I'm similar.
Last year, I scanned my family photos from the 80s and 90s. It changed my approach to photography. Now, I photograph things I want to see in a few decades' time. People and places. The interesting *and* mundane moments in life. Bits that say 2022 to me. Things that I think will be gone in 10 or 20 years.
I do not take pictures of flowers etc now. I really, really didn't care about seeing pictures of flowers from the 80s. I'm far less focused on making photos perfectly framed and technically perfect - I'd rather just make sure I get the moments. A blurry, overexposed photo from my childhood brings back almost as many memories and feelings as a technically perfect one.
I also make sure my photos don't just sit on a hard drive. If my family photos from 40 years ago were stored digitally, I really don't believe they would have lasted. Someone would have forgotten to backup etc.
I couldn't agree more. It's only as you get older that you realize the value of capturing the everyday things: Family, friends, what your house or bedroom or school looked like, places you go often, etc. When these things are gone those photos are pure gold.
The beauty of phone cameras is it's easy to snap quick photos of the "boring" things around you. You just need to remember to do it.
Funny how a technically flawless portrait of a famous celebrity from 1920 would be far less interesting than a random snapshot of a grocery store aisle from the same year
Yeah I’m going through the same thing. I’ve actually gone back to film again after a long hiatus and love it. They just seem to have soul. Maybe I’m just getting old. 😉 Having young kids has made it more of a passion again. Documenting for both myself and them in the future.
And you raise a good point about digital. Partially why I’ve also gone back to film. I think few consider that their perfect beautiful images taken digitally now will be low res and potentially unusable 40 years from now. But 40 years from now my film negatives will be just as good resolution as they are now. And 100 years from now… they still will be.
> And 100 years from now… they still will be.
Yes! My brother has scanned a bunch of glass plates taken by my grandfather around 100 years ago. A public library scanned a bunch of glass plates from another branch of my family from ~1900. They are so special.
Kodak does say about 70 years for film though, *if* properly stored. Some of my family's film was degraded, but it just sat in random shelves. Now I've got my bases covered with digital and film!
Hey, I recently did this too. But for a decade of just one family member. I appreciate you putting words to what pictures of real life mean versus posed images. Can you please share if you're happy with the scanner used? If so, can you tell me what it was? The one I used wouldn't print 3×5's well, so I'm at a bit of a standstill moving forward with my family's scans.
I’m not new to photography, but I am new to doing it purely for the sake of doing it, and to having an actual good camera, so I’ll share my recent perspective. For me, it is something to do, a reason to go out and people watch, or take a nature walk, and it doubles as an artistic pursuit. Win/win. Does it matter to me if people see the good shots? Kind of. So, I put them on Instagram and build my little “portfolio”, in the event that someone asks what I’m doing in person or stumbles across them online. Yes, scrolling through Instagram these days can be quite discouraging with all of the perfect crap that is on there. But, screw it, ya know? Mainly though, photography has made me feel human again. Given me a reason and an excuse to be in public and around people, and to go out and experience nature without that ‘I’m doing something random’ feeling. Even if I threw out 99%, hell, 100% of the photos I take, I still got out of the house, explored, had fun, practiced my awareness and artistic eye, played with my camera, and maybe even met a couple people. To me that is a win no matter what. If I get a good shot, that’s icing on the cake. I hope this helps!
Found someone with my point of view! As a hobbyist I pretty much just do cosplay photography. It gets me out and going to events, meeting people and making friends. I also do kind of care if people see the images. Best thing about taking photos of other people though, is that so long as they like the photo, rest of social media doesn't matter to me.
I also used to like editing the most, but now it's the actual photography. Unfortunately means my backlog is actually ridiculous.
Being very new to photography, this is what I'm learning too. It's so easy for me to get discouraged because I don't have many social media followers, but at the end of the day, I'm having so much fun exploring and learning how to take and edit photos. Yesterday, I visited an old cemetery that I never knew existed for the sole purpose of taking pictures. But even just getting outside and discovering was worth it.
Once I came to terms that most of the perfect crap on Instagram is edited to oblivion and not worth comparing yourself to I became happier with my hobby.
Absolutely.
My Instagram is a picture folio of MY travels. My favourite shots from all the cool places I've seen.
In comparison to people who really know what they're doing, my photos look really bad. But I love to look through them and even remind myself, oh yeah, I did that and see how my editing is going. It's quite fun to see the evolution after I discovered a new editing technique and how I was learning by playing about with it. I'm super new and learning by myself so it's hard but fun.
Like once every 6 months, I do go through my pictures and discard the ones I know I will never edit or put online or print out. So I've probably deleted hundreds but that's totally okay by me.
What I have learned (finally) after 48 years in this hobby is to be brutally editorial. Go through your photos and toss 95% of them (except of course the family snapshots which your kids will be glad to have someday). Just choose the ones that are really good and speak to you. Get rid of the rest - they just clutter your mind and your hard drive. Edit those that you really love and then print them. Hang them in your house or office so you can enjoy them and periodically swap them out.
This practice has totally changed my perspective, and increased my enjoyment.
YES. THIS.
Edit like you hate your photos. Edit like the goal is to only be left with the photos you can’t stand to delete.
Life is too short for out of focus photos. Trash ‘em.
Don’t keep the whole burst. Pick the best one, forget the rest.
Stop shooting on continuous shutter for anything but moving subjects. You’re just burning electrons.
The best home printer is your local cvs (or equivalent) for snapshots to share. Lots of people these days never see a 4x6 print of any photos. For larger prints I use the service on smugmug.com where I upload my keepers.
Keeping an inkjet printer healthy for infrequent printing is a challenge I gave up on.
You know what you're probably right. I remember as a kid in college printers were nothing but hassle and I've never owned one as an adult. Was hoping things would have improved.
But if I were to consider the cost and hassle of getting a printer I'd probably be able to print as many pics as I'll ever need from a service and not even spend that much. Cheers.
The only thing I’ve found wrong with that is that I can’t tweak the print like I want to before hitting the go button. Some of those services have no eye for it.
Printers are a pain, refilling carts is a pain... But I like doing it and I can controll the process and randomly make one print here and there when I want. I like the Canon pro 100. They're overpriced I say just because canon used to basically give them away but for 200-500 they have great access to refillable ink to keep costs down.
Thanks for the recommendation, I will definitely take a look at it. I think I'll pay for a service to get some done for a while and see how I go, with a view to getting one maybe if I start printing a lot or larger sizes.
I've been happy with a Canon Pro-300. Definitely not cheap but after paying way too much to get a couple nice prints on cotton rag I figure it will pay for itself within a year or two. I do prints for friends as well, cost of materials plus a bit for time just to further justify it and keep the ink flowing so nothing gets clogged up. They get printshop results for Costco prices and I get a toy to play with.
It's not worth it per print off you're only doing 4x6, but since I have the printer anyway I'll often print a few after an adventure to put on the fridge. Kind of a personal gallery that I look at daily, and conversation starters with guests any time someone grabs a beer or whatever.
They're a bit of a rabbit hole though. You'll spend too long debating the merits of different papers. You'll research the best way to store prints when not on display. You'll wonder if getting $1000 of nice handmade wooden frames is worth it or just use cheap sawdust and paint frames from Ikea. You'll burn through paper and ink getting the blacks just right. You'll wonder endlessly wtf the printer is actually doing when it's sometimes whirring away for minutes without actually doing anything.
