I think there's no doubt that one of the characteristics of the best photographs is that they are memorable. Do we remember them because of their exquisite tonalities? Do we remember them because of their spectacular color? Judicious depth of field? Tack sharp details? Or does a photograph become memorable for reasons that have nothing to do with technology, but everything to do with the heart?

One of the driving factors in choosing a camera format was the fear of high ISO in small sensors. I debated a long time before I settled in on micro 4/3, primarily because of ISO fears. With today's noise reduction capabilities, those fears seem so cute and quaint. I cringe now thinking about all the images I lost because of my fear of high ISO.

I suspect a lot of you have never used a view camera, but there are certain aspects of the view camera that are just lovely. My pace was slower, which fostered a special moment with each exposure. The isolation generated by the dark cloth reduced the hubbub of the world to just me and the image. There are times when I miss that.

Stieglitz told us that photography is like painting because it belongs in a frame, displayed on a wall. I would propose that the actual content of photography is more like poetry. It's highest use is when the photographer observes and then comments on Life.

So much fine art photography I see these days is about the extraordinary. Spectacular landscapes, exotic locations, beautiful models, extravagant events. Is this an attempt to offset Henry David Thoreau's idea that we live lives of quiet desperation? Perhaps there is some value and merit in everyday stories that don't require extensive travel or specialist gear.

LW1432 - Are We Quickly Becoming Anachronistic?

I'll be honest, I don't feel like I'm old. When I look at today's trends in photography, however, I can't help but worry about the future for kind of photography I love. And as long as I'm at it, you kids get off my lawn.

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Every Picture Is a Compromise, a series at www.brooksjensenarts.com.

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In my youth, one of the primary reasons for using a rangefinder camera was that its leaf shutter was so much quieter than a reflex flopping mirror. I was recently photographing on several occasions using silent mode on my digital camera. It makes the quiet leaf shutters of a Leica sound like a thunderstorm.

When asked, I bet most photographers would say they use a tripod to stabilize the camera for sharper pictures. That's true, but that's just the first reason to use a tripod. I find using a tripod helps with more precise framing which ultimately requires less fussing in processing. To help with precise framing, I use a geared head on my tripod.

In my youth, there was only one way to engage the camera, full manual mode. Manual focus, manual shutter, manual aperture. With digital cameras, I started using Aperture-priority and Shutter-priority more regularly. More recently I've found myself trusting Program mode. I feel I'm ever-so-slightly slipping to the Dark Side.

Like so many of you, I jumped on the technology bandwagon in the early 2000s with my first digital camera. Every year after that, I found important reasons to upgrade as the technology improved. Strangely enough, all of my current cameras — which do everything I could possibly imagine — all come from 2016 or 2018. It appears as though the technology has reached some sort of plateau, at least for my needs.