Daily Inspiration #416 by Orestis Sophocieous

May 27, 2013 Daily Inspiration 31

Let’s Embrace more, and criticize less

Daily Inspiration #416 by Orestis Sophocieous

Hi Steve,

Greetings from Melbourne, Australia!

Despite it being blatantly obvious, I’d just like to remind you once more how great it is to have an online ‘venue’ where I have the exact photography-related content I am looking for. I visit your website daily whilst I sit at my office-job desk, sipping on my morning coffee. I’m a big believer in a good start to the day and stevehuffphoto.com (and the coffee) does exactly that.

I am not a professional photographer, but find myself lucky enough to have ‘jobs’ to shoot almost every weekend (Most of which are fashion shoots or events). Your reviews of all the amazing gear have always fulfilled my inherent lust for the latest and greatest however, it’s the work from the members of this forum that continuously inspire me.

Not all ‘daily inspiration’ photos are to my personal liking, but that is NOT important. I think we can all learn something from every single person, their experiences and the way they go about their photography.

I like positive people with open minds who are willing to embrace other ways of doing things. I’m not interested in ‘arguments’ regarding which camera system is best, which editing work-flow is ‘correct’ and whether film or digital is the way to go. I think if we all embraced all the tools we are lucky to have at our disposal in the world of 2013, we can all improve our skills and broaden our capabilities.

If it is of interest to you, I’m a user and lover of my Canon 5D MKII, Fujifilm x100 and the Olympus OM-D. I love what can be done with each of these cameras and I shoot with which ever one suits my mood.

When I’m shooting strobes, flashes and various events in low light I bring out the workhorse that is the Canon. 

When I’m looking for that very raw feeling of shooting, I bring out the pure Fuji x100.

When I’m looking to utilize the brilliant Olympus/Panasonic lenses and computer-like speed, out comes the Olympus.

As many including yourself keep reminding us, it is not the cameras themselves that do the work. We do the work! And we all go about our work differently which makes it interesting! If we all shot and edited the same, photography would be a very bland world.

Thanks again to you (and your awesome photo-community), and keep on inspiring us all with all things photography.

I’ll leave you with a few of shots from another one of my loves. My City. Melbourne!

Regards,

Orestis Sophocleous

Melbourne by walk-9

Melbourne by walk-11

Melbourne by walk-17

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31 Comments

  3. Thanks Jan, and that’s an excellent idea. Pm me on Facebook if you will; Michiel Faro.
    As for what’s good and what’s not: don’t worry too much, just try to previsualize and look closely at the out ome. Is it really how you wanted it to look? Is anything missing, or just In wrong? Or boring, against Ll expectations? Stay away from making images just to show off the quality of your gear, the demonstration images, as much as you can.

    Let’s have a beer some time!

  4. I have made more non-interesting photographs than I care to remember. I am my own worst critic. I am contemplating to submit, when I find the time, to write a submission named “In search of an interesting image”, accompanied by some images that I found interesting.

    Flickr Miked700

    • Hey Mike,

      I have at least three of your pictures among my “favorites”. I like them.

      My problem? I am totally new to this, and really have no idea if any of my pictures are any good. The emotions I feel when looking at them tell me nothing about the quality of the picture (but more about the memory of the feeling I had when capturing them, perhaps)? And I would love to have them critiqued here.

      Alas, they are not even good enough to make it into the blog (unless there is a looooooong back-log), so I guess that tells me something right there.

      We should hook up sometime!
      Jan

  5. I also agree with MikeD800. But good criticism is the one that makes you better right?

    I believe that Orestis is making a common mistake (which I do myself as well and trying to improve. 🙂 )

    “If your photos are not good enough, then you’re not close enough”

    On street photography I believe we need to engage with the subject a little bit more. And cameras like the Fuji’s etc. are really great for that! Use your X100 more and train on getting stealthier and closer!

    One “trick” I’m using to avoid “conflict” with people is; When I get the shot in front of my subject, I then take my eyes off the camera and look somewhere else. It is like saying “I was photographing the building behind you”. And it works for me. At least I have never been in a difficult situation for almost 10 years that I’m shooting street!

    Hope I helped a little bit.

    Xairetismous
    Giannis

  6. It’s easy to criticize these images but hey, enthusiasm and love for photography is more important!

    • Cheers Mike, always looking for healthy feedback….but as with all art, it’s all subjective 🙂

  7. Love the enthusiasm Orestis. Also a Melbournite and is a cool city to enjoy photography. BTW if you could only have the x100 or OMD what would you choose?

    • If I could only have one, I’d choose the x100……but not because it’s better or worse…I just have a special bond with that camera.

  8. Thank you for lighting up my breakfast. I like how the yellow flowers stand out. By the way what format, lens and aperture did you use. Cheers.

    • I was using the Canon with an 85mm 1.8 lens. It was the first time I’d done a walk around the city with that lens. A fun experiment. Aperture between f2.8 and f4 for these pics!

  10. nice pictures better than the pcitures steve huff took with the leica m240

  11. is this post a level? i fail to see anything good in any of these photos or article. its a simple post where a guy brags about his equipment and puts up some very ordinary pictures to go with. Sorry to be so negative but this has to be one of the least inspiring “dailys” i have read.

    • ….”I like positive people with open minds who are willing to embrace other ways of doing things.”…

    • Ha ha. I wonder what motivates people like you to write things like that.

      Cheers for the post and photos Orestis. I know what you mean about starting the day with a coffee and reading the latest post on this blog. I especially like the mix of people and especially that they are not all ‘pros’ . They all have something in common and that’s enthusiasm and a love for taking photos and that’s what’s inspiring.

      Cheers
      Oli

      • Well, the severe lack of content is what motivates me really, I mean in all honesty, what have you gained from this article? His philosophy is “criticize less” and “how its all about how we do it” but then fails actually give us any real insight other than the fact that he owns some nice gear. The big difference with Steve and when we read his articles is that the content is there! And its full filling! Why not talk about the processing hes does? Or the fact that he chose some interesting framing/compositions? Not just, “YO I GOT SOME SICK CAMERAS”

        • Chris,

          What have you brought to it that was missing?

          Well? Anything? What have we gained from your negativity?

          Move on.

    • yeah, you kind of thought out loud there, mr. Evans. Those thoughts belong inside your head. Inside.

  13. Wow, I wish I had the command of language and words that you have… you said what I think, only you made it sound smart and coherent (and that is where I fail so misserably).

    Oh: and your pictures rock too! Very nice, and very inspirational. Thank you so much.

    Jan

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