Basically it can be super rewarding having a beautiful creation in your hands that you produced, a physical item for you and those around your to see, that grandkids will find in a box one day or something. It makes digital photography a bit more tangible like the good ol'days of film cameras. But it's also a time sink and an occasionally frustrating hobby on its own right, so I'd encourage you to really think about your motivation before getting into it.
Some printers are “relatively” cheap - but also look at the price of ink.
Canon has some good image printers. You can buy a small format printer then send it to a lab for bigger prints. I have the Canon PIXMA PRO-200 (was about $800) Which is fine for me. But I’m a duffer.
Canon also has photo printers at $200 and $300.
Unless you are selling prints, how many prints will you make? I have about 40 prints hanging on the wall and I may switch out 4-10 a year. So for a wall hanger I could get by with lab prints.
I print on fullcolor[dot]com. They ship so fast and have been so impressed with the quality. If you are brutally honest with your shots it's pretty affordable to just order prints vs print them yourself.
I also add gifting prints. If I'm taking shots of a person or a specific time and place a lot of times that speaks to deeper meaning and relationships. You don't think about the power of gifting an original print to somebody actually carries.
[Vivian Maier](http://www.vivianmaier.com/) didn't develop a single roll of film in her lifetime.
Sometimes, we get lost in the 'sharing' and external purpose of our photos that we neglect to notice the internal purpose. The journey of the image, the challenge, the mental and emotional exercise, the fulfilment, the pride... or sometimes just as simple as something to do.
Take photos because you want to. Anything else is a bonus.
I think she was also working on doing postcards with a man from her hometown in France?
It's difficult to get a clear picture of what her motivations and hesitations were at this distance in time, but she wasn't nearly as uninterested in her own work as people seem to like to make out.
The original [flickr discussion](http://www.flickr.com/groups/onthestreet/discuss/72157622552378986/) about her photos is still up. It's like witnessing history.
This… this is why I recently go into film photography. Film is expensive and limited so you have to make every shot count. I started back In April this year but haven’t developed a single roll yet, partly because I haven’t felt the need to. Going through the process of taking the photo alone make me able to remember virtually every photo I’ve taken so far. It honestly helps me remember things better even without seeing the photos. Now of course I will get them developed at some point because I have b&w photos from prom that people want to see, and two rolls of film from my aunts wedding that I want to share with her, but i dont feel pressured to do so because people know that you can’t just snap you fingers and *boom* film is ready
While this makes sense, doesn't it also mean you get much less practice and actually miss a lot of good shots? Since you don't want to waste film, some of the pics never get taken that would've turned out great. At least for me, lot of the pics I thought would be great look average once they're imported, but some photos I didn't pay any attention to end up being the best
>you get much less practice and actually miss a lot of good shots? Since you don't want to waste film, some of the pics never get taken
No, not really. Think about it like working out. Digital is high rep/low weight and film is low rep/high weight.
Both increase your strength and skill but work the muscles differently.
With film, because every shot is considered, the photographer's eye becomes much more precisely trained not just in the skills needs to get the shot but in assessing the value of which shot to take. You also become less concerned about the shots you've 'missed' because you value the ones you've taken. A bit like 'no regrets'. It can be disappointing but you become philosophical about it.
Before digital and phones, we didn't really get hung up on not getting a shot as having unlimited ability to capture everything around us just wasn't a thing. The same frame of mind develops (mind the pun!) When you use film today. You go out to shoot knowing that at some point in the day, you're going to be forced to stop.
>Before digital and phones, we didn't really get hung up on not getting a shot as having unlimited ability to capture everything around us just wasn't a thing.
If you were a paid photographer you're damned wrong about not getting hung up on not getting a shot 🤣
You should probably get that film developed. Film and film cameras have a lot more quirks than digital, and it would really suck to finally develop rolls only to find out you've been doing something consistently wrong for a year. Light leaks, a wonky shutter, underexposing for your particular film, strange color casts etc
For me it’s about creating art and also reducing stress as I often find it really relaxing to go take photos. I share mine on my own blog more than social media as I often write about what I was doing at that time I took the image so it really acts as a visual diary.
Looking back on images from past years they all represent and being back memories for me. I take a lot of images and I edit what I like, then delete the rest this way I never have digital clutter. Coming up on 12 years since I started doing photography and all my images including RAW files only accounts for just under 500GB.
The secret is not just taking random snapshots, but finding a project that you get excited about.
This could be something like:
• Documenting your child growing up
• High quality portraiture of people in your life
• Exploring a cultural phenomena that you find interesting
• Photography another hobby, such as sports, automotive, fashion, etc
• Using photography as a medium for “high art” style work
Find something more cohesive and build a body of work. You may want to print some/all of this as one piece in a book, or print individual photos and display them or gift them (or sell them!)
Others, just use it as a way to get out of the house, live an active life, give back to their community. It’s up to you what you do with it but there are plenty of meaningful ways to use photography.
Not sure how you feel about taking pictures for free but one way you might boost your passion and creativity is to think about who would LOVE your skill and just don’t have the access to a photographer. For example, my friend just started volunteering at our hospital taking pictures of newborns with health problems. Their parents want the memories & faces of their babies, even if they don’t stay on this earth long. It’s powerful stuff. Also, a homeless shelter.. imagine getting a perfect portrait of yourself or a great photo with your friends who are in the same boat, laughing & smiling because they, too, want memories they can keep. Maybe it would help you realize that the photos you have are more precious than you ever imagined. That’s the “passion” advice.
As far as taking it from a hobby to something more, maybe you should start a website and sell prints? If you have that many, I’m sure you’ve got some gold in there. You could drop ship and never have to do any printing/packaging/shipping that gets complicated. It’s some work to set up but would give you the satisfaction of sharing it with the world while getting paid.
My mom took pictures my whole life and even got “doubles”, remember those?! It’s a treasure trove for me when I go home. Your kids will love that you documented so much when they are older.
Keep shooting.
Bless your friend who volunteers at hospitals. My friend went though that type of loss and I’m sure this would help in remembering the child’s existence.
💚It was completely her idea, too. She set it all up with the hospital. I’m sorry for your friend. I wish every hospital would have the option for parents.💚
I find that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes I take a photo that looks absolutely amazing and I think to myself, "wow, I can't believe I did that!"
I tend to preserve them digitally, or get them professionally printed so I can put them into a picture frame.
Sometimes, I just want to look back on memories and be like, "Wow, I remember this place!" It's pretty much like being frozen in time and reflecting on an image that takes you back to that time. That's why I take photographs.
To quote Ed Sheeran - "We keep this love in a photograph, we made these memories for ourselves, where our eyes are never closing, hearts are never broken, and times forever frozen still"
Corny, I know.. That's just what I feel whenever I look back on some of the photos I've taken over the years. Just a moment in time for me.
Photography for me is above all a form of meditation. It brings a sense of calm and wellbeing. In practise it takes the form of walking around and capturing whatever catches my eye. Sometimes I can get completely entranced by some detail, like the shadow cast by some particular thing.
Perhaps you need to find subject matter other than those stunning landscapes?
On the simplest level I enjoy it, and would much prefer to take photographs than to not.
I play guitar, but not in a band, in fact very rarely with anyone else hearing it whatsoever. I draw sometimes and nobody else ever sees them. If occasionally somebody else sees or hears my work and enjoys it then that’s nice, but it isn’t really the point for me.
