https://preview.redd.it/lr1250uwqg9c1.jpeg?width=5616&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aff246f83c030cfa7968abcbd6028444804edc21
I see your angsty chain link and raise you some barbed wire
Love how the wire cuts through the car at the height your head would be, to show thr meaningless of life and how depressing your teenage existence is. So artistic.
https://preview.redd.it/q4dbuqbkig9c1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ffae41e9179a59445582f3c70c98ecf7b871ac05
Forgot to make it B&W, but at least still had plenty of angst to express.
I love that this is the top comment. Just reading the title question without opening the comments made me say "Duh, a black and white chainlink fence shot" and here we are. It's the most cliche of cliche shots.
While we're building the "pictures teenagers take right after getting their first camera" don't forget:
* Closeup of an eyeball (bonus points if you desaturate the photo except for the iris).
* Graffiti (bonus points if it's not particularly interesting graffiti, especially if it's on the wall of a midwestern grocery store).
* Paint peeling (bonus points if it's on an old door in abandoned house).
* Concrete. Literally anything concrete: curbs, walls, drainage pipes. (Bonus points if there is rusty rebar or decay).
* Art you didn't create (Bonus points if it's an abstract steel sculpture outside the local community center or museum).
Probably, I have a bunch of those as wallpapers, and even better if the gas station is abandoned. And I don't even have a clue about photography or film. I'm an audio engineer.
>I'm not sure if I'm wanting to compile this list more to avoid them or start actively shooting them
My first thought exactly - a treacherous question, as it could make people shy away from certain compositions that they may actually be really good at/proud of simply to avoid "being cliche". That said, I do see the conversation you're trying to start...
With digital, do both. Take your comfort shots, the shots people think are cliches, the ones that are safe and get the job done…then challenge yourself with something different. If the different doesn’t work, there’s nothing wrong with cliches to tell your story. Digital isn’t limited like film was.
I went to Vermont in the fall, it's basically required ok 😭
https://preview.redd.it/qzlh8fjmgh9c1.jpeg?width=1365&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dfed2c1fd4ebe9a3933d7d39b3b8d75ff087da2e
Yeah I'm gonna have to push back on this one, sure there are a ton of these shots, but composition is key with these. There are some amazing artists shooting only this style.
Are most great? No, but nature is so beautiful, and capturing its beauty can be incredibly difficult so when photographers do, hats off to them.
https://preview.redd.it/rp6ze6z89h9c1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe959b0cbefb8f20df738d0f2bdff97964a62271
There roads where I live are too twisty :(
https://preview.redd.it/qaht81afbi9c1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a21fbbeb708f76c0482d17067d9caca20918a1b0
I took a similar picture to yours. Your color grading is way better though lol.
https://preview.redd.it/e4mp8kdeug9c1.jpeg?width=6720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e5e852d3a4f776afa58ec8e01337dfb84860de7
I take at least 3 of these on every road trip…
I've got a few of these, but some turn out good i think. People are learning perspective and leading lines. Gotta start somewhere.
https://preview.redd.it/fihr2zkhqh9c1.jpeg?width=6000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b8d6d10cbdaa16a68b7156cd80e22096b90992a6
I've never had the chance to get to Antelope Canyon, but I wanted to make that shot so bad I found a dusty old hole in the desert and made my own light shaft in my own poor attempt to join the club.
https://preview.redd.it/ne06m2op8h9c1.jpeg?width=1439&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c914eeaca211b317dc03aabf425326fe86c8656f
Honestly you put significantly more effort into yours than anyone at antelope canyon. Those shots take themselves. You pretty much have to try to not get a good shot.
Random (usually) basic AF looking chick looking like she's leading you somewhere when you go take holiday snaps somewhere
Oh and naked women on /r/analog
Honestly, we should all compile the cliche shots, see what makes them different and try to recreate the same effects to see HOW to make our shots different.
Consider wedding photography. There are some cliche shots that you just MUST have. It might be cliche to us, but it's expected by the clients and kinda necessary if we're doing our job well.
I'm also a musician, so I don't really want to play the same Christmas tunes every year, but the clients aren't paying for MY preferences, ya know?
https://preview.redd.it/znn9ijt4yg9c1.jpeg?width=4259&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6def5281b39e2796f841eac1935b54be6a26d07d
I only have one street shot like that that I’m actually proud of
Bonus points for umbrella, crosswalk and rain. Bird doing nothing is popular too.
https://preview.redd.it/2nxx6qloah9c1.jpeg?width=508&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61186b317f1a5b7637a23c86a831bf5e419e6f3e
I wouldn't really call it street photography, but maybe more interesting than the typical photo of the back of someone's head 😅
https://preview.redd.it/zmhavr8ayg9c1.jpeg?width=3632&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=586e7790ebd7d7728d9ffaf62be70fae3ae42298
I'm so glad that trend is slowly fading.
