I have a simple question for you. Why do you enjoy photography? When I first asked myself this question, I thought, “Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s what I do for a living! I never get tired of picking up my camera and “going to work.” But this doesn’t really answer the question, does it? It just states that I enjoy photography.
So I decided to go a little deeper, back to the beginning. I really got serious about photography when I bought my first digital point and shoot (a Canon SD200). Before that camera I casually photographed friends and flowers with my Canon AE-1, but the world of digital really opened my eyes to what was possible with photography. I had this little camera that fit in my pocket that I could take with me anywhere. Compared to film, I could take a seemingly unlimited number of photos of anything that I wanted. This meant lots of photos of friends and flowers.
I remember being fascinated by my photographs of nature. I could look at a macro image of a flower and see grains of pollen and delicate details that typically went unnoticed. I could look at a photo of a rock outcropping and zoom in to see the smaller inclusions that made it sparkle. Everything was photo-worthy, new and interesting. At this point in time I enjoyed photography because it gave me the ability to capture scenes from my life to remember and study.
Here’s a flower photo that, at the time, I thought was the best photo I’d ever taken.
Eventually I bought my first DSLR (a Nikon D40) and that’s when I got GAS (gear acquisition syndrome). So many lenses and accessories! I must have them all! Suddenly my D40 wasn’t good enough and I just had to upgrade to the D90. New lenses, flashes, bags, filters and software all became “must have” items. With all of this new gear, I branched out from flowers and mountains and started photographing people.
I remember how much fun I had working with people, capturing moments and emotions, seeing the look on their faces when they saw their own portrait and actually liked what they saw. These positive experiences were so much more satisfying to me than photographing nature, I knew that my future in photography would mostly involve people. To a large extent, this is still one of the things that I most love about photography… working with people and capturing moments and emotions so that they will not be forgotten.
I photographed this high school senior while developing my portraiture technique. Sadly, she passed away just a few years after this was taken. Her mother told me how meaningful it was to have these images of her.
After a while, I started dabbling in film again. It felt good to get away from computers and lots of gear and just get back to an analog world where imperfection was embraced. I could indulge my love for antiques and use older cameras. I bought that Polaroid camera I’d always wanted as a kid and marveled at the magic of instant film. Suddenly, I found myself photographing flowers and trees and landscapes again… and loving it!
I remember realizing that something does not immediately become interesting just because it was photographed on film. It’s the light that really makes it come to life. With the right light, a crumpled up piece of paper or a grimy alley can be just as interesting as a field of flowers or a snow covered mountain. Film helped me learn to love light.
For example, the light on this succulent and the way it brings out the pattern of the plant really caught my attention.
Thus began my current obsession with light. I find myself continually hunting light and capturing light with whatever camera I may have with me. More often than not, that camera is my phone. I have fallen in love with phone photography. Maybe it’s because it reminds me so much of my first years of digital photography… just a point and shoot camera that easily fits in my pocket and is always with me. But I think it’s more than just that. It’s a way for me to explore new editing styles, to explore the world around me and ultimately to explore light.
While at a kickboxing tournament, I saw the late-afternoon light pouring through some windows onto these worn stadium seats. Fortunately, I had my phone with me to capture the scene.
What started out as a hobby eventually became a career. That small camera that fit in my pocket expanded into a storage room full of backdrops, lighting equipment and rarely used gear. I now own my own photography business and live and breathe photography every day of the year. And you know what? I still enjoy it. Here is why I enjoy photography:
I enjoy photography because it has given me the opportunity to share in people’s most special moments on a regular basis.
I enjoy photography because it has introduced me to many people who I now call friends.
I enjoy photography because it is something that I can do any time, any place and all I need is my phone.
I enjoy photography because it has allowed me to capture moments in my own life that I don’t want to forget.
I enjoy photography because it has caused me to fall in love with light and see the world around me with fresh eyes every single day. And sometimes, when the mood is right, I just sit back and enjoy the moment without taking a photo.
So, why do you enjoy photography?
This question is eazy i love photografy because i feel free,i dont take photos i feel them, and being my self thro an image tha i took is almost magic.. what more could one want?
i love photography because I love creating beautiful things.. Creating a piece of art.
Exactly. Creating something that makes someone stop for a second.
