11/7/07

"a photographer has all of reality to aim and click at"

Conceptually, Poser is a cross between a movie stage and a photographic studio. Therefore, using Poser to produce art is very comparable to working in a photographic studio. Granted, the virtual cameras and lighting in Poser are way more sophisticated than anything I could have used in college or afford now. On these forums, many experienced Poser artists suggest that novices get a good book on studio photography to learn about composition, lighting, focal length, lens aperture, shutter speed, etc..

When I worked in the college’s photographic studio, I would try for hours to get the lighting, background, objects or models positioned just right, and look at everything from many angles, all before I ever touched the camera’s shutter. In Poser, I can make the glass vase look like hammered copper, decide which objects will cast shadows, and alter the thousands of variables in ways I never could with a camera. Work in a photography studio and in Poser are both very contrived, but Poser is much more versatile. And, in Poser I can save an unfinisted scene to work on later.

Even when one points and clicks to take pictures in "all of reality," the photographic artist must make many decisions. One still composes the picture by choosing where to stand, what time of day to take the picture, waiting for the right conditions, and what settings to use on the camera. I think that Poser art and photography have a lot of similarities. The big difference is that Poser is completely virtual.

LMK

Probably edited for spelling, grammer, punctuation, or typos.