Mike Johnston posed a question from a reader on the Online Photographer site which comes up now and again: “As an aside, a semantic question. Why do we ‘capture images’ when using digital, but ‘take pictures’ when using film? I see this all the time.”
While I don’t make a fuss about what other people call the process, I’m fairly pedantic about this in my own words. I don’t take photos—I’m not acquiring something that already existed and I’m certainly not stealing anything—nor do I capture them like some kind of wild animal. When I pick up a camera and decide what to frame and how to expose it, I’m creating something that didn’t exist before and bringing it to the world. I’m making it.
Going deeper into the argument, words have meaning and shape the way we approach the world. If I pick up the camera with the intent of capturing something or taking it, then my actions are likely to follow. I’ll push the button and just be happy with what I get. On the other hand, if I put myself into the mindset of making something, well, hopefully my actions will follow and instead of getting lucky in capturing a moment, I’ll have a chance of being successful in creating one.
Semantics? Of course.
At the end of the day, you can approach photography with whatever term you like as long as you’re getting what you want out of it. Me? I make photos. That’s my aspiration and goal.
Credit where credit is due: Clay Enos is the guy who made me think about this with the name of his blog and how he signs off his posts.
Posted by James Duncan Davidson.