Is Tech Killing Photography?

I’ve composed some blurbs on this topic before. After being on the road for a couple of weeks and having a clear head away from the heat of the Desert Southwest, I’m changing my views on the subject. Well I’m not really changing my views… I’m remembering them.

One of my favorite authors to quote is Henry David Thoreau. I’ve never completely read anything he’s written, but I quote him all the time. While driving I’ve actually been able to pause and reflect. Kinda like thinkin’ drinkin’ but thinkin’ drivin’ instead. Thoreau did something similar going to Walden Pond.

Please do not misunderstand… I still think too much of any one thing will always be a problem. However on the topic of technology “killing Photography?” This has NEVER been a problem! In the past, now, or in the future! Photography has absolutely become everything it is today BECAUSE of technology! Please read on…

We Are Currently In Another Photographic Paradigm Shift

Paradigm Shift you say Garrett? What do you know about paradigm shifts? Well for a couple of positions I held in the Gaming Industry we actually studied paradigm shifts intently. The main one at the time being the paradigm shift that occurred with Switzerland and Japan, back in the day.

My take on paradigm shifts is that they are runaway trains. You can not really “change” them. You can create one, you can become part of one, but once moving forward within a paradigm shift you either get on the train or get left at the station.

In business this means if you do not find a way to standout and work within the Paradigm Shift, you become “old hat” and out of business. In Las Vegas this is what happened when Steve Wynn created an entirely new Paradigm with the Mirage Hotel. Now? Every resort on the strip needs to serve up to that Paradigm, or die like the Tropicana did.

In Photography? The Paradigm Shifts have been plentiful. I personally got on the train kicking and screaming from film to digital. Now I’m kicking and screaming with mirrorless. I’m just not ready for that yet. It’s improving, but my business will not be over if I don’t get on the train.

I have a mirrorless camera, and I recently sold another. I’ve watched the mirrorless world change rapidly in a very short period of time. I’m going to watch developments a bit longer. Mean time what I have works just fine for me so I have little reason to hop on that train yet.

Throughout History Photography Has Been Full Of Technology

Don’t believe me? No problem… research it! Here! I’ll give you a couple of links to start you out. Here’s a Wikipedia article on the history of Photography CLICK HERE !

And here is a pretty cool article from CNET on the history of Digital Photography and it’s development all the way to smart phones CLICK HERE!

I personally learned quite a bit from these two articles. This led me to research more on Adobe and Apple. Also these articles and more research led me down the path of my own experiences with paradigm shifts.

Now that I’m charmingly antique I can remember several things that at the time, were revolutionary… but now? Not even used or thought about. 45’s, 78’s, 8 tracks, Cassette tapes, floppy disks, zip disks… the list goes on and on.

Remember when Steve Jobs at Apple was so bold as to no longer offer optical drives in his state of the art computers? Smart is what he was! Why spend the money making things that would be no longer be used in the very near future? How smart was he to even realize where the future would wind up?

Remember the Beta-Max vs VHS wars we got involved with? How about the CD, DVD disks? A lot of things we used to think were king…are no longer even being used! This was not that long ago folks! If you say thirty years ago?… my mind goes to the 70’s… but thirty years ago was only 1994! Holy crap Batman!

My Concerns With Tech Are Coming From a Different Position

That position is that I spent my hard earned money on a lot of that tech, only to throw it away! We won’t even discuss what that is doing to all the landfills… how’s about our empty pockets and the money we “wasted” in the name of technological advances?

I am also well aware, as you are too, about what happens with “computer glitches”… we deal with these all the time! Code writers are about the most anal retentive beings on earth! Make one little mistake… A comma out of place, or a space, or some character like a tilde… and it takes day’s of scanning that code to find the error.

Now with AI or computer learning? What happens if that computer learning software comes across a slew of those mistakes, and it becomes exponentially harder to find the error? Technological advances are here to stay. Those technology’s are exactly why we are, where we are today.

Yet we need to be careful not to follow all the hype. Back in the day we had professional sales people that kept up on things and guided us to our purchase. That Paradigm has changed as well. Now WE must do the research and stay up on things before we buy.

Just a BTW… BetaMax was actually technically better. But price, more competition, and longer recording time is what won the day. VHS became the industry standard.

Photographically We Are Better Off Now Than In The Film Days

Our cameras are far more advanced. The lenses too. Focusing systems are far better! Thank Yoda for this one! Can you imagine old eyes trying to line up those little ground glass focusing screens from the past? Not my eyes, thank you very much.

