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dingus
Mar 15, 2005, 4:38 PM
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Registered: Dec 16, 2002
Posts: 17398
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I remember a long time ago, in a place far far away, reading a comment by Alison Osius, about climbing photos, when she worked as an editor for one of the climbing rags.
She said she did not care for top roping pictures and didn't like publishing them.
Now the world has of course turned quite a bit since then and who knows other than her if that sentiment remains.
But I was glancing at a front page rendition of one of the top rated photos on the site the other day, of some dude 'warming up' on a hard problem, this one at Ibex. It is a KILLER shot, don't get me wrong.
But in many of these sorts of bouldering pics, there is a spotter, arms raised in supplication, sometimes several pairs of them.
I will be blunt... THEY LOOK STUPID.
To me.
If you must have spotters, can't you like, photo shop them the hell out of the picture. It makes a lot of bouldering shots look like some cheap cult religion is in practice and the spotters are worshipping the ass of the Superior Climber (Tm).
Now don't get me wrong, tain't nothing wrong with worshipping a superior ass, I do it all the time.... just not with arms raised and eyes glazed, hehe.
You Pad People, now I'm not trying to troll you. It's justa good natured poking of fun at a relatively new aspect to something I've been doing my whole life, scrambling up boulders.
In the old days your mates were far more likely to be sitting in the dirt, drinking beer or sucking on the hash pipe, ignoring you or worse, harassing you as you struggled for life.
Now you are worshipped.
As I type this out, I', thinking maybe you Pad People are on to something.
But the photos STILL LOOK STUPID.
Now don't they? Come on, laugh with me, laugh at your silly cult selves, its all in good fun.
And photoshop those top ropes out of the shots too while you're at it!
Cheers
DMT
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rpiontek
Mar 15, 2005, 5:02 PM
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Registered: Oct 5, 2004
Posts: 10
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DMT I pretty much agree with you. For some reason even a chrashpad, let alone spotters, really detracts from the photo. Strange because gear in a shot of someone on lead doesn't bother me. Even stranger the belayer in a lead photo is not a bad thing, and sometimes even makes it better.
I think the biggest problem, though, is that it's just not that inspiring to see someone climbing 5 feet off the ground. This being said, one of my favorite Climbing mag articles was the one a few years ago about the beginings of high ball bouldering in J-tree, which came with some great shots.
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wes_allen
Mar 25, 2005, 3:28 AM
Post #3 of 5
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Registered: Mar 29, 2002
Posts: 549
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Ha, that was one of my photos...
I think while many times the spotters take away from the pics, sometimes they add to them. I try to compose without the spotters most of the time, esp. just hands or arms sticking into the frame. But on wider view shots, the spotters can really add perspective and add an element of teamwork, much like a belayer in a roped photo.
One of my favorite photos (which didn't get very high ratings here) shows a climber falling into a bunch of hands. To me, that represents what bouldering is about - catching each other when we fall.
Wes
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atarinaper
Mar 25, 2005, 6:46 PM
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Registered: Apr 11, 2004
Posts: 86
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I am with wes on this one, its all how the comp is.
it does add team work.
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knol
Mar 25, 2005, 11:28 PM
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Registered: Aug 26, 2003
Posts: 81
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i agree, spotters suck... more than not, to a photographer a spotter is just in the wrong place at the wrong time... its always a let down for me when i got that perfect angle and all of a sudden i see that random set of hands reech into the worse part of the frame....
but i feel id suck much more as a photographer if i asked a spotter to move... or especially to tell them to stop spotting... thats not what im there for... im there to take a picture of the event as it unfolds... im not sitting there with aids holding fill flashes and reflectors, and paying climbers to only attempt climbs that are the most photogenic... to me spotters and bad light are all part of the equation, a good artist learns how to deal with it...
having me remove spotters from the photograph in post production is a pretty touchy thing... i cant say that im not guilty of it before... im new at photography(1 year), but ive been involved in post production of photographs for 4 years now... i used to clone out everything i could, tree branches, hands, extra people, you name it... but, lately ive been changing my views of this, then changing them again... when i started taking my own pictures, i felt more and more that its wrong to do too much post production to a photo, as if it was compared to lying about somthing... but now, lately im changing my views again...
is the person who doesnt let the technology of a camera limit their minds imagination in the conception of an image (whether it takes place in a darkroom or photoshop) a better artist than the person who only shows you what their camera can see... the photographer in me takes my brain and tries to visualize what it is that the camera sees compared to my own eyes. the artist in me sais thats wrong... dont mold the brain to the camera... mold the camera to the brain...
but, which is more respectable in todays society... Am i truley lying when i remove a spotter from a photo.. if you the viewer didnt know he was there, then he wouldnt exist to you...
meh. i digress...
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