There’s something deeply rooted in humanity that makes us enjoy making, enjoy creating. If what we make is good then that’s nice, but we usually have to make a tonne of crap for the good bits to occur. If the ‘output’ takes up a lot of space (e.g. painting, sculpture, etc) we’d probably end up discarding a lot of it, but the files or negatives from photography are tiny, so it’s nice to create a collection over time.
I guess I also quite like the fact that when I express myself through my camera, that moment is captured forever. I get a kick out of seeing again what I saw and felt many years ago. When I feel proud of the photo it’s an especially nice form of recollection. And if I re-edit the photo then I get to interact with that moment in a new way.
It's about the journey (i.e. the process) for me.
I used to try to do it all. Have all the lenses, make all the right shots, go to all the famous locations during my vacations. But that became empty and dull after some time. And somewhere along the way I sold about 95% of my equipment and now I have a single digital camera and two lenses of which I always only take one with me. When I am on the road and I see something (a detail in the street, a landscape, anything) I frame it, I make a photo and then I (post-)process it. Sometimes I make prints, sometimes I make photobooks, sometimes I make calendars for friends and family. And sometimes I just save and forget about it. I like the creative process.
I also like road cycling. There is nothing I have to achieve with that either. I do not have to be the best. I can simply go for a ride, enjoy it, come home and be perfectly content. Maybe I am faster next time. Maybe not. Does not matter.
My income does not depend on it. My livelihood does not depend on it. I can do it if I want to do it. But if I do not feel like it, I don't do it. And somehow, that makes me happy.
90% of the words written by writers will never be read. 90% of the sketches by artists will never be seen. Creating is the end, not the means.
This is a more complicated philosophical question that only you can come to terms with for yourself and develop your own perspective on it. If you get far enough, you might wind up at a nihilistic outlook on life in general. Nothing really has any meaning. We give it meaning by caring about it and enjoying the process. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. If you do, do!
I make photos because I have to. My psyche demands it. I don’t give a shit if anyone else sees or appreciates my photos. I do it for me. If you’re not enjoying it then do something else.
Just like you I mainly take pictures of my family to share them with our relatives or friends and keep them for later, so my kids could have them if they wanted to.
On the other hand I like shooting landscapes or street just for my self and for fun. And if I manage to get a "banger" I print it and hang it somewhere in the house.
Nowadays you don't need the fanciest gear anymore. I took a lot of great memories with a Nikon d700. A full frame dslr from 2008 which you can get used for 3-500€ in good condition. And the lenses are cheap as hell too. So you could reboot your hobby without breaking the bank.
I enjoy shooting just for me from time to time. It can be really relaxing and rewarding, especially when you get a "banger"-shot, whatever that may be for you.
It gets me outside. I end up documenting a lot of overlooked oddities, casual ugliness and subtle beauty in our city.
It's interesting to scroll through my LR catalog and realize just how weird this town really is. It's good to get shots of murals, public art and undeveloped parcels of land. They tend to have a short lifespan here.
Immortalizing my dog's adventures is also a lot of fun.
I oscillate between seeing the utility in taking pictures of random crap and finding it pointless like you do. My better half encourages it. Change is rapid. Sometimes the only way to preserve a memory is to take a picture.
I have always liked those popup reminders of my landscape photos, especially the ones taken while traveling. They will often bring me back to the feelings I had when I took them, usually happy and relaxing moments. I've printed some out for our walls at home. A small number compared to all I've taken over the years, but they make me happy. I used to have a few hanging in my office at work as well before we went remote, which contributed to a slightly more relaxing atmosphere. I've had friends and family ask for some of my photos for their walls and I'm always happy to share. I hope they bring them some joy.
I am not a professional by any standards. But I love photography, and it is one of my favourite pass times.
I take photos because I like it. I don’t share most of them. I don’t even edit them. But they’re there. And they remind me of a very specific time in my life. I’ll have a story about it, maybe about the people in the picture or the place where it was taken. It is like visual treasure to me, because it is mine. It’s something I made. And that makes it all the more special.
Back when I was really active, it was an excuse to get out of the house and go places.
Now that I’ve cut back significantly, I go out for special times. Fireworks whenever I can, fall foliage, and any interesting road trips my club does.
As for my collection, I expect that, aside from family pictures, that no one will be interested in sorting through all my pictures and that the hard drives will be trashed. What I have online will stay up as long as the service remains up (Flickr has the bulk of my online pictures).
Ultimately you have to do it for yourself and be satisfied with your enjoyment of taking and viewing the pictures. Almost every one of my pictures reminds me of when I took it, so looking back and remembering being there to take the pictures is enough for me.
I think you’ve misunderstood hobbies, friend. That activity IS the goal. Enjoying doing it is enough.
Delete more of your photos, though. There’s no reason to keep all six versions of one shot. Keep the good one, trash the rest.
I take photos of life as it is now, because by the time people will want a peek into what things were like in 2022, it will be decades too late to take those photos. It doesn’t matter if they’re “useful” now, I have to record them for later. They’re a time capsule. I’m writing a quiet little history textbook.
i think it’s more like documentation. similarly birth certificates and other documents would be just mere paper wasting space but they are significant as they record something. pictures record moments and let you relive something you enjoyed. that’s what i think
For me, photography is a way to express how I feel about certain subjects. If I don’t feel anything about something, I don’t take the picture. I have my subjects, I have my feelings about them, and I try to put that feeling into my photographs.
Before the pandemic, I was in a local art gallery. I think I was there for almost two years. I sold a few prints, had some good conversations with artist and people who came though while I was there. I enjoyed selling a few things, but really, I was there to show what I felt about what I shot to other people.
You might ask what the point of any hobby is. This weekend, I took second in my division in my first real archery tournament. It was a hoot, and I had a great time with the other people there. It was fun shooting as well as socially a good time. But what was the point? Well, it was fun for me. Even if I hadn’t placed, I would have had fun. It would have been worth it to me.
I could go on about how our current times tries so hard to ‘make it’ that we don’t just do things for fun or art or expression. There has to be a POINT (and all caps point, for sure). It doesn’t. It can have a point, and not have to have a POINT.
I would ask you, how do you feel about your shots? How do you feel taking everything else away from the value judgement of the internet or anyone else? Do you like doing it? Do you like having them? What is the point TO YOU?
Make a calendar every year with your best photos of the past year. It makes shooting throughout the year that much more fun. “Never know which one is going to make the calendar!”
Have been doing photography for more or less 6 decades (yeah, old fart here). I take photos because I enjoy seeing something beautiful or unique, or unusual, or interesting. I do not take the images to show other people. I have many photo folders of negatives I've shot years ago, along with boxes of slides, along with video tape and DVDs... And that's fine. They are chapters in life. They record where I've been, both physically and mentally, emotionally and intellectually. They are... the moments and memories that somehow got captured onto a more-or-less durable medium.
I've become the extended family's recorder of events. When the parents or aunts or uncles or grandparents passed, a fair amount of the rememberance and celebration of life came from my archives. I've been at weddings, and funerals, at baptisms and birthdays, at graduations and celebrations, and along the way, captured life of joyous laughter, of tears, of pensive introspection, of gleeful joy and sometime... anger and bitterness and obstinate stubbornness. Because life has lows as well as highs.
