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?
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… Read more »
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.
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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.
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 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… Read more »
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.… Read more »
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… Read more »
“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.