[Michael Piziak]

I'm a Scientist by training. I have a Science Naturalist page with 161 followers right now at: www.piziak.com

Years ago I had my camera backpack with me on my motorcycle and took a lot of great pics I have on Flickr (at Michael Piziak | Flickr).

One thins is, as being a Naturalist and going into the woods all the time, you'd think I'd want the camera with me always like before. Actually, I already have so muich stuff to pack that it just becomes an added burden: Extra clothes and raincoats for changing conditions, drinks, tobacco (yep that or vape), police sized Maglite, mp3 player, fishing pole, the list goes on. And I'm riding a street and trail Yamaha.

If you visit my Science Naturalists page you'll see how I operate (again at piziak.com).

I observe then explain what I observed most of the time. I've found that nearly anything I can observe has already had a picture taken of it. Like people going to reproduce an Ansel Adams photograph. I just google something like "water turtle" and click images and there's a free picture of the same, type, and size of huge turtle I almost caught twice on the fishing pole.

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm not even talking about using a cell phone to take pics. It just seems like all the photos of the world and Universe have already been taken by someone else.

If I come across anything simply far out amazing that no one has ever seen before, I'll regret this decision then, but probnably won't convince me to take camera along.


Michael Piziak, B.S., MA. +30

[BigMackCam]

It just seems like all the photos of the world and Universe have already been taken by someone else.

I imagine most subjects have already been photographed, but each and every image is unique to the moment and artistic intent of the photographer. If your only requirement is to document - from a purely technical point of view - the subjects that you observe, then I imagine most of them will already have been documented (though not necessarily in the precise conditions you observed them). If your motives are more artistic, then it doesn't matter how many photos of that subject or scene already exist. What matters is capturing your artistic vision, and that will always be unique.

If I were you, I'd at least carry a smartphone or compact camera on your adventures. You may never need to use it, but how will you feel on that one occasion, perhaps months or years from now, when you observe something especially rare - or even make a new discovery - and have no means to document it photographically?

[robgski]

Almost anyplace or anything I might see has probably been captured better by someone else.
One thin no one else can capture is the moment in time that I was in a place, or beholding a subject. I try to make most of my images in a way that captures the way I perceived a scene or subject, and conveys that perception to the viewer.

This video might address a bit of what you are feeling.

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

[Roadboat24]

Ecclesiastes 1:9
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

Seems to hold true.

[StiffLegged]

Previous verse:

… the eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing…

That’s why I explore locally; there are many corners I haven’t seen around and time and weather never play exactly the same tune. I’ve seen many variations on Tunnel View, Yosemite, but that doesn’t mean the twisted rock formations not five miles from where I grew up have been done to death too, or the lovely curves in the low tide sand in just the right light at a nearer beach.

[Lord Lucan]

It just seems like all the photos of the world and Universe have already been taken by someone else.

Maybe from the point of view of documenting natural history subjects, which is similar to what people seem to have in mind when they say photography will be made redundant by AI.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of practical uses that are not covered by existing stock photos. For example I tinker with stuff (including camera repairs) and post pictures related to technical problems on relevant forums (garden machinery is one) and neither I nor AI are going to be able come up with pictures of (for example) the broken part I have without my getting up and taking an actual photo of it.

However, if you regard photography as an artistic activity, the number of different compositions is, for practical purposes, infinite, so there will always be new pleasing compositions, just as composers keep coming up with new melodies despite the far more limited range of notes at their disposal. The number of possible different pictures on a 36 Mb sensor or screen in 24-bit true color (16,777,216 variations), is 16,777,216 raised to the power of 36 million, and my pocket calculator is not big enough to find the answer to that. You could get your printer started on it now, although the universe will finish before it does, and while most of those pictures will look like grey sludge, there will be vast numbers of gems in there - the Mona Lisa for example (and zillions of better variations of her), plus all of Ansel Adams' stuff, and yours, and mine too.

The photo below, which I recently posted larger on the K-1 picture thread, features a thorn tree. But I was not intending to document a thorn tree, but instead was intending to record a scene. I'm very sure no-one else has, or will ever, capture this particular scene, not least because it was taken from a viewpoint in brambly undergrowth, in a wood that hardly anyone else ever visits, in a rather remote location; and on top of that there is the particular time of year and light.

[Alpha-Delta]

I know I have never visited any place that hasn’t been visited by others before
But I still hope to see (and take pictures of) something ephemerous that has not been photographed yet: a specific light/weather on a landscape; some “interaction” between animals; some show/concert/street art; etc.
I am probably a little naive 🤷🏻

[jgnfld]

An old bromide you have surely heard among young scientists in any field is that all the important work has already been done. This is true if the young scientist fails to grow and simply repeats the science he/she learned in grad school/early career and many do fail to grow.

Think about it!

[jacamar]

I find it's still worthwhile to get "into the zone" and photograph what I see. There are lots of shots of any given species, but each one is a unique experience and interaction with that creature. It's rewarding to find and document birds that are less common even if they have been photographed many times before, and photography gives me an incentive to get out and enjoy the outdoors. I often discover things I didn't see in the wild when I open up my files, which reinforces the whole experience. From a science point of view there is an opportunity to record behaviour and habitat and not just a "posed" shot.
Given current rates of decline and extinction people in the future might well wonder at what we are able to experience and record today.

[UncleVanya]

In one science fiction universe what passes for research was reviewing past research. In another the laws of copywrite stifled all creative output because everything had already been written and recorded etc.

For me, there’s a certain pleasure in the act as well as the output. I’m also fond of creating both “standard” mimetic images and more abstract unusual images from time to time.

But there are times when I need to take a break from photography so that my creative side regenerates. Perhaps that’s where you are? Finally, this reminds me of the conundrum around travel photos. It’s hard to take shots of subjects the entire world has been taking for years and not feel like your image isn’t special. But ever so often you get a shot that has personal meaning and that makes it worth it. There is nothing wrong with finding that the documentary photos you thought were why you took the gear turn out to be less important than the shot of a sunset that will never be repeated the same exact way again - even if it’s only to remind you how that moment felt.

[FozzFoster]

I observe then explain what I observed

Why observe nature? Why explain what you've observed?
It's all been observed and explained already...

[csa]

Regardless of how many times I've seen a subject, the thrill of getting a photo of it, still remains. Each photo of the very same subject will be different, due to lighting, etc. If I felt no need to take photos, then why hang onto all my equipment that gives me so much joy?

[pschlute]

Ecclesiastes 1:9
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

Seems to hold true.

It is very much the case in fashion. There is nothing ever "new" nowadays, but styles come and go, and are re-invented with a "twist".......

[JohnMc]

Hop on your ride with a only a water bottle for a day or three and discover what you miss, if anything.

[btnapa]

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm not even talking about using a cell phone to take pics.

Yes I have and have regretted not having a camera with me every time. My cell phone goes with me everywhere not because of the camera but the cell capability. So when I see something interesting, at least I have my phone with me.