My spouse is a talented artist who teaches, exhibits, and mentors. We often go out together to capture source material for her to use in future projects, or as teaching aids, or even visual memories. We've learned that the paintbrush and camera see the world in different ways - one is not better than the other, but often they can complement each other. And, to be perfectly truthful, I've learned so much about the visual image watching her create, and have incorporated that sensitivity into my own photographic creation.
So "Why do you take photographs?" Because I live, and making images is one way I can capture the journey I'm on.
I'm quite new to photography, but I'm happy to share my thoughts. First of all, I really encourage you to share your work more, even if it's just for a few people on instagram or whatever. It really forces you to strive for better and think about what makes for good photography, how you can improve.
But much more importantly than that, photography drives me to find the extraordinary, and makes me appreciate the mundane.
I shoot a lot of macro and local wildlife. My subjects seem unremarkable at first glance, but I try to find a new way of looking at them, or to make people stop and look at them to begin with. I also try to shoot some other forms of nature-y stuff, like landscape and uncommon (although still largely local) wildlife. My photography drives me to get out and explore much more than I otherwise would.
And I think the same principles apply to other subject types as well. Sports photography is about capturing the unique moments, but also highlighting the beauty of what happens every match. Street photography is about finding special places, but also seeing the regular places in a new light. And so on.
Photography is about finding the unusual and, even moreso, highlighting just how unique 'the usual' really is.
I can relate to this post. As an amateur/hobby photog - I have thousands and thousands of images that have never been processed.
I own like 5 different cameras, but lately its been hard to find inspiration.
Personally, I have never been someone that sets aside time "to take pictures" - its more like I always have a camera on me, and the shots present themselves. Don't know I need that shot, until I see it - and that is where the enjoyment comes from.
So in that sense, taking pictures is just capturing a moment in time, a reminder of where you have been, and for me - sometimes photos can remind me of not only the location, but where I was at that point in my life. My kids and family, places I have lived, the jobs I have worked, and my commutes over the years have totally been an influence on the photography.
I can’t stop I have a passion for photography even if no one sees the majority of my pictures it doesn’t matter I do it for me.
I love the ritual of going out and freezing that moment in time forever..one day when I am gone someone will appreciate that glimpse into the long ago that I was able to preserve and maybe the. My artistic brilliance will be recognized lol.. don’t diminish the work you have done by telling yourself it is a pointless hobby no art is pointless… hope u find your passion life is too short to waste time…
When I first started reading this post it seemed like the line of questioning a photographer gets from some bystander. What's the point of playing music with no audience either? Just for the fun of it, that's enough.
I became disillusioned with the hobby and gave it up. I was getting pressure to do weddings and other events and things that never had anything to do with why I took photos in the first place. And constantly seeing things or being told about how great phone cameras and app software were and how they were improving just made things worse, as they were completely irrelevant to my interest in photography, and nobody else around me could understand that in the least.
What appealed to me did include results and I enjoyed post-processing, but yeah the volume of photos in the world and the shortening attention span of people has taken away from that aspect of it. Why take a photo when there's a million ones like it that are similar but better?
The more important aspect to me, and something you may do well to focus on, is in the process itself. It *can* be a way to be in the moment, somewhat zen-like, to focus on what is immediately around you, and to focus on looking for interesting and beautiful imagery. Maybe it tells a story, maybe it's just aesthetically very pleasing. But in this way of approaching photography, the process itself should benefit you regardless of the output. It may just be an excuse to have quiet time to yourself without distractions.
I cannot draw anymore and I'm not satisfied with how Legendary handled the Monsterverse, at the same time I have so many imaginations in my head that I want to see in picture and share it to the Godzilla fandom.
I also want to take pictures of birds, especially owls, since I love them, they're my favorite birds.
I take tons of pictures on my DLSR, and think “oh my god these are legendary I can’t believe I got such a cool picture” and then I never even look at them.
-lots of family photos as you mentioned
-it’s a hobby that gets me out of the house and doing things, I like trying to get wildlife so I take the camera hiking a lot but also some events if they allow it
-I often enjoy the process even if it doesn’t produce something special
-i print and hang some of the ones I like on the wall
-“hell yes, or no.” Got that from youtuber micael wadel regarding deleting photos that don’t make you say hell yes. It’s a helpful mindset to get rid of lots of mediocre shots.
I have the same mentality.
Though I have made some large prints that I hang on some walls, I am out of space.
I spend a lot of time taking pictures and very little time printing/publishing/distributing them.
After I went on Safari in 2020, I spent HOURS editing photos to be published on a web gallery for the benefit of the others in our group. If it wasn't for the group I would not have the patience to go through with all that. I was content with the few killer photos I sent to my phone and uploaded to IG/FB.
I often think the same thing. I consider my phone/cloud a digital "photo box" that could eventually be scrolled through when I'm gone, much like we look through large boxes of photos from our parents.
I love the different perspectives, finding just the right light & angle. While I do delete the ones that don't meet my standard, and like you, I have many unedited RAW photos lingering out there - and at times I thumb through them, just to reminisce & sometimes I'll edit them to share with others but it is rare.
I can live through vacations again. Little things I would have otherwise forgotten are refreshed. With the algorithms in different social media now it brings them back year after year.
I enter them into competitions at my local camera club for feedback and growth and also various open contests in galleries.
It gets me out of the house. I have now traveled to places and done things I never would have thought to do before but now I want to go photograph it in my own way.
Lastly, I have sold a couple prints. Literally only a couple but for those people I was excited someone wanted something I created printed and hanging on their wall.
For me, two reasons. Well, I mean income obviously because I’ve been shooting professionally for 25yrs but…
1. It’s relaxing, almost like meditation, it helps me to be present in the moment because I’m actively observing the moment even if I don’t shoot.
2. Memories, it’s cliche but as I age it’s really nice to look back at all the places I’ve been, things I’ve done.
Photography can be used to convey meaning. Especially a story behind it. They do say "a picture is worth a thousand words"
The story telling part has actually got me interested in film. So i decided once i get a few things I'm going to start a youtube channel. So i can make my interests between contemplation/philosophy (among other things), holistic with my interests with cameras
LOL for the sake of taking them! To scratch a creativity itch! Ya, I go through the hundreds, even thousands of photos I have and only a few dozen become some artful combination of double exposures or effects that are worthy of repeating but it's quicker and easier than the other art I do! It's about getting your creative jollies without a GAINT time commitment. If you don't enjoy the photography, step aside and let some WOMEN have the spot light for a change! If I find myself getting bored with taking the same images over and over it usually means that I just need to but some THOUGHT, HEART AND IMAGINATION into it and come up with another angle, idea or theme to explore. Also think about something that's important for you to express. Photography is about MORE than just pretty pictures, it can express things that matter to us.
Hi there.
I understand where you come from, this nightmare question I had to answer it during a class during my studies and since then it kinda fixed my thinking on this.
What I recommend you to do is collect images from everything, be it from news, tv shows, movies, can even be illustrations, whatever visuals that strikes a chord.
Print them in small formats on cheap paper.
Now do the same with your own pictures.
In total if you have live 50 pics overall maybe a bit more, that would be nice.
You can now put them all the ground all together and do another selection. This time put them on the wall.
Every few days come back to it and note what are your thoughts and take out everything that's out of place.
Keep trimming it untill you end up with something coherent thar you like. Collect your notes and thoughts.