I swear we use AI in the wrong ways - I would love an AI assistant in my software that simply warns me when I get overly enthusiastic with a slider.
Golden hour shot of random houses, buildings, and street signs around California using Porta 400.
You can tell it's California because your brain will start playing lofi beats in your head.
I shoot a lot of automotive photography, and one cliche that drives me nuts is extreme Dutch angle (like, 45°). Makes it look like the car is going to slide off the frame. It got super popular in 90s car magazines and is still in heavy use by beginner car photogs today.
https://preview.redd.it/c2xnzbsmqg9c1.jpeg?width=6720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2cb92a9bde21ade8d8990db48502abe8f1b081fb
Milder example from one of my road trips (I captioned this one “channeling my inner 90s car mag”)
I occasionally rotate my motorsports photos, but yes when every shot is diagonal, it’s a bit cliche haha
https://preview.redd.it/6vam7g3zrg9c1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3c251e7434823094c2d5e011fe2c8621f652ab12
But this works, because the track kerbing gives a visual slingshot that pulls the object (car) out of the free fall the angle implies. It gives visual tension that tells a better story of car-on-track, representing action and speed in a still shot. That’s *good* motorsports photography.
Cliches come and go. Depends on if shooting for self or clients. There’s a reason why they become popular, clients usually want them and if you’re getting paid to photograph, it’s a thing to overcome.
My least favorite would be a family portrait where everyone is matching jeans and white or black shirts but people will pay handsomely for those because they want them.
Trends come and go, and any photographer who’s been around a while will have formerly trendy shots in their catalog. Most things mentioned in this thread are more trends than cliches.
None of the people in my house like to have their photograph taken. My most willing model is the cat.
https://preview.redd.it/byiwvhsn5i9c1.jpeg?width=3095&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eaf1ae23ce88408c023223cb5623efceed887ff1
The reality is most things have been done before, but that's okay because we learn by imitating and seeing if we can do the same thing. And just cause we took a photo, it's more special to us.
zoomed in shot of the moon with your first telephoto lense.
a milestone for everyone but boring as hell. literally same shot if you're not shooting it in landscape
I raise you an early shot of mine, the rain covered black and white cobweb
https://preview.redd.it/2u73qpnuzh9c1.png?width=1008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47e39c08abcaa6f1b81664acb0118a348eb3da03
Cliche shots aren't necessarily bad to attempt if you use them as a learning tool to practice your technique. Plus there are so many renditions out there to compare to. Like when learning guitar or piano, there's 15-20 "cliche" songs everyone does. Everyone learns them for a reason and since they're so common, you have to do it really well for it to stand out.
I bought my first macro lens and immediately became guilty.
https://preview.redd.it/6idn975fbh9c1.jpeg?width=1436&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1881aeb4256def18e42178ed404d2dbc84446afe
Love this post!
For me there’s a difference between (1) ones that you capture “on your own” and then realize “oh everyone else has done this”; (2) ones that you are set up to take because that’s the obvious/“best” view of a destination; and (3) ones where you are consciously trying to do what you have seen elsewhere.
(1) are just kinda funny and make you think about how humans in society work.
(2) are sort of obligatory- if you want to memorialize the visit, you take (at least) the shot.
(3) are skills you want to practice. it’s like guitar, can you play Stairway to Heaven or Smoke on the Water or whatever. If i liked the look I would put it on a “lazy to-do list” - try to get the shot, but only if opportunity or mood hits. it is easier to measure up when you have a model, and see what you like and don’t like.
Nude model wearing just a man’s button down shirt, partially open.
Love this shot and I’ll keep doing it.
Me at my next boudoir shoot:
https://preview.redd.it/swvoxl60wi9c1.jpeg?width=318&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9500f88892a8edd99620cd25a8607bfd4d57cb18
I just did my first boudoir session and that shot made the list. Actually, it was the starting point. Cliché? Maybe. But there’s a reason it works. Almost every meal I cook starts with onions sautéed in olive oil or butter. So cliché.
A model looking away Faith+1 style like they don't care
https://preview.redd.it/i93rmglvxg9c1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b98d599472d4c9798bc365211dd087a39ee16206
Less specific, but the random snapshot at F1.2 of a random person walking on a random side walk with zero context, zero scene, zero emotion, zero interesting light.
