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08-17-2014, 06:15 PM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by vagabond79 Quote
A good number of shots on his website are processed in a similar fashion to this one. Does this hurt your opinion of him as a photographer/artist?
Yes, it does. Artistic expression reflects philosophical evolution, interest in growth, perspective, observation, interpretation - doing the same thing repeatedly with your work shows a lack of growth.

08-17-2014, 06:51 PM   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by Zav Quote
You can call it committing slidercide ;-)
QuoteOriginally posted by Digitalis Quote
..in one of the most tasteless ways imaginable.
QuoteOriginally posted by asp1880 Quote
Wow, someone really PP'd all over that shot!
Heh. Yeah, the shot is a bit overprocessed for my eyes, but it's all a matter of opinion.
08-17-2014, 06:57 PM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by Digitalis Quote
Yes, it does. Artistic expression reflects philosophical evolution, interest in growth, perspective, observation, interpretation - doing the same thing repeatedly with your work shows a lack of growth.
The fact that every image this person produces looks like it's coated in a layer of soot should alert the viewer to the possibility that the photographer is aesthetically blind. The over sharpening is yet another symptom and is present in spades.

Before the advent of photography an "artist" had to be "visually literate" with an understanding of form at least. Unfortunately digital photography and Lightroom are now having the same affect on the photographic scene as computers, sequencers and Autotune have had on popular music. Almost anyone can construct a piece of music from sampled components thus bypassing the usual route to musical development and achievement.
08-18-2014, 03:23 AM   #19
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It is like a carpenter who uses a sledge hammer for everything. There may be occasional images that you want to go over the top on, but you certainly shouldn't do it on every one.

08-18-2014, 05:37 AM   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by Rondec Quote
It is like a carpenter who uses a sledge hammer for everything. There may be occasional images that you want to go over the top on, but you certainly shouldn't do it on every one.
Could this just be classified as his style?
08-18-2014, 05:54 AM   #21
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QuoteOriginally posted by vagabond79 Quote
Could this just be classified as his style?
Nan goldin has a unique photographic style, Annie Leibovitz has unique style, William Eggleston has a unique style. This photographer is using an effect - Using an effect has nothing to do with the style of your photography. Style is a difficult thing to pin down but here is my 2 cents on the subject : Style is a unique form of Visual communication that a photographer develops and continually refines. Style is seen through Composition, Lighting, DOF, Shutter speeds, Lens selection, Camera format and other technical aspects that are combined and used to create the images the photographer uses to communicate.

This photographer is just throwing stuff at the wall just to see what sticks.

Last edited by Digitalis; 08-18-2014 at 06:00 AM.
08-18-2014, 06:15 AM   #22
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QuoteOriginally posted by vagabond79 Quote
Could this just be classified as his style?
What Doug said. Post processing/filters isn't the same as photography style. Otherwise everyone who uses instagram is an artist.

08-19-2014, 10:14 AM   #23
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It's only a style if you regularly and purposely go for it. As other mentioned, purposely throwing the effects at the image doesn't mean much unless the artist really knew what he was doing.

Looking at the images, I don't think they are all bad. His interior shots (those without sky) are not bad. They still look like HDR, but the halos go away, and it seems like things are ok. The black and whites are OK, but a lot of images do look over-sharpened.

To the OP, I think you can mimick a lot of what he did using an HDR software to do some tonemapping or even just using LR. The clarity slider does get there.

The sad thing is that many of the images could have looked better with just a bit more care. It isn't so much the tonemapping but the sharpening and halos that really take away from the images. Perhaps fixing a bit of that would indicate the intent towards a style.
08-24-2014, 04:35 AM   #24
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Hmm,

I hate to say it, but if this stuff is popular and sells loads then who is to knock it??

I am seeing more and more obvious (to anyone into photography) over-the-top effects processing in galleries. And, if someone likes a picture and buys it, then it has done its purpose. However, I do wince whenever I see sun rays beaming on a picture with ridiculous lack of subtlety!!

Now, posting your stuff online does mean you are willing to let other people judge, so I've no problem with ripping into bad technique. The internet is a great enabler for all levels of art/hobby/hack.
08-25-2014, 03:46 AM   #25
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QuoteOriginally posted by Digitalis Quote
Nan goldin has a unique photographic style, Annie Leibovitz has unique style, William Eggleston has a unique style. This photographer is using an effect - Using an effect has nothing to do with the style of your photography. Style is a difficult thing to pin down but here is my 2 cents on the subject : Style is a unique form of Visual communication that a photographer develops and continually refines. Style is seen through Composition, Lighting, DOF, Shutter speeds, Lens selection, Camera format and other technical aspects that are combined and used to create the images the photographer uses to communicate.

This photographer is just throwing stuff at the wall just to see what sticks.
I agree, Art is about relationships. If you are mainly attracted to the "look", the techniques or visual effects in an artwork you are missing the point and you may as well be viewing a mindless fireworks display. Generally, the form of a work of art follows a comprehensive investigative process and not a predetermined recipe. You should always be striving to find a unique way to explore your relationship to the "subject" and your medium of expression. Bear in mind that the subject may well be the medium itself and not an image that can be easily read in a preprogrammed way.
08-25-2014, 04:07 AM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by Digitalis Quote
..in one of the most tasteless ways imaginable
Something vexes thee... I sense your not liking this one then.
08-25-2014, 05:30 AM   #27
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The guy is into grunge... he makes everyone look grungy.
Photography by GreatLook | The American Worker
08-25-2014, 07:23 AM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by Tarragon Quote
I hate to say it, but if this stuff is popular and sells loads then who is to knock it??
Agree. With growing popularity (and ease of use) you see more and more of this. So long as artist and customer are happy with it, well... to each their own.
And just like any other trend it gets overdone until, eventually, it recedes again (anyone tried counting lens flares in the latest Enterprise movie? ). At first I liked this surreal look one could get with HDR, albeit nowadays I prefer a more subtle use.

But you can't argue with taste and neither with art. Who is to decide what is art, or to dispute it in others' creative work?

At least he classified it as steampunk, so there's no claim to it being realistic. But the halo around the edges is a dead giveaway. It wouldn't have taken too much effort to clean that up, though admittedly more than just combining HDRs.
08-25-2014, 08:29 AM   #29
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QuoteOriginally posted by normhead Quote
The guy is into grunge... he makes everyone look grungy.
Photography by GreatLook | The American Worker
Those pictures tell me one of two things: either all American workers are zombies or they just really hate their jobs.
08-25-2014, 08:56 PM   #30
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QuoteOriginally posted by Tarragon Quote
if this stuff is popular and sells loads then who is to knock it??
When the standards of taste gets lowered, we all pay the price. Ansel Adams and the rest of the f64 group will be turning in their graves, they spent their lives trying pulling photography out of this pictorialist hell hole only for contemporary photographers to crawl back into it.
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