straightoutofcamera

The ultimate skill of the photographer -- of the artist -- is to create the aesthetics of the scene in front of them "in the moment". The Natural Landscape Photo Award is perhaps the epitome of this with minimal image manipulation allowed, while the World Press Photo has a Code of Ethics. So straight-out-of-camera (SOOC) has got to be the pinnacle of ability, hasn't it? Or is there more to the notion of what an image is and where the skill lies in producing it?

It’s time we put some updated sensibilities’ behind the statements “fix it in post” and “getting it right in the camera”.

Believe it or not, the image above isn't a digital composite created in Photoshop -- it's a light painting photo captured using a film camera. Photographer Jason D. Page spent four years planning for this shot before finally capturing it in just the right conditions recently.

"One should still try and get as close as possible to what you want in the initial click."

A friend of a friend just pointed this out in a conversation we were all having on Facebook. It's prompted me to say something. To explain what "getting it right in the camera" means to me now, and what it meant to me in the old days.