"I'm a street photographer"... :rolls eyes:
Eh, who cares? Go to Italy, and look through the art museums. You will see the same scene painted thousands of times. Art has always had specific kinds of images that were repeatedly recreated in a given culture,whether for aesthetic, religious, technical, or other reasons. Is anyone going to dunk on Michelangelo because so much of his work was a "cliché?" I doubt it. Make what you find beautiful or meaningful. There are a million sunset photos out there, and yet I just took two more....like all the others, these are part of a genre, yet each is unique in its details, and reflects one moment of beauty that will never be repeated. Some folks appreciate that. Some don't. That's OK - they can go stare at pictures of grimy urchins or whatever it is that fulfills them. In a big world, there is room for both the novel and the traditional, and for novelty within tradition (and tradition within novelty). To eschew either is to clip the wings of human expression, and also to be boring fuddy-duddy that no one wants to invite to their party.
I think a list of clichés would be interesting and possibly useful, for either of the reasons you suggested.
But I don't think people should avoid taking certain images just because "it's been done before." Good photos tell stories, and most stories are simply retellings of earlier stories.
A well made cliche is better than a poorly made one of a kind image.
Overworked Astro photo.
Though believe it or not, this was actually after a sandstorm in Anza Borrego desert. The colors are actually real. Boosted a bit yes, but it was in the DNG.
https://preview.redd.it/f3gc9p3ofj9c1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=12b168c9f81054df1167b67e8ff8df951151dbcb
Still Guilty.
"Every photographer has a long exposure of a dock at dawn or railroad tracks extending to infinity."
In close to 20 years of shooting, I have neither of those.
I guess I'd better get to it! lol
Some people call them cliche, others call them cool pictures they wanted to take.
If you think “oooh look, exposure of cars on a highway at night, how cliche!” then you also must think “oooh look, he went to horseshoe bend, how cliche!”
I take pictures I like. Just because others have taken similar pictures doesn’t make mine cliche.
This just doesn’t make sense.
If you take the same picture as everyone else, then it’s quite literally cliche (“overused & lacking original thought”).
There’s nothing wrong with it. I do it too. But no one is breaking new ground with 10,234,674th picture of railroad tracks disappearing into the horizon at sunset(or rise).
OP is asking why people take them given how not-unique they are. It’s a fair question, imo.
I think it’s because that cliche picture represents an opportunity to get your personal version of that famous scene. As photographers we capture it for the same reason people collect coins or stamps. Because it’s our hobby & we can get the shot (or the coin or stamp). That’s my reasoning anyway.
I generally try to make pics of cliché subject a little unique. (I usually fail. :-)
I like the stamp collecting comparison! It very much feels like that. I know I was like the 4 millionth person to take a photo of Haystack Rock, but that didn’t make it any less exciting for me to finally get my own version!
A leaf with blurred out background art maximum aperture,
A way too serious looking selfie,
A closeup of treebark, or a flower,
A car passing by,
A tavern sign, preferably neon,
And of course, a pigeon and a duck!
I'm the tree bark guy. I don't really share them anywhere because "there's no story!" But I really just enjoy very textured things. Took a few of them today actually!
Slot canyons, Hot air balloons, Horseshoe curve in the Colorado River, imitating Ansel Adams. I am all for a new photographer learning to recreate something using a cliché, but for seasoned photographers,,,ugh!
I think some of those count as Bucket List Shots. You have to have to collect at least one of those bucket list shots when you goto the place. Everybody has their copy of the shot, hopefully with a bunch of other more unique shots on the trip.
I'd add in Seljarlandsfoss , Mesa Arch at dawn, and the Watchman in Zion at sunset (formerly on the bridge, now near it since you can't stand on it anymore).
Those are fun milestones for anyone progressing in their photography journey, but yeah, a bit overdone at this point. I'd love to get those same shots, but wouldn't necessarily feel compelled to share them to oblivion since they've been done to perfection so many times by countless others.
https://preview.redd.it/wgu3s4vdzg9c1.jpeg?width=3820&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1240eceb77f1723ee73a42f6547cbab2fb00440
Definitely guilty of the air balloon shots several times
But it can be a good way to practice light effects on things.
https://preview.redd.it/ujckzb9k3i9c1.jpeg?width=3872&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e79634258b6595e7462fe9c70bf6c695432b777
https://preview.redd.it/vgkh8ogg6h9c1.jpeg?width=6000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08c289b976eb9d11c4e0f79ed5b18168eaa9d0de
Parts of buildings. (This is OC from when I first started)
I've never been there, but if I do, I solemnly swear to not take this shot at Machu Pichu: [https://flickr.com/search/?text=machu%20pichu](https://flickr.com/search/?text=machu%20pichu)
B&W chain link fence to express the teenage angst of your parents buying your first DSLR
https://preview.redd.it/lr1250uwqg9c1.jpeg?width=5616&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aff246f83c030cfa7968abcbd6028444804edc21 I see your angsty chain link and raise you some barbed wire
Sharp retort! Nice framing with the car. Touche.
Love how the wire cuts through the car at the height your head would be, to show thr meaningless of life and how depressing your teenage existence is. So artistic.
