What to not do as a photographer? What is generally despised?

Nebell

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A big part of photography is experimentation, but there seem to be things that are a big no-no to do in the photography world.
I read a few days ago about a photographer who had these beautiful pictures on his blog, but it ended up being parts of very different and not very special photos - photoshopped together.
This brought a lot of hate on him. I don't know if it was justified or people just picked on him because he was experimenting. They called him a fraud instead.
I do not like what he did, so I kinda agree with the other people.

So what are the things that are generally a stupid thing to do as a photographer?
 
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Taking pictures at groom lake after you have crossed that barrier. Or of nekked lil kids.

That's 2.
 
The basics of photography exist because they are tried and true. You can always break the rules but you should understand them before you do.

As for what not to do - if you are OOC (out of camera), cool! But don't begrudge people who use photoshop or lightroom to touchup or edit. Otoh - if you use apps to edit, don't lie about it if someone asks.

At the end of the day, everyone's idea of art is different. Like what you like and just leave what you don't like alone.
 
The basics of photography exist because they are tried and true. You can always break the rules but you should understand them before you do.

As for what not to do - if you are OOC (out of camera), cool! But don't begrudge people who use photoshop or lightroom to touchup or edit. Otoh - if you use apps to edit, don't lie about it if someone asks.

At the end of the day, everyone's idea of art is different. Like what you like and just leave what you don't like alone.

I agree, but what this guy did was not touch up or edit, he copy-pasted parts of another picture into a different one and called it landscape photography. I guess that's what got people worked up and that's why I agree with them.
 
I never saw the original article OP is referring to, but in his post he says the guy photoshopped - didn't say he stole other people's pictures and photoshopped them together and claimed them as his own. Of courses that's wrong no matter how you slice it. The 1st thing about being an artist is respecting other artists. If you jack some other guy's gal's work and claim it as your own, you lose your artist card. Period.

That's a problem with "art" - everyone's idea of what it is. I remember in the news, just a while ago there was the guy that screen capped other people's instagram pics, then printed it out FULL SIZE and sold it and said that was now "his" art.
 
What you are describing is literally Erik Almas' entire career:
http://www.erikalmas.com
All he does is photoshop landscapes together. Either for fun, or in the case of a lot of commercial campaigns, profit.
(EDIT: Erik Almas isn't stealing other photographers work, but so far you haven't said that that is what this other photographer did. Just cut together landscapes).

So, I would say it all depends on what you want to do. You can take pictures of virtually everything you want, but it's all context. And if you get caught with your hand in the proverbial cookie jar before getting to explain that context, then it will be a hard road for you.
Henri Cartier-Bresson was one of the major pioneers of modern street photography and he more or less breaks into a lot of people's private lives. In war photography, it is not uncommon to have shot photographs of naked children, often of course for the point of showing the atrocities of war.

Context is everything. You first have to describe your goals and what you're trying to do. "No-no's" at a wedding are very different than shooting even other kinds of events. There are general rules, but trying to ask what is the best thing to do always is kind of impossible. It's kind of like asking for the unwritten rules of society and social etiquette. Then figuring out which rules you can break because you're the one with the camera.

But generally the rules are: don't be a weird creepster. Be willing to talk to people that you photograph (engage). Don't photograph in private locations (unless requested/paid to do so). Obey the rules of the FAA (if you're flying your drone). Follow the rules set forth by the first amendment (and it's subsequent trials related to photographic expression and freedom, this of course is more for the US, but is probably applicable in most countries).
 
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This is called making a composite- nothing wrong with it in and of itself. Many photographers do this with astro and land shots, literally because getting both in the same shot may be impossible.

The question here is degree, labeling, and credit, not the process ;).
 
What you are describing is literally Erik Almas' entire career:
http://www.erikalmas.com
All he does is photoshop landscapes together. Either for fun, or in the case of a lot of commercial campaigns, profit.
(EDIT: Erik Almas isn't stealing other photographers work, but so far you haven't said that that is what this other photographer did. Just cut together landscapes).

So, I would say it all depends on what you want to do. You can take pictures of virtually everything you want, but it's all context. And if you get caught with your hand in the proverbial cookie jar before getting to explain that context, then it will be a hard road for you.
Henri Cartier-Bresson was one of the major pioneers of modern street photography and he more or less breaks into a lot of people's private lives. In war photography, it is not uncommon to have shot photographs of naked children, often of course for the point of showing the atrocities of war.

Context is everything. You first have to describe your goals and what you're trying to do. "No-no's" at a wedding are very different than shooting even other kinds of events. There are general rules, but trying to ask what is the best thing to do always is kind of impossible. It's kind of like asking for the unwritten rules of society and social etiquette. Then figuring out which rules you can break because you're the one with the camera.

But generally the rules are: don't be a weird creepster. Be willing to talk to people that you photograph (engage). Don't photograph in private locations (unless requested/paid to do so). Obey the rules of the FAA (if you're flying your drone). Follow the rules set forth by the first amendment (and it's subsequent trials related to photographic expression and freedom, this of course is more for the US, but is probably applicable in most countries).

I don¨t know who that guy is, I was talking about some Norwegian guy, I don't remember his name.
 
Standing around staring at the back of your camera after every shot. Sure despise is a bit harsh, but it's a bad habit to get into.
 
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