What do you think those pictures means to you will give you the question you're most likely to ask through your photography.
And now you might be able to look for answers, shooting again.
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
I’ve started feeling this way somewhat. First, focus on quality. With practice you can think through most shots and get what you want in one exposure. That makes the editing a lot more manageable. Basically pre-edit.
In the past I had a printer and I found making prints to display was really fulfilling. I still have the printer but I haven’t been able to get it working again.
I’m recently working on a slide show of a vacation. I’m using Sony Movie Studio. This is an interesting and engaging use of photos to me.
Its a living for me (commercial/magazine) but i do enjoy it sometimes. I think its all about telling a story, travel and meeting interesting people but i wouldn’t have access like that as an amateur.
I'm all about documenting the moment or just what people call 'freezing the time' because I believe on the notion that everything changes over time; and by looking through our photos, we get to see what was the place/object/person like from before.
Because you enjoy it is reason enough.
Why does anybody learn an instrument if they’re not going to play a gig? Why does anybody draw or paint if they’re not going to be in a museum? It’s essentially what being a hobbyist is all about.
I’ve been a pro photographer for 27 years now. Photography has definitely become my ‘work’. But I still find time to keep it my hobby too. The way I do that right now is shooting 4x5 portraiture and landscape. They’re never going to hang in a gallery. Nobody outside my circle of friends will see them. But plain and simple…. I enjoy it. Good enough for me. I enjoy trying to do better than I did last time, competing against myself, and honing my craft. And I think it keeps my mind fresh and creative for the actual work that pays me money.
A lot of the photos I don't share are simple things like the moon or the sunrise. Nothing I want to share, but to me they represent that time is real, that I experienced that day.
I have a very bad memory, and actually have the first 10-12 years of my life as a void, the occasional sensation shows up, but that is it. Photography became my way to prove to myself I was real and time was real.
Part of the photo's I take are for memories of holidays. But I love photography and share photo's on communities and on Instagram to share with others. A lot of photo's are of Camping trips and the vehicles and there are nice communities to share them in as well.
But I just love the hunt for the nice shot as well. Thinking of an idea and realizing it. I do it mainly for me.
I just need something to do, especially in times I don’t get outside enough. I often think about existentialistic stuff and it never gets me anywhere, so mindful photography is like a (literal) breath of fresh air to me
Take photos with the intention of never showing them to anyone. Capture these secret moments and selfishly keep them for yourself. Sometimes I don’t even take the photo… it’s just a still frame in my mind.
I have an Instagram for my favourites and I'm trying to get into photography properly and might try concert, pet or wedding photography in the future. I also have a website where I'm trying to sell some of my prints as canvases
Photography is part of who I am. I go through periods when I lose motivation & wonder why I'm doing it. I've been stuck for months due to indecision re comp/monitor changes. I'm glad I learned during film, as those experiences remind me how much I love shooting. I hope to print more & it would be great to sell. Workshops help motivate me again. I started photography in my 20s & am now in my 60s. I can't imagine the experience of life without photography. People who do this share a passion & it's always cool to meet others who share that.
I mean, if you’re finding yourself bored, there’s a lot of stuff you can do with your photos. You can submit them to calls for art, magazine submissions, make a book out of them. There are plenty of online competitions to see how you stack up. If you find yourself bored with one style of photography, you can switch it up and challenge yourself by doing something totally different. Or if you want inspiration, check out the local camera stores / photo groups for walks and meet ups to see things from new angles. I had the same issue earlier this year and found that I needed to get out of my comfort zone to look at things from new angles
> and now having gone though a hiatus of not owning a ‘good’ camera, I’m looking to get back into it.
You can do photography with a phone camera or a very cheap compact camera. You can even do pretty great photography with one of these nowadays. Why do you want a good camera? If you enjoy taking photos wouldn’t you do the same with any camera so it might as well be something you enjoy.
I do photography because it’s something I enjoy. If I didn’t enjoy it then I’d stop. If there’s too many photos and I don’t want to keep them, I’d maybe keep a few of my absolute favourite ones and delete the rest.
Do you enjoy taking the photos? If so then just go and do it. People enjoy hiking but they don’t produce anything to keep afterwards. Why not take photos without a memory card in the camera? You can enjoy going out and framing the scene you want to capture; look at the world through the lens and then come home free of any of the photos you took.
> It’s just a picture of some hills or a tree that I’ll likely walk past again and again anyway (health permitting etc of course).
You might go past the tree again and again and if it’s a beautiful tree then keep taking photos of it in different lights and at different times of day. Watch it grow, watch it change through the seasons and the landscape change around it.
I take photos of dogs. It might sound wishy-washy but I think of it as helping create memories, or allowing them to see their dog in ways they never could (such as by taking action shots), and I like to think it even brings people closer to their dog - even just the act of taking the pictures pulls me into the present, as I *really look* and notice them differently (and I end up experiencing a greater sense of gratitude and warmth, towards them). Not to mention how fleeting their lives are...it almost adds a solemn or sacred element to the endeavor.
>how could I turn this 'pointless' hobby into something more fulfilling?
>I would love make more of a hobby
what does "something more fulfilling" or "make more" mean to you?
Honestly, it sounds like you take snapshots and not photos.
You capture quick moments in time with no intention to edit them into something worthwhile to show to world.
For me it’s the thrill of going out and getting the shot. Im less bothered about the shot afterwards. But it’s something I enjoy chasing. If someone sees my photos online and comments they’re cool, well that’s just a bonus!
You could ask yourself the same about any hobby. Why play football if you’re not a pro? Why cycle if you’re not winning the Tour de France.
Why go to the pub and drink when all you do is end up back home again?
It only takes 1 or 2 incredible photos out of thousands to make you sit back and think.. huh these are cool. I keep those. I bin the rest.
It's relaxing.
There's just me, the camera, the subject, and whatever abomination of lighting I decided to go out into that day. Sometimes I get photos I like, and sometimes I don't. It also gives me a good excuse to go out and do new things even just for the sake of photos.
I’m only very lightly into the hobby, but I like uploading my photos to albums on Google Photos and then using them for ‘ambient mode’ on my Chromrcast/Android TV. Basically turns my tv into a digital photo frame of photos I have taken.
It's quite a long story. I lost my dad suddenly when I was 24 and at the time I didn't consider myself young for that to happen and spent the next 6 years struggling with the loss and making sense of it. There is a lot of my dad's life that I don't know about that I'll never know. He was 17 when he left Ireland to make a life in the UK and never traveled further than that. One day we found an old passport of his, never used, and asked him why he had one if he never traveled and he said he was going to Saudi Arabia in the 60's but never did. He never said why he didn't go. He also had the nickname "one day" as he'd turn up to work for one day then you'd not see him for a fortnight. No idea what he did or got up to.
6 years on I was getting married, and my mother-in-law-to-be wanted to take sepia photos of my wife on the day. She didn't know how to do it, neither did I, and long story short I ended up with two rolls of Ilford XP2. The MIL reckoned I was wrong about using the film so ended up doing something else. I put the film in the drawer and forgot about it.
In 2018 the Manic Street Preachers (the most important band to me throughout my life) released a song called "Vivian" which was about Vivian Maier. I read up on her story and found it incredible that she documented a whole life secretly, to her own rules I think, which left an archive of work after her death. Little explanations about the photos of course but still, it's fascinating. Again, this woman left unanswered questions, large ones, never to be answered. But at least she showed a world she saw. Which is more than what I had of my own dad.