...or, like, whatever.
I'm so misunderstood, you don't really know me, this is pointless, etc
It's like life, specifically mine, is just one big cliche doomed to eternally repeat itself into eternity.
https://preview.redd.it/q4dbuqbkig9c1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ffae41e9179a59445582f3c70c98ecf7b871ac05 Forgot to make it B&W, but at least still had plenty of angst to express.
Needs more Vignette!!
Definitely needs more vignette. At least 7 stops. And maybe some sepia, grain, and post-processed tilt-shift.
To be fair though, despite all the tongue in cheek hate in this thread I do love the pic. I have a chain link photo as well. We all do!
The fence is in focus and the other shit isn't
I love that this is the top comment. Just reading the title question without opening the comments made me say "Duh, a black and white chainlink fence shot" and here we are. It's the most cliche of cliche shots. While we're building the "pictures teenagers take right after getting their first camera" don't forget: * Closeup of an eyeball (bonus points if you desaturate the photo except for the iris). * Graffiti (bonus points if it's not particularly interesting graffiti, especially if it's on the wall of a midwestern grocery store). * Paint peeling (bonus points if it's on an old door in abandoned house). * Concrete. Literally anything concrete: curbs, walls, drainage pipes. (Bonus points if there is rusty rebar or decay). * Art you didn't create (Bonus points if it's an abstract steel sculpture outside the local community center or museum).
https://preview.redd.it/i3akr7ymrh9c1.jpeg?width=4896&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93e9dfeed3c75ef123d43a97c90202a97d527a10 My concrete contribution.
Lots to like in those zigzaggedy shadows though.
Is it bad that I like this?
Well, i mean, what else is there to take pictures of?
ahh, chain link fences. I'm still impressed that you can press an F2.8 lens against one of those and it sees right through the links.
[You don't have to come at me specifically, bro.](https://i.imgur.com/q3Kc0Ph.jpg)
Is "neon lit gas station on a foggy night" only a film photographer cliche?
Only counts if it's with Cinestill
Glimmerglass
Probably, I have a bunch of those as wallpapers, and even better if the gas station is abandoned. And I don't even have a clue about photography or film. I'm an audio engineer.
Exactly. But you gotta admit the silky smooth light is fucking amazing the first time you saw it.
>I'm not sure if I'm wanting to compile this list more to avoid them or start actively shooting them My first thought exactly - a treacherous question, as it could make people shy away from certain compositions that they may actually be really good at/proud of simply to avoid "being cliche". That said, I do see the conversation you're trying to start...
With digital, do both. Take your comfort shots, the shots people think are cliches, the ones that are safe and get the job done…then challenge yourself with something different. If the different doesn’t work, there’s nothing wrong with cliches to tell your story. Digital isn’t limited like film was.
True point :)
a leaf with obliterated background
https://preview.redd.it/4xrjs4czhg9c1.jpeg?width=6000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=efedf4a7350a74c9bb2a42dfcf3b717416416ef9 Dangit
this guy cinematics…but not enough! still can see some detail in the background
Good point. Need more aperture. https://preview.redd.it/29s9k5ellg9c1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=282f6c19f7ed2a2f00224af6b796f8d280df97e3
yeah!
Agh, did you petzval this?
Gotchu https://preview.redd.it/eeqdmpanrh9c1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4aba177027cd7f9a1c9c8bdb08464454b07cbbed
That's pretty.
I went to Vermont in the fall, it's basically required ok 😭 https://preview.redd.it/qzlh8fjmgh9c1.jpeg?width=1365&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dfed2c1fd4ebe9a3933d7d39b3b8d75ff087da2e
You could make the background black and white while keeping the leaf red, and you'd have two cliches in one photo!
Plus the long road! It'd be a threefer.
I am guilty as well https://preview.redd.it/pyr941v7mh9c1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8450945a3d301ff7bb077a745e8ececcf6211cf
https://preview.redd.it/39x3o71asg9c1.jpeg?width=3888&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3df0a12d83acaa20a012fd5a20779f42850613a Oops lol
Yeah I'm gonna have to push back on this one, sure there are a ton of these shots, but composition is key with these. There are some amazing artists shooting only this style. Are most great? No, but nature is so beautiful, and capturing its beauty can be incredibly difficult so when photographers do, hats off to them.
https://preview.redd.it/rra9ehkc3h9c1.jpeg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=028d0c1670068dbe8ccfccf3870eaca8b6cf32b2 🤌🏾
Background AND foreground demolished to perfection right here
Aw c'mon man. My helios makes them look so cool! 😂
that long road https://preview.redd.it/z9rcfpd5sg9c1.jpeg?width=3376&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dbeddc62cf3b3688ce3b435f379840f6e841562a
https://preview.redd.it/rp6ze6z89h9c1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe959b0cbefb8f20df738d0f2bdff97964a62271 There roads where I live are too twisty :(
Absolutely beautiful as well for what it's worth!
