My "do not shoot" list

[Michael West]

Wow, if we had more mailboxes like those in the USA I'd probably take mailboxes off my list!   

The "backstreets" of my little town of Fairfax CA has a mini-plethora of such mailboxes.

[theBike45]

  As for sunsets, that's like saying "Avoid these 10 million beautiful scenes because the sun happens to be setting."
  I would say : "Avoid sunsets where there is nothing much other than a setting sun in the shot."  But avoiding
what is almost always the prettiest time of the day is nutty. I would much rather avoid high noon. No scenery
 looks very good at high noon. And there's no emotion in such scenes, although there can be activity, as in a
shot of racing sailboats. 

[jalcocer]

Russ:

that's a nice picture and was a really nice gesture to make a print to gave it to him!

+1

[famalam]

1. Homeless people, definitely. In fact, I avoid almost all street-photography scenarios.

2. Ringflash as the only light.

3. Babies and children.

4. Couples.

5. local wildlife of any kind.

6. pets.

That's about it.

[RSL]

That lets out just about everything. So, the only thing you shoot is landscape? Have you considered learning to paint?

[franta]

...
This guy -- you'd call him "homeless," I'd call him a "hobo" -- saw me on the street with a camera and said, "Take my picture."

I had the same experience in Rome a few years back: I was fiddling with my new lens and a homeless guy asked me to take two pictures, a "head and shoulders" and a "Full figure". As soon as I took the second shot he walked away.
Here is the result:

[petermfiore]

The "do not shoot" list is a cliché. However the rules you break with a twist, often yield the most creative work. Not to mention the most rewarding.

Peter




www.peterfiore.com

[Rob C]

I had the same experience in Rome a few years back: I was fiddling with my new lens and a homeless guy asked me to take two pictures, a "head and shoulders" and a "Full figure". As soon as I took the second shot he walked away.
Here is the result:

Damned nice shot!

Rob C

[cunim]

A don't shoot list.  Hmm.  Does that not assume that it matters what you do or do not shoot?  Matters to whom?

I have no problems of YARYAT or cliches as long as my photos appeal to me.  Thank God they do, because they don't seem to interest anyone else.  Hard as it is to believe, few people like looking at aircraft engines.

After thousands of iterations of the same shot, culture does not care what is in a photo.  Enough that the image has value to you and, perhaps, the people who share your very specific interests.

There is one major exception.  Although I find unposed pictures of people interesting, I hate having my picture taken and would regard my inclusion in a street scene, for example, as an invasion of privacy. 

So, back to the question about who it matters to.  Unposed photographs matter to some (many) of the people in them, and I have met many people who detest photographers because they feel their privacy has been violated.  As a matter of personal ethics (note that word personal), I do not shoot unposed pictures.

[John Gellings]

I photograph whatever I think will make a good photo.  Sure, I have my own things I avoid, but they are never absolute.  We all have our own cliches we cannot avoid.  I call them guilty pleasures. 

[Isaac]

Although I find unposed pictures of people interesting, I hate having my picture taken and would regard my inclusion in a street scene, for example, as an invasion of privacy.

In the street you are on public display, so I don't understand how photographing your public display could be an invasion of privacy?

[Kevin Omura]

Ah, nearly 5 years ago we had the infamous "101 Cliches of Photography" thread going quite strong, see http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=12710.0

Unfortunately, everyone had to stop photographing and just a couple of years later we entered economic recession.

... but I'm still searching for my ideal:  A pictorial showing a red barn, green tractor, golden hay bales and a small lake/pond with rotting wooden pier -- in sunset!  A white wooden fence would be nice, but optional. Likewise, a heron on the pond.

Couldn't you just make something out of stock pix and photoshop? 

[dhancock]

Popnfresh, why do you have fire hydrants on your list? Just curious, as I really enjoyed one of our local hydrants.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Are you sure it's not just a funny-looking beer tap?

[Ed B]

Popnfresh, why do you have fire hydrants on your list? Just curious, as I really enjoyed one of our local hydrants.

Landscapes aren't on the list though....or street.....or portraits....or bugs.....or cars....

Lets face it, EVERYTHING is cliche now and isn't worth the bother to putting any thought into it. Shoot what you like and to hell what anyone thinks.

[Gulag]

Here's a list of things I will not shoot under normal circumstances for one reason or another. These are subjects that either have been photographed ad nauseum in the past by both myself and others or, in the case of homeless people, I feel that using them as photographic fodder is ethically questionable. By putting them on this list it helps me to move on to new photographic territory.

The list is neither final nor absolute, because under the right circumstances pretty much anything can be part of a compelling image.

The List:

Birds

Fire Hydrants

Standpipes

Mail Boxes

Homeless People

Handicapped People

Babies/Puppies/Kittens

Clouds

Sunsets/Sunrises

Artwork

Trash/Trashcans

Graffiti

Zoo Animals

Flowers

Doors/Windows

Landscape, seascape, sand, and beach should be added to the list. If one calls himself a fine art artist, then he/she should create some real fine art stuff that at least reflects his/her own personal worldview.

[HSakols]

Michael Frye has some excellent Clearing Storm images taken from inspiration point.  It is cliche but easy to get to and at times irresistible. 

Now I have a whole classroom of kids with runny noses.  Some of my most priceless images are of children in the classroom learning.  My students understand that I like making my own photographs so they are not phased when the camera comes out.

Regarding flowers and plants, I don't care for the photography of introduced species that don't belong in a particular environment.  I do wish I had the energy to photograph all the native plants I can find in the Merced River canyon, but more for science than art. 

A few years back I went to the wedding of some friends not planning on being the wedding photographer. The light turned out to be so gorgeous and I was curious how well I could photograph a very white bride next to her black husband.  The photos turned out better than expected so I sent them for a gift about 10 of my favorite prints. 

 

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... If one calls himself a fine art artist, then he/she should create some real fine art stuff that at least reflects his/her own personal worldview.

Hmmm... What view of the world can you create when you excluded practically everything in that world?

Alternatively, why doesn't someone come up with a list of still permitted subjects? At least it would be shorter than this laundry list (or shall we call it the new Index Imagorum Prohibitorum?)

[Gulag]

Hmmm... What view of the world can you create when you excluded practically everything in that world?

Alternatively, why doesn't someone come up with a list of still permitted subjects? At least it would be shorter than this laundry list (or shall we call it the new Index Imagorum Prohibitorum?)

What I mean by worldview is what Edward Hopper defines art, in his own words, "Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world." 

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Worldview, personal vision of the world... Same difference.

My question remains: how can you photograph a "personal vision of the world" if you exclude practically all worldly objects?

What's left? Hallucinogenic state of mind? Still have no cameras to capture that. Pure abstracts? Sure. But how many "white squares on white canvas" can you photograph and still express yourself? And who's to say that my personal vision of the world shouldn't include, say, a sunset?