25 photography cliches you should stop doing

[davidc]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtxzJlpvqQM

Another irreverant video from Digital Rev. Some are a bit spurious or nonsensical but some are genuine. While you may or may not appreciate the humour (and occasional instance of fruity language, be warned) I still found it entertaining enough to share.

It did get me thinking too, what other kinds of cliche do people see all too often and think we should stop doing? I have a couple of ideas - self-referencing ones I am all too guilty of from last year


1. Macro photography of household objects
2. An obsession with diagonals
3. Not enough negative space
4. Too much negative space

Any more?

[davidb]

Interesting video and, yes, humorous.

More cliches? How about THIRDS?

[davidc]

More cliches? How about THIRDS?

Absolutely

[Mike Farley]

More cliches? How about THIRDS?

Absolutely

I really do not understand the antagonism towards using the thirds. It is based on the golden ratio, something which occurs frequently in nature, our own bodies included. Mankind has long known that it provides a pleasing aspect and it frequently features in architecture, the 4,000 year old Great Pyramid at Gaza being just one of many examples. Putting an important element on a third does not have to be followed slavishly and anything which encourages people not to place the subject in the middle of the frame and produce a more dynamic composition is to be encouraged.

[Mike Farley]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtxzJlpvqQM

Another irreverant video from Digital Rev. Some are a bit spurious or nonsensical but some are genuine. While you may or may not appreciate the humour (and occasional instance of fruity language, be warned) I still found it entertaining enough to share.

It did get me thinking too, what other kinds of cliche do people see all too often and think we should stop doing? I have a couple of ideas - self-referencing ones I am all too guilty of from last year


1. Macro photography of household objects
2. An obsession with diagonals
3. Not enough negative space
4. Too much negative space

Any more?

The video made me smile, but Kai himself gives the perfect riposte right at the end of this one. Incidentally, #10 in the list is for davidc.

http://www.digitalrev.com/article/how-t ... A2NzU2MjY0

[davidc]

lol touche
Though I would like to point out I do own a mirrorless camera too!

[Mike Farley]

------- I do own a mirrorless camera too!

Is that a recent acquisition?

[davidc]

Pretty much, an X100S for my birthday

Very handy for street shooting and occasions where I don't want to (or can't) take the 6D. It's taking some getting used to though, a 35mm equivalent means I have to get quite close in for shots to have more impact - it's all too easy to shoot wide and far away with it and the scene lack impact. Great fun to use though and the quality is top notch, I can shoot at iso6400 and f2 in low light and get fab results. I'd also made some minor modifications to it to improve useability. It definitely turns heads, someone interrupted our dinner on Saturday to talk about it when we were in a restaurant!

[Mike Farley]

Pretty much, an X100S for my birthday

Very handy for street shooting and occasions where I don't want to (or can't) take the 6D. It's taking some getting used to though, a 35mm equivalent means I have to get quite close in for shots to have more impact - it's all too easy to shoot wide and far away with it and the scene lack impact. Great fun to use though and the quality is top notch, I can shoot at iso6400 and f2 in low light and get fab results. I'd also made some minor modifications to it to improve useability. It definitely turns heads, someone interrupted our dinner on Saturday to talk about it when we were in a restaurant!

Not quite what I had in mind for mirrorless, but nevertheless it is a camera about which I have heard good reports. I thought that the 6D was a birthday present, or did your wife really push the boat out? And was it a local acquisition? I keep meaning to ask what local prices for gear are like compared to the UK.

[davidc]

She pushed the boat out although admittedly for many years I hadn't done much for birthdays. It also means I'm "done" on gear for a while! We did order it all from overseas too so we made a significant saving.

The prices here are very good. What I've seen so far is very good indeed actually, I intend to sell my 100mm macro on ebay in the UK and using the money, upgrade to the 100mm L macro instead - checking online it's about 700GBP in the UK but less than 500 here. Likewise, the Sigma 50mm 1.4 art series lens is nearly 1000GBP over there but I've been quoted a price of $1030 here - that's just over 500GBP.

The drawback is that all of these will add to excess baggage when we one day return home