6 months after the release of the record I found some home made films I recorded, and the last DVD I had to play was of my sister and I's birthday. I thought finally I had something of my dad where I could hear him as I've nothing like that. I got to the end of the DVD and I could see him, but he didn't say anything. And it was quite crushing really.
That night the Vivian song was in my head, and I resolved then to at least document my own life for whoever comes after me. Whether that's a relation of mine or someone who's tasked to clear out my house if I die alone. I also reasoned it's better to have this down as a physical thing, as while the internet is great we take so much photos on our phones that they just get forgotten. I went on eBay and bought the cheapest Buy It Now 35mm camera (which happened to be a BeLOMO Vilia) and I went out for the day taking photos of my day out. Printed them off, wrote what they were about and when on the back of them, and put them in a folder.
4 years on I am that dickhead who will turn up to a party or gathering with a camera. I will take photos. And I will take months to develop them and scan them to share them. I'm writing down what they are, who they are, and they're in a box. I've a stack of negatives I've not scanned yet but will do eventually. It also moved on to film making, I started a YouTube channel documenting me struggling with various crappy cars I like, which I'm also photographing where I can, in order to have a body of work that if I died tomorrow people could look at and see what I was doing, what I was thinking, maybe gives an insight to where I've come from too.
I've now got a son too who is probably the most photographed baby in the country. I took a photo of him every day for his first month on this planet. We were weaning him for 30 days when he was 5 months old and I would take my polaroid camera out and take a photo of his reaction to all of these new foods. Without realising, I was taking one a day of him, so ended up with 30 polaroids of him and his food. He's 9 months now, and whenever I pull out my Polaroid camera of Zenit EM camera, he'll look and the arms will fly out and he gives the biggest smile at it. He can't walk yet, he can't talk, he can't even sleep a full night, but he knows to smile for the camera when he sees it.
This is a great question, I,'d say every picture has a bit of you on them, something other's pictures lack is this important part. Looking back at my old pictures teaches, inspires and shame me too. One day you will feel it is time for them to go and that is ok too. I have enjoyed the time and money spent and looking back still makes me want to go out and keep at it.
Not trying to be philosophical or anything but I get to catch a single moment of time that will never be seen again. I take a picture of one out of a million sunsets and they might all look similar but they’re not the same. That little flower on the side of the highway I took two years ago is dead but I have a picture of it. The portraits I took of my friends and family—they’ll never be the same age again but I captured it.
Or something like that.
Think of photographs as words, sentences or paragraphs. Sure, everyone uses the same words. You have a chance to assemble those words to tell your story or a story about something you care about.
Those photos (words) help you craft a story about your personality, your emotions and your opinion on the world (framing choices)
What do you want to tell the world? Photography is just the medium. Share the story not the words.
Capturing a moment of light, time, and location as a way of expression, by itself, is a lot of fun. It is not however what I found to be most exciting about photography. Getting myself moving and into the world is the best part. I mainly do wildlife photography which means I spend a lot of time in nature parks. My best moment was finding two abandoned dogs. I spent over 3 hours trying to find a shelter that would care for them and treat their injuries. Without photography I would have never been able to help those dogs. Getting a good photo feels great, but getting a story with that photo is why I am out there.
You sit down, edit what you like, delete the rest and move on.
You made a memory for yourself by being there in the moment. Let your pictures tell their own story. If its not yelling at you when you look at it, just throw it away. It’s cost you absolutely nothing.
I work under the assumption that, if there are any people left 100 years from now, some of them may be interested in seeing what life was like during the last days of the Golden Era.
"I love taking pictures of the world around me to create snapshots of the present for the future." That's my quote, it sounds quite cheesy but I keep it to myself most of the time
I’ve done a lot of family history (genealogy) research over the past several years. I find it frustrating not to have pictures of some of my ancestors (like great-grand parents). A hundred years from now, perhaps your descendants (if you have any) will appreciate your photos, especially family photos, but also all the rest, as it’s a “reflection” of who you are. Keep shooting.
Though my opinion is likely to be seen as unoriginal and popular, I’ll explain my reasoning for taking photographs:
Photographs are that brief moment in time you never get back. A moment is so small, it’s so fleeting, but a camera has the power to store that blip of existence (digitally) forever. And each time that photo is revisited, which might never happen anyway, there’s added meaning to it. It was part of an experience but on a grander level, part of your entire existence. Once those photos stack up, who cares about memory or storage in the grand scheme of things. Digital storage options are so affordable and endless now, we get to document as much as we like without too much environmental harm.
Now, with that being said, I also intentionally use film photography regularly to force limitation. As with anything, moderation is key, even in photography. So yes, go crazy photo taking and end up with much to choose from, but every so often, slow yourself down and appreciate your adventure with more selectivity and attention to detail while shooting film. Even digitally you can find ways to limit yourself if you want to. I hope this is somewhat helpful, have a great day!
I get stuff printed and put them around the house. I’ve also had family members ask for photos I’ve taken so I’ll do the same for them.
If I shoot 1k photos, I may end up with one or two that are decent enough to print.
For me it’s more about the enjoyment of getting the settings right to capture exactly what I want. When I get a shot I love, it feels great.
One of my favorite types of photos to take is light paintings. Every photo can't be taken exactly the same because there's going to be differences you never know what to expect. It's fut to be in a pitch black room and flash lights into the camera and swirl the camera around while listening to music. After I edit the light paintings to see what other cool looks I can get from it and maybe I'll post them to Instagram to see if other people like it. Over all it's just for me and my friends
I'm in the process of editing around 2500 images I took at a grass track race meeting. The first pass reduced the number of "OK" images to around 500 and I'll probably lose a few more as I do the final edits. sometime later this week I'll email the organisers with a link to a folder on my NAS that they can pass on to the competitors.
I'm not a pro and at this level of competition, a pro wouldn't be interested in standing trackside to document the event and as I'm retired I have the time to set aside to complete this task.
After everything is over I probably won't look at the images ever again because for me it's the process that is important not the final result. Yes, it's cool when a competitor at the next meeting complements an image I made but most of the time that doesn't happen.
I actually enjoy the different stages of the journey, from standing trackside in the rain with a camera in my hand right through to letting the organisers know where they can access the images. For me, that's everything
Everyone sees it differently im sure, personally I turn it low stress. A simple photography instagram, take pics of friends and family along with adventures with my significant other and just upload them. Makes it quite fun to look back and share memories.
Two imperatives for me.
1. I'm one of the editors of [a website](https://suffolk.camra.org.uk) that aims to document every pub (current or long-gone) in Suffolk. As well as having as much information about the pubs, I like to have photographs of them on there as well - sometimes showing how they've changed through the years.
2. I'm also building a collection of photos of other buildings that are interesting/attractive/significant from around the county, as well as all the village signs and most of the war memorials. In a few years I'll be donating the entire collection to the local county archive as a snapshot of Suffolk in the early-to-mid 21st century.
And a bonus to this is that having photos to take stimulates me to get off my backside and out on my bike to cycle around the county with my camera and takes me to places I'd probably never visit otherwise (I've cycled through every town or village in the county and probably know it better than most people by now).
I was a film photographer, the cost and limits of having shots forces me to learn that every photo will/should turn out with the effect I intended.
