# Levels of photography from Ken Rockwell - which are yOU?



## RMThompson (Apr 26, 2007)

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/7.htm

What an interesting and cynical article. I recommend reading it from the bottom up... you'll see what I mean.

BTW I am level 5.


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## newrmdmike (Apr 26, 2007)

just more proof that ken rockwell doesn't know what he's talking about.

(although i do think its humorous and know people who could fall into the catagories)  . .  . ken should stick to photography, not sociology and trying to classify people


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## newrmdmike (Apr 26, 2007)

although now that i get further up the artical i see the professional one, and sseveral of the things he said have me pegged! i spoke too soon!


"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Professionals            shoot Nikon SLRs, Mamiya            medium format and Calumet 4x5" cameras.           They cannot afford gear as good as most serious amateurs."

i shoot a nikon slr, just bought a mamiya MF, and have thought about the calumet 4x5's.

when i'm not busy with school and am concerned about my photography business "[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]They spend most of their time looking for work            and ****ing about how all the other photographers in town are dropping            their prices." thats me.

"[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Artists            sometimes dress funny and tend to stay up late. They usually prefer            to photograph attractive young women and are proud of it." hmmm . . . i'll all over the board


[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] 

[/FONT]


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## RMThompson (Apr 26, 2007)

newrmdmike said:


> although now that i get further up the artical i see the professional one, and sseveral of the things he said have me pegged! i spoke too soon!
> 
> 
> "[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Professionals shoot Nikon SLRs, Mamiya medium format and Calumet 4x5" cameras. They cannot afford gear as good as most serious amateurs."[/FONT]
> ...


 
Yeah I fit the one of "artists dress funny and tend to stay up late. They prefer to photograph attractive young woman and are proud of it"

Wow, that's so true for me...  ( www.rmtimages.com/modelshots )

P.S. Now that I think about it, at 1 am I was talking with a model about a shoot this weekend wearing a Spider-Man Tshirt.... uh oh


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## lostprophet (Apr 26, 2007)

I think this says it all http://www.bahneman.com/liem/blog/article.php?story=Ken_Rockwell_Facts


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## blackdoglab (Apr 26, 2007)

This Ken Rockwell fellow is a real piece of work.  Thanks for the link Lostprophet.


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## RMThompson (Apr 26, 2007)

HA HA HA HA HA!!!!


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## Don Simon (Apr 26, 2007)

Well it makes sense that Ken would be the one to classify us as photographers. After all he did make all of us and everything else too (in six days)...

Really we shouldn't hurl abuse at Ken since we don't know him... but then he reviews stuff he's never seen, so it all works out.


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## blackdoglab (Apr 26, 2007)

> After all he did make all of us and everything else too (in six days)...


LOL!  I went back to his site to check out some more of his "expertise" and it confirmed that he has the talent and insight for photography like a fish understands the stock market.


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## RMThompson (Apr 26, 2007)

eh I dont know. he's making money, which by his own standard means he's a whore, and he's making more than I am from photography.


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## Hertz van Rental (Apr 26, 2007)

I think I'm probably a Level 8 as I appear to have transcended to a plane where I no longer need to use a camera


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## THORHAMMER (Apr 26, 2007)

Kens just got a wacky sense of humor...

he says a lot of crap thats just to get attention,... but sometimes hes pretty funny.. 

Some of this shots really look nice, but when I click the thumbnails they come up and theres all sorts of compression/jaggies/resolution/contrast nightmares... etc... 

MAkes it hard to respect what he says about products and quality and overall photoshop advice is realllly hard to take from him knowing this..

but overall hes just a funny wacky guy. Hes like a little miniature gary fong just he hasnt done anything as big yet.....


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## newrmdmike (Apr 26, 2007)

wow thorhammer, great analogy, he is likea little gary fong.

and lostprophet . . . kudos on finding those ken facks!!!!!