I love photography for several reasons. It allows me to capture memories of family; travel; friends; and the passage thru life itself. I love to express myself artistically thru the medium of photography, either with film or digital as I have no skill with the art of drawing, painting etc, but I am adept at visualizing a potential photograph and doing whatever technical details are necessary to create it. I enjoy working with the equipment of photography; mingling with my peers in photography and seeing the look of recognition and or pleasure when an image is viewed and the concept of its creation is understood. I do have a skill at judging color and compatible tints and hues, which has translated well in DIY home decor; woodworking and finishing and other tasks where these judgements are called into play. The other benefit of a love of photography is my wife and I “do stop to smell the roses”, and “appreciate the sweet light of dusk and dawn”. Photography has fought both of us to see the World thru more appreciative eyes. There is always something to behold as we travel from place to place. Non photographer friends often say “how did you see that?”. The answer- We’re photographers.
Sometimes an unconscious moment is caught, a look, a smile, a view, that is so fleeting and wonderful.
Perhaps only a camera can truly capture them?
I have a few, how generous of you to share some of your own.
Thank you.
Capturing a moment in time that will never repeat itself is one reason I’ve always enjoyed Photography. I still have in my possession a Olympus OM4T not in working condition anymore, but I have it because it reminded me a time when it was exciting to take the film and having to wait and see if you made the shot. Now that digital has fossilized film, it’s more exciting since the technology employed takes the art to another level. The highest ISO (ASA) I could use was 400 and in some circumstances 800 film. But it was grainy. But now…ISO 400,000? Insane! Even though at that level its crap what you get, being able to shoot ISO 6400 natively is something I could never thought possible is now routine. That opens up a whole new realm of possibilities. And… I have to admit it: I’m a gadget fanatic hahahaha. What cameras are doing these days is crazy and the technology gets better and better.
Because memory is really a frail thing and being visual means there are triggers for sharing the experience with others
Because I can’t draw worth a damn andhotography is the next best thing!
Nice article John.
I love photography because this is a combination of an art and technology. And I can take something from nature without destroy anything.
Freezing that particular moment(s)…and trying to remember the feeling it came with some times later…instead of watching it on videos…
Remembering the smiles and laughter, or even tears captured…that would drive you for more and more….
I enjoy photography because it gives me an escape; from tiring human interactions, school, and life in general. It lets me see things that aren’t visible through human eyes’ perspective. It makes me appreciate the beauty of the nature and even the most common things we see everyday. I don’t have much to be proud of; except of my photography skills.
I’m 60 years old I got my first camera was in 1973 Pentax Spotmatic F Single Lens Reflex. Moved up to Nikon and had many models my last film Camera was a Nikon f4s the top of the line. I loved the cameras themselves as they were evolving , I could just hold the camera and just enjoy the machine.
Jumping ahead to the new digital years, I can honestly say I prefer these days and don’t miss film for a second. I started with a Nikon D70 and moved up as new models came out, D200,D300, D90, D7000, D700, D7100, D610. I loved the D700 but found truthfully that I enjoyed the D610 more and found I wasn’t using it as much lately I liked the D610 better. So I sold the D700 a couple of weeks before the D750 release date late September . I love my combination of the D610 & D750, I really don’t miss the D700 it was just too heavy and there are so mush improvents these days I like the new cameras. I can’t believe the low light shooting these days sometimes it freaks me out, I remember ISO 400 and Kodak Ektar 1000 talk about grain.
So loving the process of taking the picture , the actual camera as a tool and the pleasure of shooting Raw and having programs like Photo Shop and Lightroom and the modern tools, like an ipad or my 27″ imac to see my photos these days makes photographry a joy . This sure beats the film days of taking you rolls of film to the one hour photo store !
The last thing is the relaxation of going out shooting pictures usually by myself , great exersize and fresh air .
I’m just a hobbiest so there’s no pressure and it’s not a job, just a passion.
I’m shooting about 70,000 ice hockey pictures a year my Daughter is a player, I’m the most popular guy on the team, we have girls from across Canada and they get to share pictures of themselves to family all over the world to family and friends. I get lots of pleasure and gratification knowing how much I’m appreciated .
I enjoy photography because it allows me to capture and share what I see in nature. Most people walk right by without notice many beautiful things. My mother has never seen well enough to see nature as I have. I started a blog johncgamblephotography.blogspot.com/ to share with her and other family members. I love to hunt and now I hunt year around with my Nikon. Any critter could be a trophy.