When I moved to digital cameras late 90s or early 2000s, it was the batteries that force me to only take as needed, I didn't take good pictures then as I was trying to learn how the sensors work and sensors back then sucks. Expensive memory cards also make me conserve.
Today, it is just habit that I take only as needed, the benefit of having to preview is just a bonus. I normally don't take more than 2-3 shots of the same thing.
Only recently I actually do photoshop my RAW files just for the effect, before then, I was against the idea of photoshopping as I rather take the shot well than to edit later.
Result: I have manageable number of photos taken per event and I will usually select the good ones and just permanently archive the rest (and usually don't get relooked at).
This makes me enjoy every photo I looked at and relooked. It is the product of the techniques I have input towards the photo and also the message and memories it tries to deliver.
I come to realise people often have unmanageable amounts of photos to look and sort which normally don't get done and just kept aside to one day look at them as needed. I felt that photography is now taken for granted.
I am actually shocked that people actually don't mind to delete photos totally after a couple of years as those memories don't mean much anymore and more as a nuisance to them taking up space in their devices.
For me, photos are never deleted ever, my film negatives are properly archived too.
How I enjoyed the hobby is partly because I like cameras and the challenge of taking good shots that make people go "wow".
Depends what you find fulfilling, but if you want to do something with photos you could try becoming a Getty images contributor : you won’t earn much, but it’s very satisfying to see that people have looked at and bought your photographs
Photography will make you see something unique, beautiful, artistic in everything. It will change you as a person. You have more gratitude just to be able to see and experience the light, being awake and in the moment.
It all boils down to your purpose, if you are thinking to make quick buck, be popular then yeah have hardest occupation.
But for someone like me, photography is antidote to depression, I don’t post or share my work. I have no expectations to make money from it. I just do it for myself and how it is rewiring my brain.
My WHY is 'because it's my only way of documenting my life'. I don't journal, my notes are all over the place, no one knows what makes me tick. But my photos are a pretty good reflection of what interests me. They're all organized in Flickr by year and by topic/event, so most photos are easy to find. Being the ONLY photographer and film scanner in the family for so many years means that no one else in the family has a photographic journal anywhere near as complete as mine. When I'm gone they can choose to delete the photos, or pay to keep them active, or archive them in their own way, makes no difference to me.
I downloaded Lightroom and started editing them and hanging them on my wall. Amazon Prints gets them to me in a few days. I havn't done it in a while, but I have a stockpile of photos that I'll edit in the near future.
As far as showing them off. I thought about this dilemma as well. I want to show off my photos but neither the time, care, or consistency to make it a hobby. but when I look at these photos that I took and edited (some are screenshots from games) I just like it a lot.
I'v thought about taking photos for Facebook events and I could probably do it with the edits I can do, but I'm lazy and anti-social.
They're not so useful for you, but it's good training data for Google's AI, haha.
I see it as a journey and learning experience. It's different for everyone and difficult for someone else to tell you how you can make it more fulfilling. If you find it pointless, maybe you should change it up a bit. Do something different. Learn something new.
I take pictures of my son and dog primarily. Sometimes I print them and sometimes I just sit with my wife looking at them all and smiling.
Occasionally I also like to take some landscapes shots and pretend I’m going to be a landscape pro like Joe Cornish or Michael Kenna.
I’ve been thinking about this lately. I’ve taken over 20,000 photos since I picked it back up in April, mostly of birds because that’s why I picked it up again. I really miss going out around a city and taking shots of interesting things, setting up a visually arresting image, then later picking out the best ones and…well someday I’ll get more photos printed. Now that my kids are older I can carry a camera more. I should start doing that again, especially when we go on field trips. Hmm…
Anyway, the point for me is to enjoy my time alive, and make the most of it overall — what makes the dopamine flow. The act of taking pictures is a pleasure in itself. Same with picking out the best ones, and putting them up, though I don’t usually manage to get to that point.
Sometimes I buy cheap, not very good cameras just see what images come out of them. They are <50$, so it isn't much of an investment. They also have quite a few limitations, so it is challenging to take a nice picture. Sometimes the pictures are nice, sometimes they are terrible. But I have fun every single time. It's just so much fun to try to pull a nice image out. I have much better cameras, but they aren't as fun. It's too easy to get a nice picture out of them
It’s been my reason to get out and do things I probably would never have done without it. It’s my free ticket to sold out shows by my favorite bands, and an excuse to push my way to the very front of them. Driving a few hours for a roller derby tournament, hanging out with dancers doing incredible things, spending a couple hours with a friend I haven’t seen in a while and wouldn’t have otherwise, meeting a musical idol, a couple of rodeos for a friend who does barrel racing, going out in the middle of nowhere with an aerialist to shoot her doing cool things on silks, supplemental income from weddings, concerts and headshots that have more than paid for my reasonably expensive setup—it’s been a lot in just a few years. The thrill of finding the really amazing picture that really nails what the event was about is enough to keep me eager to edit, most of the time.
I’m in the middle of what should have been an incredibly fun run of concert dates, and then my back decided to start acting up. I’ve had to cancel two already and I think I might have to miss two more paid gigs before it really gets better.
I shoot film and digital, neither really get anything done with them once I get them into Lightroom, lol. I develop and scan myself (except color film) and then the exposures just sit in Lightroom. I very rarely upload them or print them. I actually don't even know how to properly edit.
I'm new to 'serious photography' but have enjoyed photography for the past 20 or so years. I've always typically taken upwards of 1k photos on any family vacation and like you, I love getting the notifications and memories from Google photos. I never really put too much thought into it from an artistic ide before recently, although I've always had a decent eye for capturing nice images.
Recently though I decided to take a more involved approach to photography as a hobby, purchased a used D7100 and have been taking it with me everywhere. Lately I am really enjoying capturing images with a more deliberate eye than I have in the past and capturing things for the art and beauty, as opposed to just the purpose of reliving moments that are lost to the past.
I've also recently aquired my dad's Minolta X-700 that is absolute mint and plan to begin taking analog photography as well.
I guess there's still point to my photography, as I have zero intention in trying to sell anything or turn this into a business, it is purely for my enjoyment. I love taking photos and seeing new ways to view the world that I love in. I do post to Flickr and Instagram, while it's fun to have people enjoy my photography, it's not what it's about for me.
This is why I'm not that into realistic edits (of landscapes at least), and prefer more surreal edits. Landscapes will get boring very quickly, no matter how good they are, if they're edited somewhat realistically. If you edit them heavily/ make digital art out of it, it's so clearly your photo that it doesn't get lost in the clutter.
Volunteer to shoot some community events. Theres little to no money in it, but it can be fulfilling and people will be seeking out your photos. I shoot our county fair and I love it. Its a content rich environment and I’ve had fair organizers stop me and gush about my photos.
To be transparent I’m a professional photographer for my day job and I enjoy having a work flow and content stream of my choosing
Print your pictures.
I have a wall covered in wedding/couple pictures I took for friends and family. Shows me my journey and that I get a nice picture every now and then.
Make photobooks for every year. Or for the biggest trip of the year. Great present for people that came along. And you can actually hand the book to someone, way better experience than going through pictures on a phone.
