Opinion

Drone photography is here to stay, whether the government likes it or not. That’s one of the messages from an intriguing roundtable discussion piece titled “Those Daring Photographers and Their Flying Machines” in an upcoming issue of Shutterbug magazine. In the story, written by Lorin Robinson, three experienced imaging drone pilots share their thoughts on this controversial topic, in what amounts to part “state of the drone industry” and part call to arms.

Early photographers were bedeviled by the slowness of their sensitized materials. Though exposure times were eventually shortened to workable lengths, early studios used neck braces and confining chairs to keep their subjects still while the exposure was being made.

If you were a detective you would look for motive as a prime clue as to who did the deed, but how many times have you really thought about your own motivation for making photographs? The mystery all photographers eventually attempt to solve is: just motivates me to make pictures and to process images in my own unique way? Kind of like trying to figure out the meaning of life, I guess, and using your photography to help you answer a small part of that question.

The reaction to a human face is inherently stronger than to any inanimate object or arrangement. The expression, body language, placement and lighting often overcome the processing and/or printing technique, or at the least dictate much of the approach.