Many of the pix out there on the internet are such a no-frills, in-your-face slam dunk of plastic sexiness that the creator with his camera seems not to be an inquisitive, interested gentleman, but more like a drunk at a bar sidling up to a hot chick and blurting out, ‘Wanna boff?

Some things are just very pretty, and if a photographer wants to shoot those things, it’s going to be a lot harder to fail to get an attractive image. Of course, a bad photographer can fail, but even a merely competent photographer can create an image that moves people. Yes, a photo of an eagle or of a naked woman on a beach may be unimaginative, and it may not win any photography awards for technique or originality, but that doesn’t make the image (or the photographer) bad if the picture works for the viewer. Such viewers might include myself!

I’m sometimes surprised when casual snaps I’ve taken turn out to be popular with folks on Facebook or Flickr. I’m also surprised (though, less so) when some of my quirky art projects turn out to get no reaction at all. Cultivating a higher aesthetic is good, and I’m not suggesting we lower our sights, but we shouldn’t be excessively snobby about what other people like. And if another photographer is shooting with super hot models on south Pacific beaches where failure is almost impossible, good for him/her!

BTW, I think that some photos I once thought of as magnificent now look uninteresting or flawed, so my personal taste in photography has changed over time. I wonder if this phenomenon gives a competitive advantage to artists who are still in touch with their original tastes.

I have seen a few images that effectively span the divide between quirky aesthetics and brute-force beauty. Helmut Newton, for sure. I think I should spend more time figuring out how to make such images.

I just attended this weekend a fascinating show at a local art gallery called Light Impressions, a touring exhibit by studio b. from Florida that features 40 iPhone photographers with their work displayed on 40 iPads. I plan to put a blog post about the exhibit later this week, but until then, click on the link to go to its facebook page.

For several genres, that’s not always possible – wedding photography comes to mind along with photojournalism and, to a lesser extent, sports photography. At best, we can put ourselves in a physical position where we can get the image we envision, even if we can’t arrange the main elements.

And, yeah, Grammar Nazi was an excellent guest – look for him again in a few weeks!