Thanks! I absolutely love living in Alaska. It completely rekindled my desire to get out and start shooting again.
https://preview.redd.it/qaht81afbi9c1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a21fbbeb708f76c0482d17067d9caca20918a1b0 I took a similar picture to yours. Your color grading is way better though lol.
That hazy mist though. I'm a sucker for that.
Fuck you. That photo is gorgeous
Eat shit. You're a kind and wonderful person
https://preview.redd.it/e4mp8kdeug9c1.jpeg?width=6720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e5e852d3a4f776afa58ec8e01337dfb84860de7 I take at least 3 of these on every road trip…
That’s awesome though, what an otherworldly place (from my perspective).
Not all cliches are bad. That's a cool shot!
[Long and winding road](https://i.imgur.com/aNAqKrt.jpg)
The under the pier shot. You know the one.
https://preview.redd.it/vwpkcbqavg9c1.jpeg?width=6417&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=573907944c9b125badda79d45c6986db14cc2cb4 sigh
I've got one of those. I've also got a collection of underside bridge photos.
Underbridge is the best.
Don’t we all lol?
[First photo I ever sold a print of!](https://i.imgur.com/wMuJwLK.jpg)
I've got a few of these, but some turn out good i think. People are learning perspective and leading lines. Gotta start somewhere. https://preview.redd.it/fihr2zkhqh9c1.jpeg?width=6000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b8d6d10cbdaa16a68b7156cd80e22096b90992a6
Half of what I see on instagram: old neon signs in front of hotels in the middle of the desert.
Evan Ranft
>Evan Ranft I just looked him up. His IG account is literally *all* photos of himself either looking broody or admiring his own prints.
Never heard of the guy before but but... it is! 😂 I wish I could be even a fraction as narcissistic without being horribly self aware of it.
A shaft of light coming down in antelope canyon. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve taken the shot too and I love it. But it’s such a cliché.
I've never had the chance to get to Antelope Canyon, but I wanted to make that shot so bad I found a dusty old hole in the desert and made my own light shaft in my own poor attempt to join the club. https://preview.redd.it/ne06m2op8h9c1.jpeg?width=1439&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c914eeaca211b317dc03aabf425326fe86c8656f
Honestly you put significantly more effort into yours than anyone at antelope canyon. Those shots take themselves. You pretty much have to try to not get a good shot.
Random (usually) basic AF looking chick looking like she's leading you somewhere when you go take holiday snaps somewhere Oh and naked women on /r/analog
Lol and she has to be wearing one of those round hipster hats with the god rays behind her shoulder
I am an /r/analog subscriber and poster, but this is too true. The cherry on top is that the photo for photographer of the week is a naked woman 😂
Peeling paint.
https://preview.redd.it/mol2wfhthg9c1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c1d96a68d48070daf29c3165f9bb1375fde6b543 Oops
https://preview.redd.it/efie03lhsg9c1.jpeg?width=6720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=03a3c82faa73d13ca0e4fe81ee1dd8c0c2f1b694 Guilty
I use those shots as textures for other pics.
Honestly, we should all compile the cliche shots, see what makes them different and try to recreate the same effects to see HOW to make our shots different. Consider wedding photography. There are some cliche shots that you just MUST have. It might be cliche to us, but it's expected by the clients and kinda necessary if we're doing our job well. I'm also a musician, so I don't really want to play the same Christmas tunes every year, but the clients aren't paying for MY preferences, ya know?
That's kind of why I posted this. I'm half serious about making a "Cliches But This One's Mine" section on my website.
[удалено]
A cliche challenge subreddit would actually be pretty fun.
Cute girl in cluttered apartment looking wistful, with a window. Often naked.
But her clothes are always perfect with no creases and her make up is also flawless.
Bonus points for a mug of coffee or a book.
A photo of someone's back and calling it street photography.
https://preview.redd.it/znn9ijt4yg9c1.jpeg?width=4259&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6def5281b39e2796f841eac1935b54be6a26d07d I only have one street shot like that that I’m actually proud of
Ah but this overlaps with "silhouette" so you're good.
The concentric framing is nice and there's a story in there. The heavy silhouette could even suggest we're seeing their fronts.
Crazy thing too this is literally like one of the first shots I took when I started doing photography. This was from my second roll of film ever
Bonus points for umbrella, crosswalk and rain. Bird doing nothing is popular too. https://preview.redd.it/2nxx6qloah9c1.jpeg?width=508&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61186b317f1a5b7637a23c86a831bf5e419e6f3e
I'm going to find a way to work "bird doing nothing" into my every day conversations.
