i drove up on some people painting a legal wall, so i stopped and get out of my car with my camera and go up to the dudes painting and say hey what's up i'm so and so from flickr because a lot of graffiti dudes i've run into know my flickr account or whatever.

 

so this one dude who's hanging out there turns to me and accuses me and my friend that i shoot with a lot of ripping off his photos. i'm like excuse me and he claims that we copy the exact photos he does blah blah blah. i try to explain that with graffiti in some spots you can only really shoot a piece or whatever a certain way and if you look on flickr there's like 10 people that will have the same photo, etc. dude doesn't wanna hear it. he basically keeps telling me i copy him and i need to get my own style, etc. i tell him i'm sorry if he feels that way and i'm def not trying to copy his style or whatever and that when i got into shooting graffiti i was inspired by him, etc but still dude was a huge prick about it and just walked away.

 

it's funny because i totally understand where he's coming from. graffiti can be competitive in the sense you see a spot and you haven't seen it on flickr yet and you wanna flick it and post it before 10 other people have or before the spot is gone.

 

i don't know i'm just pretty pissed as a photographer i'm def trying to be original with my photos and do my own thing. i don't think it's a bad thing to draw inspiration from someone else. the reason i got into shooting bands was because i saw glen e. friedman's photos and was blown away.

 

sorry for the rant. i'm just really pissed off about it right now. i'm a nice dude and it takes a lot to get me angry and that def did. and for anyone that cares you can look at my photos and dudes photos and let me know what you think...

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loseryouthcrew

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gypsyrock/

 

yeah i think both flickrs are pretty good, and i as well have found similar attitudes regarding dudes who are into graffiti first that then get into photo..... but this dude has a bad surprise looming if he thinks he invented long exposures in sewers with people standing under the light of storm drains.....

 

at the end of the day, 'biting' is a very different thing in photography as it is in graffiti. people tell me all the time, "oh this shot looks like henri cartier bresson", or alex webb, or any of a number of other magnum photographers.... and guess whose work i study constantly? i don't go out thinking, hey i'm going to take an hcb type shot today, but it just sort of happens.... short of going out with someone else's photos in hand and trying to recreate that photo you kind of have nothing to worry about.

 

even technique wise, for the longest time i would be looking at photographs wondering how they got their colors so popping, especially when i knew it was film/wasn't photoshopped in, etc. and i went out practicing practicing practicing until i realized that they were just slightly underexposing colorful areas. the fact that i was consciously looking for that technique is very different from graffiti (how did they get that line so skinny, until you learn how to cut-in your piece, etc.)

 

another thing - flickr tends to inflate egos, especially in the graffiti-tendencied flickrs. you must feel like a champion when every post you get has 78 likes, 5 group requests, 15 comments etc. one of the best/worst things about flickr is that it's so social - apart from ego inflation, at the end of the day, having 15 people tell you your shit rules doesn't really make you a better photographer, if anything it will make you complacent. haha one thing i really like about this forum is that dudes will not hesitate to be like, yo whats good with that dark spot, noise, why did you not notice that tree branch in the corner, etc. That's what makes you a better photographer, not circle jerking on flickr.

 

ps. it'd be cool if that dude posted in here.

 

edit - one thing i just thought of that kind of reminded me of this, but is sort of different, is how martha cooper catches shit from shitheads sometimes. i've heard of writers getting heated of her - that she is usurping their style for her own fame, etc. henry chalfant didn't have that problem cuz his was strict documenting, she always threw a lot more style into her photo shots. so dudes would get vexed that she would get recognition for a sick shot of a 'crime in the city' train car against a tenement backdrop in the bronx, rather than the original writers. just an example (i actually think chalfant took that shot), but it cuts to the point of who is the artist in photographing graffiti - the writer, the photographer (both?).

/rant.

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