[photoptimist]

"Death of X" posts are generally clickbait and almost always wrong.

Firts, most of those "likes" probably reflect support of the person or what they are doing. They say little about the quality of the image. For better or worse, people simply like their friend's (or "famous" people's) photos even if the photography sucks. Youtube and instagram are more about social connections than photographic merit.

Second, forget the unwashed masses and their meaningless likes. Are brides and art directors asking for and accepting "bad" photos? And what about gallery and art sales? Are people willing to pay money to put a crappy candid on their wall? What gets dollars may matter much more than what gets "likes."

Third, all these stylistic trends ebb and flow constantly. There's always a segment out there that loves overdone HDR, lomo street crap, gothic angst B&W, gigapixel landscapes, etc. What's nice about the internet is that one can find people who share your taste even if they are a minority of the general public.

Bokeh will live forever in the large-aperture hearts of many photographers.

[Sandy Hancock]

4) Everyone in the future will be bald and wear form fitting jumpsuits to make the software's edge detection look better.

Given the upward trend in BMI over the last few decades I actually shudder at that prospect.

[FozzFoster]

lolol Tony Northrup's tutorial videos were a real reason that I got into photography in the first place and was interested in starting with Pentax instead of some entry-level CaNikon - be nice to him!

I've watched this video about a million times! I'm still shooting with a K-S2!

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

[BigMackCam]

"Death of X" posts are generally clickbait and almost always wrong.

people simply like their friend's (or "famous" people's) photos even if the photography sucks.

forget the unwashed masses and their meaningless likes.

Are people willing to pay money to put a crappy candid on their wall?

There's always a segment out there that loves overdone HDR, lomo street crap, gothic angst B&W, gigapixel landscapes, etc.

For Heaven's sake, man, will you get off the fence and say what you mean?!?

[aaacb]

One could make the same point by saying that deep focus will come back as an artistic technique, instead of just using selfies to support this prediction. Just look at the work of Constantine Manos for example, complex layered scenes that would be impossible with f1.4 boooookeh. As always, styles come and go.

[hadi]

lolol Tony Northrup's tutorial videos were a real reason that I got into photography in the first place and was interested in starting with Pentax instead of some entry-level CaNikon - be nice to him!

I've watched this video about a million times! I'm still shooting with a K-S2!
Pentax K-S2 Overview Training Tutorial - YouTube

i have no hatred towards him in any way.
i actually really loved his tutorial towards the k1. the k1 book was a little confusing and time consuming. he went through everything that i wanted to learn.
so not bashing him in any way.

[reh321]

That definition could be applied, at least in part, to the street genre as well.
Not that HCB did not have a terrific eye for composition, attention to detail and light... just the "candid" part probably...

"Weegee" Fellig was famous for saying "f/8 and be there", but he was just uttering memorable words that guided most, if not all, street photographers. Traditional Street Photographers used a narrow aperture so they would have deep DOF, guaranteeing that virtually everything would be in focus, because they didn't have time to get focus exactly right. "The Moment" was more important than bokeh, light, etc. In general, most of what we think of old-time photographers is based on landscape artists, but not everyone followed those practices.

[onlineflyer]

so, recently, Tony Northrup was discussing where photography is heading, in his opinion, and what changes might be coming our way.
he mentioned that the bokeh 'trend' is on its way out. the newer generation is preferring to use more candid shots, less composed, less attention to light, and other technicalities. that the newer generation is caring more for selfies and badly executed images, as they find 'well done photography' to be cheesy and 'professional'.

i'm not sure if fully agree with him, though part of that i am seeing the world going towards.

i personally follow travel photography channels on youtube, or instagram, and i keep coming across photos that are just BAD. people have their selfies with stupid faces, and ugly backgrounds. and yet, those images are LOVED by the world.
and then there is a perfect portrait of a family in the fields of cambodia, with great background, subject, light, and it tells a compelling story. and no one really bats an eye at it.

perhaps he does have a point. smaller sensors, and phone cameras, though maybe able to create more and more bokeh as technology is catching up, its still not as close as to what apsc/fullframe/medium format can do.

even trends like HDR, landscape for calendars, etc are all lost. perhaps bokeh is on its way out too?


thought thoughts?

Sounds like fast food to me but gourmet restaurants still exist.

[Sandy Hancock]

"Death of X" posts are generally clickbait and almost always wrong.

Firts, most of those "likes" probably reflect support of the person or what they are doing. They say little about the quality of the image. For better or worse, people simply like their friend's (or "famous" people's) photos even if the photography sucks. Youtube and instagram are more about social connections than photographic merit.

Second, forget the unwashed masses and their meaningless likes. Are brides and art directors asking for and accepting "bad" photos? And what about gallery and art sales? Are people willing to pay money to put a crappy candid on their wall? What gets dollars may matter much more than what gets "likes."