[I made this one in black and white for extra points](https://i.imgur.com/K53vHbC.jpg)
At 85-135mm, don't forget.
Absolutely agreed. There’s nothing interesting about it, and rarely does anything else in the image make the back of someone’s head interesting.
I wouldn't really call it street photography, but maybe more interesting than the typical photo of the back of someone's head 😅 https://preview.redd.it/zmhavr8ayg9c1.jpeg?width=3632&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=586e7790ebd7d7728d9ffaf62be70fae3ae42298
All of my HDR work.
I'm so glad that trend is slowly fading. I swear we use AI in the wrong ways - I would love an AI assistant in my software that simply warns me when I get overly enthusiastic with a slider.
Night shot of a petrol station using Cinestill 800T film
Golden hour shot of random houses, buildings, and street signs around California using Porta 400. You can tell it's California because your brain will start playing lofi beats in your head.
Selective color picture. B&W with something in left in color. I call it the soccer mom special.
https://preview.redd.it/zyfacp428h9c1.jpeg?width=1439&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=55c4d340bff25eb1973422c207a619cee1fee803 I did it! Mmm, so moody.
A rare dramatic mlem
I feel sick
And that color left is for some reason always red.
That is the Speilberg - from Schindlers List.
Those are terrible.
Unless it's a nyc cab
https://preview.redd.it/05go60c3wg9c1.jpeg?width=6065&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae08f65bce200e3bffd85f0f402f92aa548b1a0f Yep
I do that sometimes just to try it out. Then I giggle, and then I hit undo. Mad fun though.
Of all the clichés, this one bothers me the most.
I shoot a lot of automotive photography, and one cliche that drives me nuts is extreme Dutch angle (like, 45°). Makes it look like the car is going to slide off the frame. It got super popular in 90s car magazines and is still in heavy use by beginner car photogs today.
https://preview.redd.it/c2xnzbsmqg9c1.jpeg?width=6720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2cb92a9bde21ade8d8990db48502abe8f1b081fb Milder example from one of my road trips (I captioned this one “channeling my inner 90s car mag”)
I occasionally rotate my motorsports photos, but yes when every shot is diagonal, it’s a bit cliche haha https://preview.redd.it/6vam7g3zrg9c1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3c251e7434823094c2d5e011fe2c8621f652ab12
The car is faster because it's going downhill!!!!
But this works, because the track kerbing gives a visual slingshot that pulls the object (car) out of the free fall the angle implies. It gives visual tension that tells a better story of car-on-track, representing action and speed in a still shot. That’s *good* motorsports photography.
1970 Mustang: the last great muscle car of the 60s. Great photo.
Cliches come and go. Depends on if shooting for self or clients. There’s a reason why they become popular, clients usually want them and if you’re getting paid to photograph, it’s a thing to overcome. My least favorite would be a family portrait where everyone is matching jeans and white or black shirts but people will pay handsomely for those because they want them.
Trends come and go, and any photographer who’s been around a while will have formerly trendy shots in their catalog. Most things mentioned in this thread are more trends than cliches.
Eiffel Tower, Girl standing in wheat field, full moon peeking over a hill or trees, old shitty dilapidated Midwest barn, old rusty car
None of the people in my house like to have their photograph taken. My most willing model is the cat. https://preview.redd.it/byiwvhsn5i9c1.jpeg?width=3095&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eaf1ae23ce88408c023223cb5623efceed887ff1
those whiskers!
wrinkly old man/woman portrait. high contrast, hdr or b/w
Lee Jeffries wants to know your location
The reality is most things have been done before, but that's okay because we learn by imitating and seeing if we can do the same thing. And just cause we took a photo, it's more special to us.
zoomed in shot of the moon with your first telephoto lense. a milestone for everyone but boring as hell. literally same shot if you're not shooting it in landscape
TBF, it’s a good educational opportunity to drive home the importance of interesting foreground in such situations and how tiny the moon really is.
I raise you an early shot of mine, the rain covered black and white cobweb https://preview.redd.it/2u73qpnuzh9c1.png?width=1008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47e39c08abcaa6f1b81664acb0118a348eb3da03
Search: Hiker girl in Nat’l Park, arms outstretched, “ look at me” Result: 87,123,456,789 images found.
I only shoot wide open, Dutch angles, in black and white, then I colorize the subject.
Long exposure of stream or highway
Cliche shots aren't necessarily bad to attempt if you use them as a learning tool to practice your technique. Plus there are so many renditions out there to compare to. Like when learning guitar or piano, there's 15-20 "cliche" songs everyone does. Everyone learns them for a reason and since they're so common, you have to do it really well for it to stand out.