I’ve always been fascinated by photos of ocean, flowers, blue sky with snow cap mountain in the background and wish if I can capture those beautiful landscape myself. Thats why I enjoy photography. I can have my photos hung on the wall and be proud that I have captured them.
I’ve always been a sort of photographer-of-the-sorts since I was younger, always picking up a camera and shooting anything and everything around the house (whether or not it made any sense) just because it was fun. After using my family’s assortment of point and shoots for a while, I decided it was time to step up and get a DSLR. Now being in 9th grade at the time, I wasn’t exactly in a position to run out and invest a large amount of money in a camera. So after working with my friend and his dad on a house renovation, his dad gave me his old Canon EOS Rebel DS604 for helping out! Now in 11th grade, I’ve practically run that old DS6041 into the ground, taking over hundreds of photos trying to develop a style (particularly fond in landscape/nature photography), and even starting up a Facebook page to share my work! Unfortunately, the 11 year old camera has recently met its untimely demise. So in addition to a new camera (got my eyes on that new 7D Mark II), I am planning to go all out and get myself the rest of the gear that I have been missing out on, to make my work even better! Good tripod, telephoto lenses, filters, the whole 9 yards. I’ve always received good compliments on my work, and I am aching to get back into it ASAP! Capturing the scene on a cell phone just doesn’t have the same feel…
I’ll never forget the thrill of learning to see the color of light as the day progressed after reading a Kodak Handbook on light in the 1970’s. The learning was enhanced by a series of formal exercises in the 80’s taking college level photo classes.
I’m entranced by being able to see things that other people don’t notice and being able to share them.
My equipment saga begins when I got a used 1969 Nikon F in 1971 and that was my main camera, shooting slides, until the mid 90’s when I moved up to auto focus & auto exposure in an N-90S. Then it was a transition to a F-100 for about 10 years. In 2010 I bit the digital bullet with a D-300s. From there it’s a roller coaster ride to a D-7000, D-90 converted to IR, a D-7100 and now mirrorless Sony. A NEX-7 converted to IR and a A7r. I’m anxiously waiting for the rumored A 7000 at the first of the year. My equipment acquisition syndrome will slow with a few lens adjustments & hopefully a Sony to Nikon adapter that transmits lens data, The digital world has allowed me to see & record data that was impossible on film. I may not replicate an exact rendition of a scene in the final version, but I do output something of how I perceive the scene and how it makes me react. An excited orange in a sunset is more about what I feel about what I saw than the actual documentation of the sunset at a given point.
One of the points of growth for me was to realize that I don’t have to do everything photographic to be a successful photographer. If I don’t want to be encumbered with a large supply of commercial photographic lighting equipment it’s OK. I can still add light with inexpensive flash, or even lose the flash and do available light photography. It’s the level you feel comfortable for what you’re trying to do. It’s not the equipment that makes the photographer, it’s the photographer’s mindset & application that makes the photo.
I love photography simply because I love visual art, and because I can do it. I especially focus on portraiture, because I feel great satisfactions seeing people brighten up with smiles by making them see their inner beauty.
Photography has helped me perceive life with a new appreciation.
I enjoy photography is to document things around me and allow myself to share them (images) with friends. Eventually as I aged (which all of us do) these documented images bring priceless memories as it will unfold the places I have travelled and experienced. I don’t own fancy equipment – just a D80 and several lenses. Recently I just ordered a D750 as my DSLR model has been declared out of service. I have to continue my passion of photography.
I enjoyed photography because it is there…
I enjoy the zone / meditative state I get into when photographing. And the creativity to express the world the way I see it. No one can see out of our eyes and know exactly what we perceive but with photography I can show someone else what I see. The may perceive something different but that’s ok.
very young i was introduced to NATURE, later with my nikkormat en 400 mm panagor lens I was put there looking the deer, birds, landscape… Everything was stolen…. Many years later I was hesitation going digital. Than I could afford to undulge in the same disease as you…… I was estatic by all the possebilities. But I always retuned to landscapes, animals birds, plants…. Pure no photoshop…..
