What is a photograph?
I asked this question of a group of colleagues at work during a short seminar on Improving our PR Photography that I gave recently. The answers came from several different angles:
- there was the obvious – it's something you take with a camera!
- there was the techie angle - 'a collection of pixels' which seems related to the above, with a bit more emphasis on process;
- there was the 'photo as a record' angle – a picture that captures a moment in time, which moves beyond the obvious and starts to consider why we might take a photo;
- and finally, at the other end of the discussion, there was a photo is all of the above, but a good photo also captures a feeling, a concept or story, or tells you something or hints at something about the subject.

This seems to catch people's views of photography in a nutshell – at one end is the belief that it's all about equipment and cameras – obviously the manufacturers like to promote this view, because it makes them money. At the other end is the 'It's the photographer that makes a photo, the equipment is not important' which in my view tends to be promoted by idealists, but does at least give the photographer some credit for his/her input.

In reality, the real position is somewhere in between. If it was all about the photographer, then pros wouldn't need top-notch equipment, because their customers wouldn't care about technical quality. On the other hand, if it was all about the equipment, then all I would need was a 10x8 camera and I could be the next Ansel Adams (clearly that ain't gonna happen).

So why does it irritate me when people say 'That's a nice shot, you must have a good camera' or 'Your camera doesn't have many megapixels, does it?' The simple answer is because it removes me from the equation. Part of me wants a superior camera, because sometimes, as I get more experienced, I hit the limits of my camera's capabilities. At other times, I am conceited enough to believe that the thought I put into the photo transcends the equipment and conveys the idea I had in mind.

That's when I feel like a photographer, not a snapper, and to my mind it's what make a photo a photograph and not just a snap(which isn't to say snaps don't have their place - it's just a different place).

As an example I'm particularly pleased with this one because it came out exactly the way I planned it.

Welcome to my blog

Hello and welcome to my first blog entry.
My name, as you can tell from the header, is Nigel Monckton. I've been a keen amateur photographer for more than 20 years, and thought it might be worth sharing some of my experiences to help those of you just setting out on the journey. I'm also a user of other peoples photos in my day job, so hopefully I'll have a few useful insights to share about that as well.
This blog is linked to my website, so you can see a range of my photos and judge for yourself if I'm worth listening to. (Obviously I hope the answer to that one is yes).

For the equipment-minded I shoot with Olympus gear – currently an E-1 with a 7-14, a 14-54, 50-200 and a 50mm macro. I'll be blogging my experiences with these as things progress – particularly the 7-14, which I've just bought and poses some interesting challenges.
Why Olympus? Well I started in 1982 with an OM-10, and although I had to change all my lenses to go digital, I've always been impressed with the quality and sheer usability of Oly gear and I saw no reason to change. I'm not one to knock other brands though – I'm sure their kit is fine – it's just I've never been tempted.

What do I like shooting? In truth, almost everything, although I'm less keen on people. I quite like the degree of control you get in the studio, and obviously I enjoy the chance to shoot new things while travelling – you can see the results of these preferences on my website. Just follow the link on this page.