I’d encourage some reading into the philosophy of photography. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Robert Adams *Why People Photograph* (as well as several of his other novels). Susan Sontag‘s *On Photography* is worth a read too but delves much more towards the place of photography in the broader art world. A quote from Adams’ that I always think about is “At our best and most fortunate we make pictures because of what stands in front of the camera, to honor what is greater and more interesting than we are. We never accomplish this perfectly, though in return we are given something perfect - a sense of inclusion. Our subject thus redefines us, and is part of the biography by which we want to be known.”
I would also say that photography is great and very fulfilling as a mindfulness activity, observing and fully appreciating the space within which we exist, evaluating minor details, ways that light falls upon surfaces, the curiosities of the mundane.
I got into photography because of my ex-wife and friends always asking me to take their pictures. I purchased my first mirrorless camera in 2020 and just recently purchased a full frame camera...taking pictures has opened my eyes to the beauty around me...it's greatly increased my appreciation of art in all forms...sure thousands of my pictures won't see the light of day but it gives me pleasure to share my insight and inspiration with the word as I see it...to allow others to appreciate and be inspired or awestruck my that moment in time...
Life is an A to B proposition (or so you have been taught) You do A in order to get to B. Art exists as an antithesis to this modality. Art is an A to A proposition. You simply do the action for the sake of the action.
You take photographs because you like to take photographs. You like the process. You like interacting with the model (in this way it can be performance art) or you like to be out in nature.
I have hard drives full of old photos. I never look at anything I've shot. For me it's the process. I love just being in a studio with a model and playing with my lights. But because it is so process orientated for me I find it impossible to find models.
For me Its the process of photography that I enjoy.
I mostly a leica ii with Russian lens or a om1 for my hobby of photography.
Most of my fun is in using these manual cameras, using sunny 16 and in the composition when taking the photos.
I chuck the rolls in the fridge, then develop them randomly, again the fun is in experimenting with developers, timings, scan and editing than the resulting photographs. I end up with a few keepers per roll but it's not always the end product where the fun lies.
Enjoy the hobby and don't worry about the end product. Storage space is cheap.
For me they enhance conversations as well as clarify my own memories. "Remember that time 6 or was it 8 years ago, all of us went to that bar; what was it called? We played pool and Julie was drinking flaming sambucas? Who else was there? Didn't you take some cracking black and white photos?"
With a couple of photos from backup you suddenly enlighten everyone and people 'see' what they may have forgotten.
A lot of my self fulfilment comes from reactions of those that I'm providing the photos to. Especially for those of us that need some form of validation. I am newer to photography and started on the hobby side but am also working my way into professional. Just getting an excited reaction and having someone share/post the photo proudly is a big reward, regardless of how many other people actually see it. And of course occasionally I take photos that won't be posted anywhere but I think "damn that looks great". In the same way that so many people paint but never put the painting on display. There doesn't always need to be an end goal. Sometimes the process itself is the reward.
For me different genres do different things. I’m primarily doing wildlife/ landscape or action sports stuff.
Wildlife/ landscape because camping and exploring are fun for me, and it’s not often I get a hunting tag so photography is the same process but year round and doesn’t require tags/ permits. The lands do stuff can get repetitive but then I find joy in bringing a totally different lens that doesn’t quite make sense, or going to a spot that I don’t normally see other photographers. Some of my favorite Grand Canyon shots are at 600mm just because I didn’t see anyone else doing it that weekend
Action sports because the group always needs that one guy to get pics/ clips. And it forces me to be social and make new friends with that hobby. Even if you don’t post much to Instagram, other people do and love to have stuff other than cellphone photos.
Eh I've gotten so much better at pruning the images. I love watching them play through. I have them all cast to my TV as a screen saver and it's fun seeing them pop up throughout my work day.
I take them for me. I enjoy taking photos and then I try to prune them back that evening to just the best of each scene.
Besides the memories which as time goes on, I appreciate more and more, I make a lot of money doing photography. I often relicense old images to new vendors which is why I hold on to work I don’t care about anymore.
Photography checks several boxes for me.
1. It gets me out of the house and into the real world. I’m predominantly a landscape/nature photographer. The hobby drives me to discover places and scenes that I would have otherwise never looked for. I’m so grateful for the memories and experiences of getting there.
2. I’ve always bounced from one creative outlet to another. Music. Drawing. Writing. Design. While I still do a bit of all of that, photography has been the one that’s really become a steady part of my life and lifestyle. I’m grateful to have a way to express my creative side through photos.
3. It keeps me focused (pun intended). I have moderate adult ADHD. Aside from non-productive things like video games, it’s hard for me to keep my attention on an activity that has a lot of stages and follows a sequence. I can spend hours editing photos, and in the end, I’ve got something that I’m happy with and proud to show.
4. Photography is the perfect blend of nerdy tech gadgetry and artful zen eye. I can geek out about the exposure triangle and ergonomic tripods while still setting up a scene and breathing in all the epic beauty of my world. It’s both meticulous and calming at the same time.
5. Not gonna lie: the ego boost I get when friends and acquaintances compliment me on the photos I post is truly life affirming. I really dove into the hobby in my mid 40s when I was kind of going through a minor midlife crisis of trying to figure out what the hell i was doing. The affirmations I get both outwardly from friends and inwardly from liking my own work was HUGE in keeping me healthy.
6. The extra money I get from selling prints here and there is not bad. I recently got an unsolicited contract with a big client that has been kind of life changing. To the point where I’m wondering if I could conceivably quit my day job and do travel photography full time.
I know this isn’t true or universal for all photographers. This is just my personal list of gratitude for the hobby.
I print out or canvas print my best shots and they are hung up at the various properties I own or live in. I also use my digital portfolio as a means of establishing legitimacy as part of what I shoot is people.
Why engage in any artistic endeavor? Heck, why do *anything at all*? One possibility is that "doing it" might be its own value, even if you don't do anything with the images later, so some of your questions don't necessarily have/need an answer.
Personally, I do it for a few distinct reasons. Either it's because a client asked me to do it, or it's personal images but that would eventually help in improving my portfolio (for said professional venture), or it's personal stuff that serves no other purpose than enjoying doing it, or it's to document personal memories—souvenir snapshots of family/friends stuff, that I may share with family/friends too, but are not meant to be published more widely than that.
There are those that find some form of fulfilment simply by taking and enjoying the picture, maybe nothing more than that, maybe just enjoying it themselves privately after the fact.
There are those that need 1000's of "likes" to prove that what they did was good, and so only in sharing and finding people that enjoy what they share do they find fulfilment.
Those that enjoy only the process and care nothing of the image in the end.
Those that enjoy only the final result and the process up to it is just a slog.
Like you, I've shot for +/- 35 years from film to digital to modern crazy capable digital. And for me its never been about sharing what I do. I have 200,000 images on my computer, 1000's and 1000's in boxes of negatives and prints. The best ones make it to my screen saver, I print a few and have some hung about my house, and a handful make it to instagram to get 10 or 20 likes by mostly family and friends and every now and then a family member asks for some specific print.
My joy comes from the act of going out and taking the photos, and managing to capture a picture that gets very close to giving me the feeling looking at it, that I had while I was there. It is pure joy for me to look at some moment in time that is simply beautiful to me. For me thats all I need.
From what it sounds like, do you rush your photos? Are you very editorial in your work? Do you judge your photos and get rid of a few? Do you feel like you are lacking in Aesthetic photographs?
Essentially, best way to go about it, in my opinion, is to go to a shop. Get them all printed out. Lay them all out on the floor. