The Digital Dilemma

"For some time, my loathing of cameras has been bubbling away on a low heat. The other day it finally boiled over". So said Nigel Farndale in his column in last week's Sunday Telegraph.

You can read the article on the Telegraph website, but, in a nutshell, Mr Farndale was relating the tale of being plagued by a snap-happy tourist on the Barcelona cable car. Apparently the tourist managed to rattle off over a hundrd shots in next to no time, never stopping once to admire the view first hand. In other words, his only recollection of the magnificent aerial views over the spires of Barcelona will be second-hand, some time later, if he indeed bothers to look at the pictures at all. Mr Farndale did refrain from pushing the tourist out of the cable car but you can imagine his irritation.

Over the past week the various comments added to the article (on the Telegraph website) have ranged from 'get a life and leave people to do whatever they want' to messages of support and further tirades against video cameras and people using mobile phones in public places.

My take on this is that the issue lies not with photography as such (I am rather biased of course), but with the invention of digital photography (of which I am also a fan). Suddenly photography is perceived to be easy. "You can take hundreds of photos at no cost only keep the good ones". And if they don't turn out as well as you'd hoped, "you can improve them later on the computer". There is an element of truth in both of these statements about digital, but the art of photography, and the thought processes that go into making a good photograph are the same as they ever were. Mr. Farndale bemoans the fact that photography is no longer a 'noble art'. But in my view it still can be. Photography has not changed, only the tools.

My advice is to treat your digital camera as if it were a film camera (if you remember film of course), with a cost attached to every frame. Consider your image before pressing the shutter and resist the urge to machine-gun your subject in the hope that you'll get one great image. But most importantly, put your camera down for a while. Take in the view. Soak up the atmosphere. Enjoy the moment. In the present, and not 'sometime later'.

Postcard from Greece

Janet and I have just returned from a holiday sailing around the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece. Normal service at Michael Turner Photography is slowly being resumed, though after two weeks of hot and sunny weather we're not impressed that it's still cool and showery here in the UK. It's OK, we don't expect sympathy!
We were sailing with our good friend Jonathan Chandler, his partner Conny, their summertime skipper Lex and an American couple from Connecticut, Conrad and Amy. This was a busman's holiday for Jonathan, he spends the rest of the summer running skippered charters around the Greek Islands. Jonathan was born in Greece, educated at Dartmouth Naval College and employed firstly in the Hong Kong Police and then in the world of corporate sailing in the USA (America's Cup, Whitbread Round the World Race). A colourful background to say the least. Now he has settled back in his home country and his local knowledge and understanding of Greek culture (and especially the food) gives an extra dimension to a sailing trip that can't be matched by the big charter companies. You can check out his website at http://www.sailcharter-greece.com/.

Jonathan's pride and joy, and our home for the past two weeks, Koralia3...

This was an active sailing holiday for us, rather than a photographic trip, but we did manage to take 'one or two' pictures along the way. This is a tiny selection :

A typical street scene on Poros, our first port of call after sailing out of Alimos Marina in Athens...

A sunrise walk around the harbour on Elafonisos island at the southern tip of the Peloponnese rewarded me with a portrait of this amazing looking character preparing his fishing boat. I don't speak fluent Greek (only a few words in fact) but a gesture to the camera and 'en-dak-zee?' (that's Greek for OK) and he was happy to pose.

Two more pictorial shots from my early morning walk...

Random images from the most southerly island on our voyage - Kythira...

If you think that Greece is completely dry in August you may be surprised to see this shot of an ethereal waterfall we found at Mylopotamos on Kythira island...

And finally...for our friends who think that our sailing in the Aegean is the same as going on a cruise, in other words lounging on board a luxury yacht drinking ouzo all day, think again....this is Janet in action raising the mizzen, nonchalantly assisted by Lex!