I personally would not go back to film just on ISO alone! I can change ISO on every shot now if I wish… back in the film days I was stuck with that ISO for the whole roll of film! So is Artificial Intelligence or AI killing Photography? No, I think not. Apple has been using AI for awhile now. Siri is AI.

AI is here to stay. We can not stop it. We need to get on the train. However do we need to have all of the locomotive? Yes, I’ve gone digital, but I haven’t moved to mirrorless all the way yet. Soon I will have to, but my business will not be over if I don’t change now.

Back in the day you needed to have a pretty healthy dose of knowledge and skill in order to create some of the cutting edge difficult Photography that ruled the day. Now a days technology has improved those difficult tasks… and made them easier.

The technological advances in everything we do on a daily basis has always been about “making something better, or easier for a larger population.” We will NEVER be able to stop that run away train! It is what has made us into who we are and what we accomplish today.

Above is the graphic for the new iPad Pro just announced. Yes I’m probably going to upgrade my current iPad which is only two years old. The upgrade includes too many new features to ignore and is a big part of my operations.

So How Do We Use This Tech Instead Of Fear It?

One position I have is that now it is far easier to create good Photographs. Even for the beginning Photographer or with an “entry level” camera. I stated not so long ago that if they installed editing software into the camera there would no longer be a need for the professional photographer.

Well guess what gang? That editing software is now in many a camera! Yet there is still a need for Professional Photographers. Technology is not making Photography worse or killing it. Technology is still making it better. We can now capture images easily, that were impossible just a short time ago.

We can now Print Photographs better than we ever could before too! AI is improving many of the difficult to learn or acquire editing skills of the digital darkroom. How do we use this? Should we scoff at the technology like the closed minded old fogies of the past? NO WE SHOULD NOT!

We should embrace it! You can not stop it! It’s a runaway train. Get on board or be left at the station. Educate yourself on technology’s uses and improvements; also it’s flaws. Nothing is ever perfect. Look for how you can improve the flaws.

However at the same time beware of the Beta-Max vs VHS wars. Do not get so anxious to get on the train that you spend time and money on a ticket that will soon completely expire.

Now More Than Ever It’s Your Individual Mind

What is going to set you apart from all the easily created imagery? You are! That’s what! No body has learned yet how to duplicate you. (I sincerely hope this never becomes possible) Your Photography must now set you apart somehow from the masses, more than ever.

You are going to need to use your mind a bit more in a different direction. Mundane images are now pretty simple to create… But your art?!? Now that needs to be well thought out. Your passions? How will you depict them?

What are you going to do in order to step up to the challenge? Or will you roll over and give up? Will you let your creativity die? Please I hope not! The world would be a pretty damn boring place with minds that think and react like robots.

Zero individuality… that’s a sad state of affairs my friends. I do not wish to be involved in such a world. We need everybody! Even those I might disagree with. We need the garbage man all the way up to the CEO.

I’m Now Remembering My Grandma Winslow…

I only had a short seven years with my dad… I miss him everyday. I used to go visit my Grandmother every three weeks to catch up with what actually occurred before I was lucky enough to meet him. She was born in the 19th century. She lived through a lot of history as well.

I remember well, the time I asked her what was the most amazing thing she had seen in her lifetime. She lived through the first cars, world war one, world war two, the great depression of 1929. The first radio, the first airplane, the first jet engine… the first washing machine!

I thought my Grandmother might tell me the greatest invention of her time was the washing machine, because she used to wash down by the river… know what my Lovely Grandmother told me the greatest invention of her time was? The microwave oven!

The Microwave? I was shocked! Why I asked?… she said because it could make her tea in 30 seconds and bake her potato in 5 minutes… Right away I realized what my Grandmother was actually saying… Time was her most precious thing. She could not buy any more time…

Be Very Careful How You Spend Your Time

This is currently my main focus personally. Yes I’m spending time learning about the new technologies. But I’m like Sargent Joe Friday… “just the facts ma’am, just the facts.” If you are too young to know my friend Joe Friday, Google him.

The facts are technology is here to stay. There are some pretty cool things going on with the new tech. There is also some crappy things happening with the new tech. There always seems to be a way for the cream to rise to the top, and the rest to dissolve away.

My position is that now, more than ever, YOU need to be the cream in a world being driven by computer learning. After all, we built the computers. You and your Photographic Art must set yourself apart, just like the film work of Ansel Adams and the Masters of the past do now.

Many of my followers study intently the masters of the past… but we are in the present! Maybe study a bit more of that, so that you might be the one people study in the future…