Real_JamesCainSomeone commented on one of my photographs that it was a “beautiful capture”. It made me feel like it was just a snapshot. Some photographs out there are so digitally manipulated they no longer seem to be real images; they are still stunning, but can you still call them photographs? I honestly don’t know. Photographers have been manipulating images from day one, instead of the computer, it was the dark room. I guess I take umbrage that if my photograph isn’t presented with a thousand filters, appears with a cursive watermark, and isn’t artistic in some way, that my photograph is somehow invalid. #Photography #Photographer #PhotographerRant #Art #ArtAdvice #ArtRant
David Collantes@real_jamescain a “beautiful capture” is just that to me. Why did you feel it was “just a snapshot”? What does that means?
@david A snapshot is someone without experience pointing a camera, perhaps not even aiming it, without regard to composition or artistic value.
@real_jamescain TIL! I normally use shot, or click to refer to photographs (or the action of taken them), regardless whether they are professionally/artistically taken, or just on the spur of the moment. Thanks!
@david I use shot to refer to the action of taking a photo, which, in my mind, is different than snapshot. Your mileage may vary.
@real_jamescain funny enough, I only associate snapshot with computers. Normally use it with NFS (Network File Systems), or VMs (Virtual Machines). Also with “freezing” something in time. Again, today I learned! ☺️
@david That’s funny, for an image capture, I always refer to that as a screen-shot. I’m a data analyst so I know what you’re talking about.
Barry Schwartz 🫖@real_jamescain OTOH isn’t the difference mainly in how long it took to do the work, which is simply a technical issue?
@chemoelectric So what’s the cutoff for an artistic photo? 5 minutes? 5 hours? 5 days? I have my camera calibrated to take the photo the way I want. Post process, I’ll color correct it and present it the way I want. I’ve been doing this long enough, that I know exactly what settings I want to adjust and thanks to technology I see real-time feedback. Sometimes that takes less than a minute, other times I can fiddle with something for a couple hours and produce a mediocre result.
@real_jamescain My point is that this question is a category error. :) It’s two different things.
Earthling@real_jamescain I would take “beautiful capture” to mean that it took skill to shoot something fleeting that requires good timing, lighting, composition, etc in a way that not everyone can do. But that’s just me. There is a problem, with such easy access to cameras, that art photos have become less valued. But I’d guess the comment was meant as a complement.
@earthlingusa Maybe. I hope so.
TheStrawberryOverkill 
@real_jamescain beautiful capture might also mean that you were able to capture the beauty of a scene or moment with all the skill and technique you put into it. I personally wouldn't interpret it as calling it a "snapshot". Regarding editing: I think everyone has their own approach, some want to achieve everything with just their equipment, others love to experiment with digital editing, some try to strike a balance and all of these are valid (except for entirely AI generated photographs).