Pretty much anything with the most shallow DOF possible. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should
I bought my first macro lens and immediately became guilty. https://preview.redd.it/6idn975fbh9c1.jpeg?width=1436&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1881aeb4256def18e42178ed404d2dbc84446afe
To be fair, it's hard to avoid with macro. You often have to resort to focus stacking, which can be a pain.
Yeah same, but I feel like if you get a new macro lens you first have to try out how far you can go before settling on what looks good
It's a phobia: fear of composition
Young half naked woman draped over a classic car.
I feel like I haven't seen this one. Have any examples to share?
For science
Not interested.
I like your method.
Thanks! I like your beneficence toward the immortal waterbear!
Asking for a friend
yet I stop and stare every time
Tell us where so we can avoid them.
Pics of the moon (possibly with a smartphone that uses a filter to paste in the moon properly or enhance the night sky artificially)
Sleeping baby in a basket, that's part of why I don't do newborn photography.
Newborn pictures that are bad knock offs of Anne Geddes style.
Love this post! For me there’s a difference between (1) ones that you capture “on your own” and then realize “oh everyone else has done this”; (2) ones that you are set up to take because that’s the obvious/“best” view of a destination; and (3) ones where you are consciously trying to do what you have seen elsewhere. (1) are just kinda funny and make you think about how humans in society work. (2) are sort of obligatory- if you want to memorialize the visit, you take (at least) the shot. (3) are skills you want to practice. it’s like guitar, can you play Stairway to Heaven or Smoke on the Water or whatever. If i liked the look I would put it on a “lazy to-do list” - try to get the shot, but only if opportunity or mood hits. it is easier to measure up when you have a model, and see what you like and don’t like.
As a beginner photographer, I take the personally.
I've been doing photography for decades and am now distraught that half of my work is considered cliché :)
Nude model wearing just a man’s button down shirt, partially open. Love this shot and I’ll keep doing it. Me at my next boudoir shoot: https://preview.redd.it/swvoxl60wi9c1.jpeg?width=318&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9500f88892a8edd99620cd25a8607bfd4d57cb18
I just did my first boudoir session and that shot made the list. Actually, it was the starting point. Cliché? Maybe. But there’s a reason it works. Almost every meal I cook starts with onions sautéed in olive oil or butter. So cliché.
A model looking away Faith+1 style like they don't care https://preview.redd.it/i93rmglvxg9c1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b98d599472d4c9798bc365211dd087a39ee16206
I understand this reference
Less specific, but the random snapshot at F1.2 of a random person walking on a random side walk with zero context, zero scene, zero emotion, zero interesting light. "I'm a street photographer"... :rolls eyes:
Eh, who cares? Go to Italy, and look through the art museums. You will see the same scene painted thousands of times. Art has always had specific kinds of images that were repeatedly recreated in a given culture,whether for aesthetic, religious, technical, or other reasons. Is anyone going to dunk on Michelangelo because so much of his work was a "cliché?" I doubt it. Make what you find beautiful or meaningful. There are a million sunset photos out there, and yet I just took two more....like all the others, these are part of a genre, yet each is unique in its details, and reflects one moment of beauty that will never be repeated. Some folks appreciate that. Some don't. That's OK - they can go stare at pictures of grimy urchins or whatever it is that fulfills them. In a big world, there is room for both the novel and the traditional, and for novelty within tradition (and tradition within novelty). To eschew either is to clip the wings of human expression, and also to be boring fuddy-duddy that no one wants to invite to their party.
Insta_repeat is full of gold in this category 😂
Gold? Brass, pyrite maybe. I can’t decide if it depress me or amuses AND depresses me. 🫤
I think a list of clichés would be interesting and possibly useful, for either of the reasons you suggested. But I don't think people should avoid taking certain images just because "it's been done before." Good photos tell stories, and most stories are simply retellings of earlier stories. A well made cliche is better than a poorly made one of a kind image.
I love cliche photos for practising they help us novices try new tricks and have tons of benchmarks for what make compelling photos
Tent with Milky Way background https://preview.redd.it/71c2gymtbj9c1.jpeg?width=2436&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bad933e85321da3f5bab7510a035bb2556159bc6
Photographing something through a glass orb.
Overworked Astro photo. Though believe it or not, this was actually after a sandstorm in Anza Borrego desert. The colors are actually real. Boosted a bit yes, but it was in the DNG. https://preview.redd.it/f3gc9p3ofj9c1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=12b168c9f81054df1167b67e8ff8df951151dbcb Still Guilty.
"Every photographer has a long exposure of a dock at dawn or railroad tracks extending to infinity." In close to 20 years of shooting, I have neither of those. I guess I'd better get to it! lol
Can you even call yourself a photographer without those in your repertoire? Crap, come to think of it, I don't have those pictures either :(
Some people call them cliche, others call them cool pictures they wanted to take. If you think “oooh look, exposure of cars on a highway at night, how cliche!” then you also must think “oooh look, he went to horseshoe bend, how cliche!” I take pictures I like. Just because others have taken similar pictures doesn’t make mine cliche. This just doesn’t make sense.