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## zendianah (Apr 26, 2007)

I'm speechless. AND thats a first.. WOW... He must have a small..bleep bleep


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## The_Traveler (Apr 26, 2007)

zendianah said:


> I'm speechless. AND thats a first.. WOW... He must have a small..bleep bleep



Why so formal, saying "bleep bleep"
Why not just use the slang word "bleep"


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## Mike_E (Apr 26, 2007)

I like his wit.  Too bad I'm too ADD to fit on his list.  

mike


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## Garbz (Apr 26, 2007)

Did anyone else miss that this was a satirical joke? I personally can't stand most of what Ken says (but some is infact not only informative but also correct), however I get the feeling that some are taking this seriously


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## blackdoglab (Apr 26, 2007)

> Did anyone else miss that this was a satirical joke? I personally can't stand most of what Ken says (but some is infact not only informative but also correct), however I get the feeling that some are taking this seriously


 
I didn't take it seriously, but I think rockwell assumes that he is infallible in the humor department.  He takes himself seriously through the rest of his site so it's hard for me to fully gauge him.  If you want a funny photographer, go to the junk store camera section of http://www.merrillphoto.com


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## fmw (Apr 27, 2007)

I'm whatever level is higher than that of Ken Rockwell.  Sorry, he's an idiot.  I hope I didn't overstate that.


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## Ribber (Apr 27, 2007)

fmw said:


> I'm whatever level is higher than that of Ken Rockwell.  Sorry, he's an idiot.  I hope I didn't overstate that.



:lmao:

I read something by Ken Rockwell quite some time ago. I forget exactly what the article was, but it was enough to earn www.kenrockwell.com a spot on my "never click those links" list.


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## Funky (Apr 27, 2007)

oooo i move around between 5,6 and 7.....how sad is that.....but yeah, it takes all kinds doesnt it?


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## darich (Apr 28, 2007)

i've seen his site before.....the guy is a balloon really.

Going on about numerous cameras he doesn't own.

Boasting that he invented the world's first chip (or something)

Claiming to have chatted with camera technicians and both having a laugh that the resolution doesn't matter but what does is how quick you can adjust a setting.

What a pillock!!


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## darich (Apr 28, 2007)

darich said:


> At very long shutter speeds, like 30 seconds, you will almost never get sharp photos hand-held, regardless of having VR. It's never 0.00%. Shoot enough and you might get lucky and get a sharp one, even at really long speeds



Had to add this.......is he talking from experience?
Can he get a pin sharp 30second exposure????
He must have since he claims it's never 0.00%

I'd bet my shots handheld at even 10seconds would be 0.0000000% sharp!!!!!!!

Maybe we're missing something though???
:hail: :hail: :hail:


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## blackdoglab (Apr 28, 2007)

Ooooooh.... he uses the zone system.  I bet that's how he picks up women at bars.


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## Jeff Canes (Apr 28, 2007)

Till today I had never heard of Ken Rockwell


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## Silverpenguin (Apr 28, 2007)

Ken Rockwell *sigh*

I got about three sentences in and couldn't carry on.


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## Aquarium Dreams (Apr 28, 2007)

So how can you tell the difference between an artist and someone who just thinks they're an artist because they never show anyone their work?  I think this question should have a punch line, but I'm not up for it.


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## Don Simon (Apr 28, 2007)

Jeff Canes said:


> Till today I had never heard of Ken Rockwell


 
A perfect example of when "ignorance is bliss"


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## dEARlEADER (Jan 16, 2009)

I did a search and found this thread...

Who is Ken Rockwell anyways?


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## stsinner (Jan 16, 2009)

I see a lot of jealousy/envy in this thread..  I'll bet KR could out talk/out shoot most here that talk nothing but shiat about him.  I find it humorous..  I'm sure there are better than him on here, Shea being one of them, maybe Big Mike, JerryPH and possibly others, but he's pretty much obsessed with photography, and you can't help but get good when it's your life..  

I think he's a geek, but he's no idiot.  He also seems biased toward one brand of camera, but that doesn't detract from his fact-based reviews, nor his opinion based reviews..


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## dEARlEADER (Jan 16, 2009)

stsinner said:


> I see a lot of jealousy/envy in this thread..  I'll bet KR could out talk/out shoot most here that talk nothing but shiat about him.  I find it humorous..  I'm sure there are better than him on here, Shea being one of them, maybe Big Mike, JerryPH and possibly others, but he's pretty much obsessed with photography, and you can't help but get good when it's your life..
> 
> I think he's a geek, but he's no idiot.  He also seems biased toward one brand of camera, but that doesn't detract from his fact-based reviews, nor his opinion based reviews..




lol....... oh boy........