Why do I like photography…….its the moment you have to create somthing beautiful. To express our own creativity how we see things. A hundred people could take a photo of a flower 90% will take it the conventionale way the other 10% will be creative and take it the way they see it by being crearive and diferrant. Thats why I like photography
I enjoy photography because photography has become more than a hobby for me. It has become some sort psychological therapy, in a sense that every time I get a hold of the images I have made, I feel that certain satisfaction, that I was able to project something that I have never experienced into the people, objects and places I have photographed. It may sound cheesy but that’s how it is…I grew up in a less fortunate manner, not having anything I wanted handed into me, and not being able to experience all the luxuries in life. Whenever I make photos of events and celebrations, even though I have not experienced the event myself, I tend to survive making the photos in a very pleasing and fulfilling manner, not only to the clients, but also to me. Well, if you have heard the saying “You can never give anything that you do not have”, that’s the opposite of me whenever I make photos. That way, I keep on finding myself behind the camera, whatever device it may be.
I enjoy photography because I feel like I have always seen life that way. When I was younger the first camera my grandfather bought he handed to me and said “you’re young and smart, you know technology, you are picture girl from now on”. Ever since that day I have been picture girl. I taught myself to see life differently. I still have a long way to go in terms of picture taking but my love for it grows everyday. It’s always been with me and I will always be with it. Getting “the shot” and showing it to someone. Seeing someone put a picture you took of them as their profile picture on facebook. These things are the reason I love photography. Also I love getting to tell peoples stories.
because I feeling picture of my life.
I interested to photography.
This job was my father. My father wss one of photographers old in my country.
He worked with madam lilian photographers in metropol studio in lalezar street in tehran.
This is job my familly.i’m happy of this job. Photography is one of my feel.
Photography is my life.
“I enjoy photography because it has caused me to fall in love with light ”
That sentence sums up where I am at the moment. Its Autumn in the UK and the sun is low and nature has taken on all these hues with golden rusty hints of decay. The light hits objects at such an angle, that it emphasises the texture of everything. it really is amazing. In this light you see things you just never saw before. I walk round the streets just drinking it all in.
I love photography because it allows me to capture moments to relive them later. I am an incredibly nostalgic person, and, while only 22, taking pictures in my back woods allows me to look at these pictures later on, whether it be a week or month or year, and remember my childhood, the people i spent it with, and the feelings evoked by the scenes. The good times come and go, but being able to remember them with pictures that really capture the emotion of the day enables them to reside longer than their actual existence. Photography allows me to feel, much more than i could alone.
Also, after writing this, i remembered too how it allows me to remember loved ones, and times i’ve spent with them. That is also an incredible thing when one is feeling lonely.
I love photography for a number of reasons. I’ve had a camera ever since I was a senior in high school, when I bought my first film SLR, a Minolta XG-1. I had various other Minolta film cameras throughout the years and was hoping to stay with them when digital came out, but they never did….sold the camera business to Sony. I have thousands of film pictures.
My first digital camera was a Canon G3 point-and-shoot, which I bought in 2003 to see how digital worked. I liked it, so I pursued a digital SLR. When the great reviews of the Nikon D70 came out, that’s what I bought. I’ve since bought a D200 and now shoot with a D600.
Anyway, I love photography because of the memories it creates and keeps. Besides photography, I love traveling (my 2 favorites hobbies….photography and traveling), and I have taken many, many pictures of my travels. In addition to living and working in Europe for 4 years, I have been there many times for vacation. I have pictures from the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994, including those of Tonia Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, the closing ceremony, and of the gold medal game when Sweden beat Canada in ice hockey; I have photos from October 3, 1990, German unification night, when the 2 countries became 1; I have pictures of a number of Oktoberfests in Munich; I have photos of myself and 2 of my sisters I visited a number of times when they studied in Europe; I have pictures of friends I worked with and traveled with in Europe, including on New Years’ Eve 1998 in Edinburgh, Scotland for Hogmanay. I have great pictures of friends of mine I worked with and traveled about with in Europe, including in Malta, Bruges, Ghent, Trier, Prague, Dusseldorf, and so many other places we took weekend trips on….all great memories.
I have a niece and 3 nephews whom I take hundreds and hundreds of pictures every year, along with pictures of my siblings and parents and other relatives and family. Every year for Christmas, for the past 10 years, I have selected a small number of the images of my niece and nephews to have printed up and put into albums for Christmas gifts for my Mom and Dad and brothers and sisters. I have scanned well over 1000 pictures from negatives from the 1960s and 1970s of us when we were kids and have given these as gifts. Everyone always likes and really appreciates these photos.