Third, all these stylistic trends ebb and flow constantly. There's always a segment out there that loves overdone HDR, lomo street crap, gothic angst B&W, gigapixel landscapes, etc. What's nice about the internet is that one can find people who share your taste even if they are a minority of the general public.

Bokeh will live forever in the large-aperture hearts of many photographers.

^THIS

I quoted the whole post because it deserves to be read again

[reh321]

"Death of X" posts are generally clickbait and almost always wrong.

Firts, most of those "likes" probably reflect support of the person or what they are doing. They say little about the quality of the image. For better or worse, people simply like their friend's (or "famous" people's) photos even if the photography sucks. Youtube and instagram are more about social connections than photographic merit.

Second, forget the unwashed masses and their meaningless likes. Are brides and art directors asking for and accepting "bad" photos? And what about gallery and art sales? Are people willing to pay money to put a crappy candid on their wall? What gets dollars may matter much more than what gets "likes."

Third, all these stylistic trends ebb and flow constantly. There's always a segment out there that loves overdone HDR, lomo street crap, gothic angst B&W, gigapixel landscapes, etc. What's nice about the internet is that one can find people who share your taste even if they are a minority of the general public.

Bokeh will live forever in the large-aperture hearts of many photographers.

The other issue here, as I already implied, is that photos serve many purposes. Yes, there are artsy photos, but photos which tell a story are also legitimate, and right now that is where most of the emphasis is. Rupert {rip} was not a great artist, but he was a great storyteller, excellent at linking photos and story together, and that is the merit by which most photography is evaluated today.

[tvdtvdtvd]

thoughts?

Sure.

Tony Northrup

Tony who?

in his opinion

Ah yes, that guy. It's so hard to keep these opinionated Nikon guys straight. I always confuse him for the guy that has all the kids to feed.

i personally follow travel photography channels on youtube, or instagram, and i keep coming across photos that are just BAD. people have their selfies with stupid faces, and ugly backgrounds. and yet, those images are LOVED by the world.
and then there is a perfect portrait of a family in the fields of cambodia, with great background, subject, light, and it tells a compelling story. and no one really bats an eye at it.

perhaps he does have a point. smaller sensors, and phone cameras, though maybe able to create more and more bokeh as technology is catching up, its still not as close as to what apsc/fullframe/medium format can do.

Instagram and cellphones are the ruination of photography. Yeah, that is a common sentiment bandied about photography forums.
I don't buy it. I think selfies and other otherwise bad photos have been taken by the masses for years. The only difference is they used
to be lost in a photo album and only seen by a few dozen people. Now they can be shared with the world.

perhaps bokeh is on its way out too?

Hardly. Cellphones are now being given the capability to create fake bokeh, fokeh if you like. No matter, it's still an interest in bokeh
coming in, not out.

I honestly think too much is made about the appreciation of bad photography, without realizing why it's appreciated. People 'Like"
bad photographs of their friends because they see familiar faces doing fun things. It has nothing to do with technically good
photography. I know my mother, and many of my friends, would much more appreciate a quick selfie of me than a well exposed and
processed landscape image without my face.

[Wheatfield]

so, recently, Tony Northrup was discussing where photography is heading, in his opinion, and what changes might be coming our way.
he mentioned that the bokeh 'trend' is on its way out. the newer generation is preferring to use more candid shots, less composed, less attention to light, and other technicalities. that the newer generation is caring more for selfies and badly executed images, as they find 'well done photography' to be cheesy and 'professional'.

i'm not sure if fully agree with him, though part of that i am seeing the world going towards.

i personally follow travel photography channels on youtube, or instagram, and i keep coming across photos that are just BAD. people have their selfies with stupid faces, and ugly backgrounds. and yet, those images are LOVED by the world.
and then there is a perfect portrait of a family in the fields of cambodia, with great background, subject, light, and it tells a compelling story. and no one really bats an eye at it.

perhaps he does have a point. smaller sensors, and phone cameras, though maybe able to create more and more bokeh as technology is catching up, its still not as close as to what apsc/fullframe/medium format can do.

even trends like HDR, landscape for calendars, etc are all lost. perhaps bokeh is on its way out too?


thought thoughts?

He's probably correct. It's pretty hard to get bokeh when you are using a sensor the size of a grain of sand.

[FozzFoster]

i have no hatred towards him in any way.
i actually really loved his tutorial towards the k1. the k1 book was a little confusing and time consuming. he went through everything that i wanted to learn.
so not bashing him in any way.

Glad to hear! I like listening to Tony & Chelsea Northrup's 'Picture This' podcast, too!

[lytrytyr]

Given the upward trend in BMI over the last few decades I actually shudder at that prospect.

At a certain point, anamorphic lenses become quite useful.

[macman24054]

I don't see it dying when it comes to wedding photography. Bokeh is king. Though every couple states how important candid photos are, the posed professional photos end up in albums and as framed prints. This holds true no matter the age of the couple.