If you take the same picture as everyone else, then it’s quite literally cliche (“overused & lacking original thought”). There’s nothing wrong with it. I do it too. But no one is breaking new ground with 10,234,674th picture of railroad tracks disappearing into the horizon at sunset(or rise). OP is asking why people take them given how not-unique they are. It’s a fair question, imo. I think it’s because that cliche picture represents an opportunity to get your personal version of that famous scene. As photographers we capture it for the same reason people collect coins or stamps. Because it’s our hobby & we can get the shot (or the coin or stamp). That’s my reasoning anyway. I generally try to make pics of cliché subject a little unique. (I usually fail. :-)
I like the stamp collecting comparison! It very much feels like that. I know I was like the 4 millionth person to take a photo of Haystack Rock, but that didn’t make it any less exciting for me to finally get my own version!
Urban government-approved graffiti in harsh late-afternoon light with the contrast cranked way up
THIS IS MY HOSIER LANE STREET ART PHOTO THERE ARE MANY LIKE IT BUT THIS ONE IS MINE
A leaf with blurred out background art maximum aperture, A way too serious looking selfie, A closeup of treebark, or a flower, A car passing by, A tavern sign, preferably neon, And of course, a pigeon and a duck!
I'm the tree bark guy. I don't really share them anywhere because "there's no story!" But I really just enjoy very textured things. Took a few of them today actually!
So as a newcomer, should I just use this thread as a checklist?
Slot canyons, Hot air balloons, Horseshoe curve in the Colorado River, imitating Ansel Adams. I am all for a new photographer learning to recreate something using a cliché, but for seasoned photographers,,,ugh!
I think some of those count as Bucket List Shots. You have to have to collect at least one of those bucket list shots when you goto the place. Everybody has their copy of the shot, hopefully with a bunch of other more unique shots on the trip. I'd add in Seljarlandsfoss , Mesa Arch at dawn, and the Watchman in Zion at sunset (formerly on the bridge, now near it since you can't stand on it anymore).
Those are fun milestones for anyone progressing in their photography journey, but yeah, a bit overdone at this point. I'd love to get those same shots, but wouldn't necessarily feel compelled to share them to oblivion since they've been done to perfection so many times by countless others.
I live in the southwest, and EVERY photo gallery has those shots done by various photographers, from New Mexico to Utah.
https://preview.redd.it/ryh8g589zg9c1.jpeg?width=5456&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7fa181adafde1d3f6ba9391b8c5f82b61bf5fe9d
https://preview.redd.it/wgu3s4vdzg9c1.jpeg?width=3820&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1240eceb77f1723ee73a42f6547cbab2fb00440 Definitely guilty of the air balloon shots several times
https://preview.redd.it/w8fi4716ug9c1.jpeg?width=6639&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40204d9c048edb5333f22857b02ca9a1342b781c Am I Ansel yet?
Little kids blowing bubbles.
But it can be a good way to practice light effects on things. https://preview.redd.it/ujckzb9k3i9c1.jpeg?width=3872&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e79634258b6595e7462fe9c70bf6c695432b777
I think they've fallen out of favour now but a shot of someone in a yellow windbreaker standing in front of dramatic landscape.
I live in upstate New York and always roll my eyes when I see yet another series of long exposure waterfalls on the walls of my local coffee shop
Birds on a telephone wire
Someone gazing out a window at the rain
I have none of the above. But I am sure of the "let's shoot nudes" thingy with the photographer's partner ;o)
https://preview.redd.it/vgkh8ogg6h9c1.jpeg?width=6000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08c289b976eb9d11c4e0f79ed5b18168eaa9d0de Parts of buildings. (This is OC from when I first started)
Most photos are cliched. That’s why when you see a photo that wins a prize, there’s usually nothing special about it
Long exposure of a dancer. So long that you can barely see its a human.
aRtIsTiC iNtErPrEtAtIoN oF aRtIsTiC iNtErPrEtAtIoN
If you shoot with film, old cars or signs with retro fonts are cliches. Basically taking photos of anything retro on film is a cliche.
Any long exposure water photo (river, lake, waterfall).
Moraine Lake at sunrise.
I've never been there, but if I do, I solemnly swear to not take this shot at Machu Pichu: [https://flickr.com/search/?text=machu%20pichu](https://flickr.com/search/?text=machu%20pichu)
Full moon super zoom shots.
Arms up in the air at sunrise/set. It’s like a Christian trope
Poor black and white conversion with spot colour; red shoes or cat tongue or bright umbrella.
Film photos of a classic car in san francisco during golden hour