What attracts you to photography? Why do you like it? For me it’s just the beauty of nature and animals that I like. I don’t like taking photos of people except for family. I am a hobbyist and although I like to take pictures I am content with mr Powershot.
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Why do you like photography?
- Thread starter jwolf6589
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I do it for stress relief. My job involves a lot of pressure and having a very structured engineering mindset, it is nice to do something more flexible and creative as an outlet and to get me outside into the landscape - which I like. I like to be on my own with my thoughts to contemplate. Further, as what I do is intangible (IT) then to actually produce something, to actually make something that might still be here after I am long gone. makes me feel like maybe I have some value to add to the world.
Honestly it exercises my mind. Finding something worth while to photograph. Framing the perfect shot.
My camera speaks for me, and it's better than my pontificating on a street corner.
KGB
I kind of approach it from this mindset, too. I love art and wish I were more artistic, but I've tried a bit and just can't translate images from my mind onto a medium very well. Photography can be quite technical, which speaks to me, and yet it's also art. I don't do mixed media images but I do selective brushing on some images, as well as HDRs, so light manipulation isn't beyond me. I generally shoot for realism but don't mind enhancing reality a bit (although this new craze with sky replacements rubs me the wrong way). Basically, photography is a way for me to indulge my technical side while still making art.
There are some other benefits. The act of taking photos, itself, is calming. Whether you're waiting for the weather to turn the right way, or waiting for a bird to show itself, you're in tune with what is going on around you and are giving it focus. I've also gone out to places I'd never have gone to, at times of day I'd normally not have been out and about at, seeing things I would have otherwise missed, because I was driven to get interesting photos. In that way, I value photography as an excuse and driver to get out and explore the world.
Lastly, there's the aspect of sharing photos. It's a way to bring focus to aspects of the world that many others might overlook, and to show people what you see and appreciate. That's powerful.
The moment in time, the light on a subject through optics on the lens dancing on film or sensor, the deliberateness and intent (at least some of the time), the crisp focus of a stopped down aperture, the lovely blur of a fast one. I like the physics and the art. A beautiful print. The meditation. The digital or literal darkroom. It keeps me sane. It lets me create.
Among many other things.
Among many other things
.
I feel more like myself when I am shooting, and in a weird way it makes me less scared, because I'll get out of my comfort zone if I know I can take a photo of something. I am terrified of heights, but climbed Diamond Head in Oahu, and truly almost had a panic attack climbing up because I got freaked out. But then I got some amazing photos, and it made it all worth it.
As a macro photographer, I also like looking for little details that most people overlook, and it helps me be more mindful and present in the world. If I'm having a bad day or moment, I know that 10 minutes with my camera will reset my brain.
As a macro photographer, I also like looking for little details that most people overlook, and it helps me be more mindful and present in the world. If I'm having a bad day or moment, I know that 10 minutes with my camera will reset my brain.
Does it say "put me back in the box and take me back to the shop?" ?
Just kidding!
Photography is.....somehow an innate part of me and has been for many years. It takes me outdoors to discover new things and to celebrate familiar things in the natural world, it nudges a kernel or two of creativity when it's a rainy, cold day outdoors and I have the urge to photograph something anyway, it suddenly catches me by surprise when I see something and immediately I think, "oh, I've got to shoot that!"
It definitely was a sanity-saver during the worst of the pandemic when so much was closed down and no one was going anywhere or only to very few places simply out of necessity. I was able to get out the camera and either shoot indoors at home or walk around the neighborhood and find something to shoot, or at times capture something right from my deck. That, plus reviewing and editing my images gave me something to do, something positive which kept me interested and focused, during what otherwise would have felt like a bleak time, even though I was also doing other things as well, such as spending time online with emails and forums, texting and phone calls, and of course reading my way through dozens of books.
I agree that it is absolutely also a stress-reducer. Many years ago, long before the iPhone, when I was in NC for several months unexpectedly due to my mother's final illness, one day when with her in the hospital I said, "I think I'd like to go out and buy a camera -- nothing fancy, just something so that I can take photos of the beautiful scenery around here." Knowing how much I enjoyed photography and since I couldn't go all the way back home to get my DSLR, which I had not brought with me, my mother agreed that was a nice idea and the following day I went out and bought a small P&S, and that little camera was just what I needed to help me relax and temporarily forget the stress I was under and the decisions that were going to need to be made and all the rest of it..... It made the remainder of the time in NC a little easier.
It's a gorgeous day out there; after a while I'll be grabbing the camera and a lens and going out to shoot some photos. Even if some of them aren't worth editing or sharing, the important thing, as has been mentioned, is the very act of having the camera in hand and the process of finding a subject or two, making decisions on which is the best angle and perspective, deciding on the desired effect by choosing aperture and shutter speed, and then pressing the shutter button sometimes can be enough.....
It definitely was a sanity-saver during the worst of the pandemic when so much was closed down and no one was going anywhere or only to very few places simply out of necessity. I was able to get out the camera and either shoot indoors at home or walk around the neighborhood and find something to shoot, or at times capture something right from my deck. That, plus reviewing and editing my images gave me something to do, something positive which kept me interested and focused, during what otherwise would have felt like a bleak time, even though I was also doing other things as well, such as spending time online with emails and forums, texting and phone calls, and of course reading my way through dozens of books.
I agree that it is absolutely also a stress-reducer. Many years ago, long before the iPhone, when I was in NC for several months unexpectedly due to my mother's final illness, one day when with her in the hospital I said, "I think I'd like to go out and buy a camera -- nothing fancy, just something so that I can take photos of the beautiful scenery around here." Knowing how much I enjoyed photography and since I couldn't go all the way back home to get my DSLR, which I had not brought with me, my mother agreed that was a nice idea and the following day I went out and bought a small P&S, and that little camera was just what I needed to help me relax and temporarily forget the stress I was under and the decisions that were going to need to be made and all the rest of it..... It made the remainder of the time in NC a little easier.
It's a gorgeous day out there; after a while I'll be grabbing the camera and a lens and going out to shoot some photos. Even if some of them aren't worth editing or sharing, the important thing, as has been mentioned, is the very act of having the camera in hand and the process of finding a subject or two, making decisions on which is the best angle and perspective, deciding on the desired effect by choosing aperture and shutter speed, and then pressing the shutter button sometimes can be enough.....
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Return window has closed so we are learning to work things outDoes it say "put me back in the box and take me back to the shop?"
Just kidding!
Your mother's final illness reminded me of a snowy day. I was at work and on break taking a walk in the parking lot with a small film camera in hand - I believe it was a Canon ELPH. I came upon a tall tree covered in snow. The snow on the ground had separated from the base of the tree leaving a circular patch of bare ground around the tree base. I was fascinated with this and took pictures. Later that day a phone call, my mother had died in hospital, around the time I took those tree photos. I guess the camera in hand helped me process (no pun) the event.
Back in the late 70s and early 80s in high school, I took a photography class. Back then, I went and bought an old Pentax camera that was already old and had a light meter that clipped on top. This was the film days so I learned how to load bulk film in a totally dark closet to developing and using an enlarger to print onto photo paper. It was good times. I missed those days and two weeks go, I was finally able to afford to get a Canon and some lenses. Now to get back out there and do some shooting.
Today I can shoot a hundred pictures and pick out some good ones just delete the rest and not have to worry about wasting film.
Today I can shoot a hundred pictures and pick out some good ones just delete the rest and not have to worry about wasting film.