What is the SKILL and TALENT of a Wildlife Photographer
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ม.ค. 2023
- A Wildlife Quick Thought on talent and skill.
In the comments, do you agree and what is the real skill and talent that make a photographer great??
Ranks these.
Personality
Skill
Gear
Talent
Referenced in this video
www.cathysheeter.com/
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I think all genres have a "formulaic" stage of development (bird on a stick, portrait of animal, flowers in foreground mountain in background) that requires less skill and more following "rules". And some people stop at that stage. But talent is shown when compositions make you pause just to stare at the image. The way they positioned themselves so the light is sculpting the subject more than just illuminating it. The processing that makes you "feel" the image as much as see it. And don't forget luck! Wildlife photography is equal parts determination, skill/talent ,and luck - you've got to be out there to be lucky and you've got to be talented enough to take advantage of the luck.
I totally get this. I've been photographing for more than 30 years and I consider myself fairly proficient with the capture and editing process. My wife took up watercolour painting fairly recently and she sometimes uses my bird photos as reference images for her work. She has talent. Even though she's relatively new to this, she is already making art that I'd happily have on our wall. She's developing her skills and will continue to do so for years to come I hope. On the other hand - I have a lot of technical knowledge and a somewhat refined "photographer's eye" for light, colour, composition, subject and background which I've developed over decades. But these skills aren't the same as talent - I've worked hard, put in thousands of hours and learned to live with my successes and failures. If I put the same amount of time and effort into learning watercolour painting, I still wouldn't be as good as my wife is now because she has a talent for it. I think the bottom line is that pretty much anybody can become pretty good at wildlife photography if they put in the time and effort. The same can't be said of painting. At least - not for me 🙂 Looked at a different way, that's a good thing though. At least with wildlife photography, I know that time and effort pays off. I could do watercolour painting for the next 30 years and still be less than mediocre at it.
I 100% agree with you. Great topic. I was an art major and my entire life I never included photography as a true art form. I figured it took no talent - anyone could slop out and get a fantastic shot. I always did oil painting. As I got older I couldn't do it as well anymore. So I picked up photography. I have learned so much about photography - but to me the skill comes in Photoshop. Editing a photo in your own vision to make it a piece of art. I always think there are two types of photographers - ones that are sticklers on showing a photo in true form. And another taking an image and creating something. To me - as with anything - you have talent if you are producing great image after great image.
I have to agree with you but it hurts my ego to do so. If you take an average photographer, give him great gear and take them to a wildlife hotspot, they will get great pictures. Add a paid guide to the mix to show them what angles to shoot, you might even get an award winning photograph.
I think the talent of most wildlife photographers are the ability to position themselves whit the sun in their back, learning how the animal moves and stuff like that. And editing is a skill on its own. 😅
I think for Wild Life it is more important to have knowledge and passion, than a natural talent or skill. Knowledge: use of gear, of subjects and habitats. Passion: the willingness to do what it takes to capture the images. You can have all the talent and skill, but if your not willing to lay on the frozen wet ground for hours on end or other variables to "hopefully" get one shot of something even knowing you might not, all your talent and skill will get you nothing.
Somewhat true! To create an award winning shot, you have two option - 1st is luck, present in the right moment and getting that shot, it's all about luck, no talent involve. 2nd is Creativity, even in a normal scenario, if you have that talent, you can create some artistic frame using right camera settings (Maybe some motion with slow shutter), or right camera angle.
(1) Gear, (2) Skill, (3) Talent, and (4) Personality. I say this because, without the right gear for your specific photography, you will not be able to accomplish much. The second part, skill, comes about with knowing your gear and developing that muscle memory. The third part I think is talent because this will shine forth as you develop good editing skills and developing your own genre/look/style in your photography. The last is a normal progression of the third, your personality contributes to the finished product, a beautiful image worthy of printing or sharing. and your personality drives you to go out more, see more of what you are photographing and loving, and duplicating certain styles suitable to your tastes.
I would say skill, gear and talent are the prerequisites for the ability to create an excellent wildlife photograph. If you work long and hard at the various skills, you become more able to create such a photograph. If you have talent, you simply don't have to work as long or as hard to arrive at that stage. Gear are just tools. The more able the tool, the less skill is required to achieve that excellent result, but if enough ability has been developed by the individual, the tool need not be so sophisticated. Given appropriate materials, an excellent sculpture can be created just using an axe. What distinguishes an excellent product from a truly beautiful work of art is the personality of the creator. It's all about how that creator perceives the world - what point of view brings out a hidden feature or forces the viewer of that creation to perceive that reality in an unexpected way, to shift the normal into the extra-normal. Given enough time and effort and physical/mental ability, or highly able tools, excellent photographs can be created by most people. However, those that have a personality that perceives the world within an extra-normal framework will more frequently than the rest of us take the additional step from excellence to artistically beautiful.
My order is: Personality, gear, skill, then talent!
One thing I've noticed, that some artists say, is how annoying it is to be praised for their talent, while the sheer determination and hard work they put in goes unremarked. I feel inspired to record what I see and hopefully convey how it makes me feel. Developing the skill and patience to succeed at this is hard work. Anyone who says that gear doesn't matter is mistaken. The most important thing for me is persistence, getting good at anything worthwhile takes time. Whether wildlife photography is a fine art or not is debatable, though it's certainly a creative pursuit. Great thought provoking video, thanks.
Personality- sitting and watching mountain bluebirds building a nest for 2 hours 😊 and loving every minute!! Gear definitely matters with wildlife, especially small critters! You have to love being outside!! You have to be obsessed with the animals😊
I love the old adages ...." the harder I work the more talented I become ".... and don't forget..."to get to know your subjects !" Great video Scott
APPLIES TO ALL FORMS OF WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY (ACTION, PORTRAIT, ENVIRONMENTAL, ...)
I love your content. Furthermore, I agree with you it does not take a lot of talent to shoot wildlife is more about being in the right place and have lady luck smile at you. I do not think that anyone should take offense on this subject. I personally just love to go out and take wildlife photos sometime they are good sometimes not do great. However, the emotions and feelings I get every time I go out to shoot is what truly count for me. As always great content thanks for sharing such work with us all
Hey Scott, I am coming at this from a different perspective. I'm not a photographer but I have been an artist of wildlife and landscapes for a long time, not professionally though. My work was graphic design and illustration. You won't find any new work of mine online because I have been recovering from chronic Lyme Disease for ten years. That's a long story that I won't bore you with.
My rankings from the most important to least important for a wildlife photographer-
You've become literally my fav channel for birds and wildlife content! This and the "comparison trap" vlogs are one of the best phylosophical monologues ever, like, one can take theme even with no context to photography but everything. You nailed every aspect of the topic and I simply resonate behind every word! Thank you man, greetings from Bulgaria! I found you few months ago on the topic of gimbals and heads ^_^
Totally agree with you. I took up photography as a hobby and this hobby always give me the feeling of satisfaction but at the same time gives me the motivation to better myself. Never gotten tired of that thirst to make something already good, better.
Skill,personality,talent, gear