Photography Lingo

[Shadowman]

Photographer David Moog thoughts on how we describe our craft as taught to him by Minor White.

http://www.dailypublic.com/articles/...phers-rebuttal

[pnodrog]

I will stick to capture - it makes me sound victorious.....

Interesting comments.

[Shadowman]

I will stick to capture - it makes me sound victorious.....

Interesting comments.

Paul,

I think each term (capture, shoot, and grab) can be used for specific subjects; I've never heard a photographer say he grabbed a landscape but will perhaps say captured a meteor shower. You just have to be careful when publicly saying you shot a model.

[rpcrowe]

Paul,

I think each term (capture, shoot, and grab) can be used for specific subjects; I've never heard a photographer say he grabbed a landscape but will perhaps say captured a meteor shower. You just have to be careful when publicly saying you shot a model.

I am very careful not to say that I am going to shoot (or that I have shot) a dog

[pnodrog]

Paul,

I think each term (capture, shoot, and grab) can be used for specific subjects; I've never heard a photographer say he grabbed a landscape but will perhaps say captured a meteor shower. You just have to be careful when publicly saying you shot a model.

Capturing or grab are probably just as risky with reference to a model....

[Shadowman]

Capturing or grab are probably just as risky with reference to a model....

Richard and Paul,

I wonder what is the origin of the term shoot", perhaps it is less intimate than the word "session". I remember overhearing a cosplayer say that a photographer who didn't ask permission was trying to have a "secret session".

[george013]

Richard and Paul,

I wonder what is the origin of the term shoot", perhaps it is less intimate than the word "session". I remember overhearing a cosplayer say that a photographer who didn't ask permission was trying to have a "secret session".

Maybe from "aim and press/shoot".

George

[Manfred M]

The one thing that absolutely fascinates me is the jargon used by different groups. Over the past few years, I've had the opportunity to get to know some very good photographers in India. Indian English tends to be much more phonetic that the way we speak it elsewhere, so when discussing something we call a "shot", they refer to as a "click".

[george013]

The one thing that absolutely fascinates me is the jargon used by different groups. Over the past few years, I've had the opportunity to get to know some very good photographers in India. Indian English tends to be much more phonetic that the way we speak it elsewhere, so when discussing something we call a "shot", they refer to as a "click".

From the Agfa Click?

George

[Manfred M]

From the Agfa Click?

George

Possible, but unlikely. My Indian photographer friends told me that in the 1950s right through to around 2000, the Indian Government tried to inspire industrial self-sufficiency so imports were very much restricted so as to encourage domestic industries. They tell me that much of the photography that they learned was on old gear that was in the family or cameras that were brought back by travelers outside of India. I suspect those Agfa cameras likely never made it to India in any large numbers.

Indian photographic gear manufacturing never took off and even today, only the major name brands are usually found in that country and specialized accessories are impossible to find from domestic sources.

[george013]

Possible, but unlikely. My Indian photographer friends told me that in the 1950s right through to around 2000, the Indian Government tried to inspire industrial self-sufficiency so imports were very much restricted so as to encourage domestic industries. They tell me that much of the photography that they learned was on old gear that was in the family or cameras that were brought back by travelers outside of India. I suspect those Agfa cameras likely never made it to India in any large numbers.

Indian photographic gear manufacturing never took off and even today, only the major name brands are usually found in that country and specialized accessories are impossible to find from domestic sources.

Could be.
In my remembrance it was Agfa Click-Clack. I checked it to be sure and it is an Agfa Click and an Agfa Clack. I never heard about clacking. In Dutch one can say "klikken", like to click. And "schieten" like to shoot.

George

[Shadowman]

The one thing that absolutely fascinates me is the jargon used by different groups. Over the past few years, I've had the opportunity to get to know some very good photographers in India. Indian English tends to be much more phonetic that the way we speak it elsewhere, so when discussing something we call a "shot", they refer to as a "click".

I've heard that term also, a friend will say to me "nice clicks" and interestingly I immediately know what she means and have never tried to correct her; and why would I.

[IzzieK]

Most of the Nikonian.org teachers would say "focus, recompose, take your/the shot." Just to add that.

[Shadowman]

Most of the Nikonian.org teachers would say "focus, recompose, take your/the shot." Just to add that.

Much easier to adopt the lingo than create a new one.

[Pippan]

I've long ago noticed that where I would say "I have taken a photo", Germans would say, "Ich habe ein Foto gemacht". 'Making' a photo is more accurate, as we all know that the process is far more than just opening a shutter and letting some light into a camera.

[IzzieK]

I've long ago noticed that where I would say "I have taken a photo", Germans would say, "Ich habe ein Foto gemacht". 'Making' a photo is more accurate, as we all know that the process is far more than just opening a shutter and letting some light into a camera.

Greg...sounds like "making bread"... I will stick to "take" as in take-away.

[MrB]

It seems reasonable to claim that "Photographers make pictures", and that can be seen repeated in one of the famous quotes of Ansel Adams - “You don't take a photograph, you make it”.

I understand that statement to mean the whole creative process - the preparation and choices made with regard to the scene (lighting, composition, lens, camera settings, etc.), the choice of when to release the shutter, and similarly the choices made in developing the image (whether in-camera and/or in post processing) to present the end product.

Perhaps the three words, "shoot; take; or capture" tend to be used to indicate that the photographer has frozen the scene (pressed the shutter button) at a particular moment in time. During a discussion, those three words might often be used in place of, and with equivalence to, "make" (as described above), whether or not the people involved in the conversation are photographers. And does it really matter?

Cheers.
Philip

[Shadowman]

I've viewed handheld photography tutorials that compare the disclipline/skill/patience to that of a sharp sbooter.