Schizoprenia or way of life or old fart....

[Arild]

Don t answer this seriously. Just give  me some serious philosophical thoughts to chew on.

My friends -- most of them use an advanced cell phone to snapshoot their motifs in the mountain;
like photo1 and photo2 - I am not sure about that filter usage :-)

These two are very good photos, some of them very good technically, tack sharp and well composed. These two particular photos
do say something about that mountain! Since these are copyrighted I only were allowed to use these "not so perfect"

Then we have the oldest friends of mine. Snapshooting with a Canon 5 mk2 and a L lens the 24-70 /2.8.
His photos is often not so well composed, not particular sharp, dull and unispiring.

Photo3 is one of his best photos.
He intended to take a group photo of these people. But he also wanted to fit in the summmit and the landscape beyond.

I really need to get som input on this. I am afraid I am myself turning into an old fart, that my photos also tends to be dull and uninspiring

Why is it the young one takes so nice photos while we old tends to be slower and not so good?

[Eric Borgström]

Even if philosophical you have to pull the trigger at a right moment. Now it just look like overlapping dogs and the philosophers friend not engaged.

[Birna Rørslett]

If you broaden any aim wide enough, it hits something. The photographer has more relevance to the final outcome than the gear or the age of said person. Some people never become proficient photographers no matter how advanced equipment they acquire.

 I found all three examples here equally dull and uninspiring.

[Frank Fremerey]

I like the first two from a compositional standpoint.

Equipment is overrated, I could keep to my standards and take decent pictures when I was in the hospital and had a smartphone as my only camera and my smartphone is just a functional one not a fancy one. If you buy a piano you do not become a better piano player.

Some people have their own opinions on everything and do not hesitate to voice them, just like me. You said: "do not answer seriously" ... But I heared: "answer philosophically" ...

So: the first two pictures are classical compositions, they are made to please, not reinvent the world. They show a clear talent to use good craftsmanship in the field of photography.

Other people want to reinvent the world with every shot. It is nice to see their vision.

Sometimes editing brings shots so far away from their photographic character that they are more drawings or paintings than photos in my book.

The third pic should not have been taken. It does show not even craftsmanship.

[Les Olson]

He intended to take a group photo of these people. But he also wanted to fit in the summmit and the landscape beyond. [...]

Why is it the young one takes so nice photos while we old tends to be slower and not so good?

There is a difference between a photograph of something interesting and an interesting photograph.  When someone says they want to take a group portrait and also to include the summit and the landscape they are thinking about the interesting subject and not thinking about how to make an interesting photograph.  Someone who is not thinking about how to make an interesting photograph will rarely succeed in doing so. 

Cindy Sherman is one of, if not the most important living photographer.  She has recently made her Instagram feed publicly available, and it is well worth looking through (https://www.instagram.com/_cindysherman_/?hl=en).  She posts lots of interesting photographs, and lots of photographs of something interesting.  It is not that there is anything wrong with taking photographs of something interesting, it is expecting photographs of something interesting to automatically be interesting photographs that is the mistake.

[Fons Baerken]

There is nothing outside that is not within you.

[gryphon1911]

I really need to get som input on this. I am afraid I am myself turning into an old fart, that my photos also tends to be dull and uninspiring

Why is it the young one takes so nice photos while we old tends to be slower and not so good?

When you do something for any length of time, we can sometimes get into a safe zone and get complacent.  We must continually grow, learn new things, push boundaries.
The youth are often unfettered by the things they know and to them, the things that we take as old hat are new, interesting and fascinating to them.  As a youth, you tend to take more time to explore something.

Take care not to just "document" something.  Find ways to use the visual medium of photography to share what you are feeling about the environment or situation you are in.  Let the doumentarian nature of the subject shine through, but look for the little something extra that conveys an emotion or the character.

Whenever I take people on photowalks, I spend more time with those that find something interesting, but only shoot one shot of it.  I ask them, "What is it that drew you to this place or subject?"  From there, I get them to be a little more introspective.  Then, I get them to treat the subject like it was its own photo shoot.  Really get in there and start taking different angles, wide shots to give perspective and proportion, close up shots to give a sense of detail and intimacy.

Basically, learn new things, gain differing perspectives on life, take images of things that interest you and grow as a person.  All those things will make not only your photography better, but it will make your life better.

Probably too serious, but this is the best way for me to answer. 

[Arild]

All these photos is crafted by amateur mountaineers, excpth one.
Photo 3 is crafted by a professionally large format photographer, now retired, has written many books with many such nature photos. This dog photo is his lovely memory of that particular trip, as he says, this is how he remember the trip and the people with him.

Photo 4 is crafted by another young one mountaneer. A snapshot from the same summit as photo 3. In fact, if you turned around, not looking north in the valley, instead looking south at the next summit above, you will get this photo. Oh yes, that cliff is the next, it aint that difficult, you have to climb it or go home. I tried to suggest once for the old one to recompose, bring in them scary peaks, ......

For completeness; Photo6 is the smal ridge further you have to "walk"  to ascend the topp peak at 1328 m asl, from the second summit 1299 m asl,  above the photo3, on top of the cliff shown in photo4. Same photographer photo4.

The last photo, photo 5, is one of my latest snapshots. Not with my D750, alas my LX100 pana, which is way to small for me to handle. I must have done something rigth. I got many, many, many good likes and wows for this, havent got that much acclaim for months :-)

[Frank Fremerey]

I like the ridge shot. It draws me in by its great sense of proportion. I am here and I am sure the ridge is not walkable, is it?

[Arild]

the ridge is not walkable, is it?

It aint walkable at all. You have to find a way to crawl it. Most people sit down and use their hands, kind of swimming like a fish to get past the ridge and up to the summit at right.
Myself I couldnt understand why people did this, this is insanely dangerous, its a  steep cliff face of 600 meters height on both sides :-(
Now old and wise, I understand. You bow to the greatness of Mother Earth, you dont fail, you walk the distance, not to impress the friends, but to gratify yourself as a part of a bigger meaning of Life itself.

[Frank Fremerey]

Thank you Andrew for sharing your insights!

[gryphon1911]

Thank you Andrew for sharing your insights!

You are most welcome, Frank!