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## Overread (Jan 16, 2009)

BAD dEARlEADER!!

we can't have 3 threads on at once - its way too much publicity for one thing!!


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## TamiyaGuy (Jan 16, 2009)

I, with my "glass half-empty" approach, put myself in between levels 4 & 5. But other people might disagree.


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## stsinner (Jan 16, 2009)

dEARlEADER said:


> lol....... oh boy........



I just enjoyed another viewing of my favorite video by Rick Astley, compliments of your link..  LOL..  Can't believe that song was ever popular.  Between him and Bryan Adams, I don't know what the heck we were thinking in the 80's.!


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## dEARlEADER (Jan 16, 2009)

stsinner said:


> I just enjoyed another viewing of my favorite video by Rick Astley, compliments of your link..  LOL..  Can't believe that song was ever popular.  Between him and Bryan Adams, I don't know what the heck we were thinking in the 80's.!



Don't blame me....... blame Overread.....


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## Overread (Jan 16, 2009)

what??
wait how??


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## dEARlEADER (Jan 16, 2009)

Overread said:


> what??
> wait how??




You brought the Rick Astly Infection to the forum..... I just ran with it...


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## Overread (Jan 16, 2009)

pfft as if - I am sure I caught it from LP first!


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## stsinner (Jan 16, 2009)

It is funny how that prank has grown legs..  He's probably more famous now that everyone is using his video in a satirical way.


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## eyeye (Jan 16, 2009)

I think you can think someone is an idiot and still acknowledge they know a thing or two about being behind a camera.  I had never head of him until today as well.  Looked him up.  I like *some* of his work.  He knows a lot more then me.  But is obviously an egotistical boob and I wouldn't seek him out for any help with my educational process, nor would I sit down to a meal with him.  I wouldn't buy his work either because his work doesn't make me feel anything.  So I don't think it is wrong to criticize him and I don't think it makes you jealous of him if you don't like him either.


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## stsinner (Jan 16, 2009)

Whenever I do a search for just about any camera or flash, Ken Rockwell's links are at or near the top, right along with Amazon.  Maybe it's because I'm relatively new to photography, but I like the down-to-Earth way he tells you things..  Another thing I like is how he tells you that all the bells and whistles on higher-end stuff only serves to make it more confusing and more expensive.  He also says to turn off that annoying red-eye reduction, as all it does is get you squinting or blinking subjects and is utterly useless.  This lady at the band concert Iwas at last night had a P&S that flashed, no kidding, 5 times every time she took a picture..  It was the most annoying thing, and I felt bad for the kids..

I think he takes a pretty common-sense, layman's approach to his reviews, and maybe that's what people don't like about him-that he's not uber serious in his articles..


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## BrandonS (Jan 16, 2009)

I read his D80 review when I was about to buy mine and had no problem with it.  I just read his D90 review the other day.  He also had faq's up tha stepped you through the different knobs/buttons on a D80 and what they did.  I was new to photography and that helped me immensley.  I never looked at his work before now and it isn't anything to sing home about, but I have no problem with anything I've read on his site thus far.

He does seem a little pompous at times, but if he's making money as his own employer not having any confidence wouldn't get him clients.


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## mrodgers (Jan 16, 2009)

BrandonS said:


> I read *his D80 review* when I was about to buy mine and had no problem with it.  I just read *his D90 review* the other day.


There lies the problem in bold.  If your camera doesn't matter, shouldn't he be reviewing the following instead of the useless expensive cameras?


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## jlykins (Jan 16, 2009)

You know some people don't like him, and sometimes I don't agree with his opinions, but for the most part I like his reviews. He's pretty accurate on them IMHO


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## BrandonS (Jan 17, 2009)

mrodgers said:


> There lies the problem in bold.  If your camera doesn't matter, shouldn't he be reviewing the following instead of the useless expensive cameras?