I love photography not only because it creates memories for me, but also because of how it creates memories for others as indicated above with family photos. But, I also do some freelance work, and it makes me happy when I see how others love pictures of themselves, pictures they will cherish as memories forever. (plus, I get a few extra bucks on the side!)
I enjoy photography because photos include the best part of the scene and leave out the rest. Photos can depict reality or they can make simple things appear to be celestial.
When i was a boy i used to take a lot of photos with my yashica and i thought the camera would capture whatever i wanted it to. Unfortunately most pictures were taken while i was in a car during a vacation, so they included less of the stuff i intended to capture, mostly trees, rocks or bushes and more of the stuff i did not intend to capture, like the road. I remember i would waste one full roll of film on these pictures of the road and half of the second one. After that the remaining trip would all be about conserving film and capturing only the important moments. Now with the advent of digital, I can go back to my boyhood habits.
My first photography teacher (way back in the sixties) would ask “Would you create a picture if no one but you saw it?” I love photography because the answer is always– yes.
I love photography because,
It allows me to freeze a moment in time within an image, which you can enjoy for ever.
It allows me the possibility of creating something artistic.
It allows me to see the wonderful parts of the world I’ll never get to visit, through other peoples photography.
I Started with my Mother’s Minolta X 700 during while studying for my BA, Just to unwind and caught the bug. But for me it’s a very personal thing. I don’t know if youall have experienced the same thing. It’s a meditative (for the lack of a better term), poetic, abstract thing. you just happen to look up, the interaction of branches and clouds against a deep blue sky catches your attention and pulls your soul out of your body. You lose track of time and space. You just have to raise a camera to your eye and try to grasp at even a sliver of the momentary experience. Later you revisit the image and, occasionally, a bit of that moment is still there, reflected in the image you’ve captured. It may be only you who sees and senses it but there’s something there outside of the mundane. Strange how a compression of reality can trigger and expansion of consciousness.
my brain recalls images (as others recalls numbers, or words). my love for photography started when my first son was born 7 yrs ago. My 1st digital camera is Nikon D40 also. Since then I always have it with me. I felt I need to record images of happiness and laughter. Then my friends and family and co-workers seen my photos thru social media noticed my pictures. When there is an event or gatherings I’m asked “are you bringing your camera”?. I love each and every moment how that half press shutter technique before full does its magic of capture. I could relate so much your experience taking shots at landscape, people and lights (i tap into the power of light with this faith “God is Light”) you may be also photographing their soul. I love photography because it allows me to provide snapshots as priceless as the moments they capture (my photography motto).
I love buying cameras and lenses / filters no matter how much price-tag they bear; BECAUSE I want to outshine my neighbor with regard to any camera that he buys.
It’s a straight forward question. I enjoy photography because I’m in a zen like state of mind, lets me travel and explore certain places, including improving my mental and physical well being.
Being in a zen like mentality makes me feel more peaceful because, all the stress and problems in life just goes away. Most importantly, it gives me the ability to be myself, if I am taking photos alone or with someone else. For example, I can think creatively on my own or with others, become open minded to certain suggestions and ideas, being comfortable, witty and crack jokes, while creating photos anyone can enjoy or be inspired by.
Another thing with photography is that, my camera is my second passport to adventure and travel. My camera and lenses in my Lowepro bag reminds me to, take the road less traveled to walk, explore, and take photos. Along with being a constant reminder to take it with me everywhere I go, since there will be a certain photographic moments in my life that requires it.
Lastly, I believe photography will help improve my mental and physical well being. With the mental benefits of photography, it helps prevent development of mental illnesses in the future like Alzheimers. Considering that photography would require me to think. Such as, camera settings for correct exposure, adjustments in post process, places for shoots, being creative and etc. Another thing that helps with my mental well being, is improving my confidence to approach or take pictures of people. Which plays a significance, in certain styles of photography. For instance, street photography and portraiture. Finally, it helps improve my physical well being as well. Looking back to the photographs I’ve taken, one of the things I notice is that walking is highly involved. Walking for long hours to take photos won’t replace going to the gym. However, it does improve my health which is important than not doing it.
Overall, these are some of the things that I enjoy doing, and keeps me from shooting. Where I am comfortable, happy and at peace. Traveling and take the off beaten path, and return to it in the near future. Also, being mentally and physically fit. Photography has opened my eyes and inspires me to continue being on my feet. Even though it is an expensive financial journey and hobby. At the end of the day, it’s all worth the money and time I’ve invested.