The Fog Of War
Jan 05
Hey, as long as I’m stuck here in Iraq, I might as well take a few “military themed” pictures for my project 365 picture of the day. I’m calling this one “The Fog of War”.
This is definitely a subject where I could probably quite easily write a 1000 word post. However, this blog is very rarely political. So, suffice it to say, my thought on war is that it’s very rarely a “black and white” type proposition. There’s an awful lot of nuance in that “gray fog”.
Actually, on a bit of a “less heavy” subject … do you like this picture? If so, this is a good example of an image that at the time I took it, was never intended to be seen. It was going to be a “throw away”. But then, after playing with it for a while in Photoshop, I really started to like the “feel” of it. And here it is, part of my Picture a day project.
The lesson …
A very big part of what makes a “good” picture takes place both BEFORE and well AFTER the shutter is snapped. Having a good imagination (for seeing the shot … then post-processing in the “digital darkroom”), is probably more important than having a “nice” and/or “expensive” camera.
Tags: fog, humvee, Military, photography tips, picture a day
Photography is a very interesting field. As the cliche goes, a picture paints a thousand words. I reckon photos are as powerful as words, perhaps even more powerful at times. The message gets even stronger when you combine the two.
I realize I do enjoy composing message or ideas by capturing photographs but the thing about me is… I hate technical stuff. Many say that SLR cameras are a must-have if you wish to be a professional photographer. For me, I don’t quite need one because of two reasons – I don’t know how to use it and I don’t intend to be a professional. I just enjoy toying around with images and making the outcome different than what is normally seen by the naked eye.
I guess that must have summed up that I agree with you Todd. Imagination is probably more important than having an expensive camera. One would be amazed at how imagination makes a basic camera work wonders.
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Twitter: whoistodd
/ January 6, 2010
lol, don’t get me wrong now … having a “nice”, “expensive” camera definitely helps … there’s a lot more options with a dSLR, and some good lenses. I just think that having the imagination to be able to come up with ideas to use the technology to it’s fullest is more important.
Hahaha… Yeap, there are more features with the SLR cameras and that, along with great imagination, takes photography to a whole new level.
SHZ´s last blog ..Do You "Censor" Your Blog?
Your Iraq pics are interesting because all you ever see is the media stuff. I am not very good at the post-processing stuff – I rarely get around to even labelling the images I have by location!
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Twitter: whoistodd
/ January 6, 2010
Thanks Lissie!
I’m just a “Fobbit”, so I don’t get to see (or take pictures of) any of the “real” Iraq. But then again, I don’t generally get shot at, or have people trying to blow up my truck either … so all-in-all, I’m not complaining.
Wow this fog and knowing where you are makes this shot very moody and almost eerie. The slight blur adds to that too.
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Twitter: whoistodd
/ January 6, 2010
Hi Ari,
hmmm … yea, moody .. .that’s kind of what I was going for.
Thanks