I would agree with this statement if he didn't have P&S cameras on his website for reviews.  Since he does, he shows that he does reviews on all types of cameras; which is not out of line with what he says (I personally don't believe the camera doesn't matter mantra).  

What might be hypocritical to what he is saying on his site is him making that statement, but having his main picture to the gallery him shooting a DSLR with a giant lens attached to it.  It doesn't directly contradict what he says, but it surely doesn't reinforce what he is saying through example.

On the same note a lot of people say racing is 30% car 70% driver for roadcourses, but you don't see people trying to win cup races with Honda Fits.


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## PhilGarber (Jan 17, 2009)

Damn, it made no sense and still made me feel like a materialistic asshole.


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## PhilGarber (Jan 17, 2009)

mrodgers said:


> There lies the problem in bold.  If your camera doesn't matter, shouldn't he be reviewing the following instead of the useless expensive cameras?



Good point.:thumbup: The camera DOES matter, to a certain extent.


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## THORHAMMER (Jan 18, 2009)

Dude, anyone else just notice that the little mermaid is pretty hot ?


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## Chris of Arabia (Jan 18, 2009)

THORHAMMER said:


> Dude, anyone else just notice that the little mermaid is pretty hot ?



Let's face it though, she's hardly Pocahontas now is she...


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## PhilGarber (Jan 18, 2009)

THORHAMMER said:


> Dude, anyone else just notice that the little mermaid is pretty hot ?



EPIC FAIL. No..no..noo!


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## TwoRails (Jan 18, 2009)

mrodgers said:


> There lies the problem in bold.  If your camera doesn't matter, shouldn't he be reviewing the following instead of the useless expensive cameras?


That reminds me of my first digital camera: a "Jam Cam."  And, no, I wouldn't trade back to that from one of my "more advanced" cameras like the used D70 I recently picked up...


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## ksmattfish (Jan 18, 2009)

Ken Rockwell and Gary Fong (and all the other popular internet goofballs) are geniuses.  They've both realized the best way to make lots of money with photography is to come up with a product to sell to photographers.  Whenever you see me griping about either it's pure sour grapes; I wish I got to play with their toys, and had 1/10th of their business savvy.


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## Mike_E (Jan 18, 2009)

And that boys and girls is the skinny on KR and GF!

Hey, Ks, you know that you could do a site on why your cloths don't matter in photography.


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## THORHAMMER (Jan 18, 2009)

Chris of Arabia said:


> Let's face it though, she's hardly Pocahontas now is she...



I forgot about her.. Yeah she's hotter


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## Iron Flatline (Jan 18, 2009)

Wow. 

After all the Ken Rockwell bashing here, I thought I'd actually check it out, so I clicked the link.

So _that's_ satire, eh? Good Lord, I should have paid closer attention in class, I swear the professor said satire required wit.


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## RyanLilly (Jan 19, 2009)

I thought wit was Ken Rockwell's middle name.


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## TwoRails (Jan 19, 2009)

Iron Flatline said:


> Wow.
> 
> After all the Ken Rockwell bashing here, I thought I'd actually check it out, so I clicked the link.
> 
> So _that's_ satire, eh? Good Lord, I should have paid closer attention in class, I swear the professor said satire required wit.


I've heard his name before I joined here, but still haven't bothered checking his site out yet....


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## SlimPaul (Jan 21, 2009)

Now let's wait for Ken's reply... :lmao:


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## pez (Jan 21, 2009)

THORHAMMER said:


> Dude, anyone else just notice that the little mermaid is pretty hot ?


 Then there's Erin Esurance- waay hot...


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## monkeykoder (Jan 21, 2009)

I could swear I remembered reading on his site somewhere that most of what he says is basically a joke...


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## RyanLilly (Jan 21, 2009)

monkeykoder said:


> I could swear I remembered reading on his site somewhere that most of what he says is basically a joke...



yep, there is a section where he says that everything he writes is just BS and its only for his own amusement. He basically says "take everything with a grain of salt...but you know I'm actually right."


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## Mike_E (Jan 22, 2009)

Yep.

If anyone hasn't figured out Mr. KR than listen to this while you read.  

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-_W18CWypE&feature=channel_page"]YouTube - Lyle Lovett - If I Had a Boat[/ame]


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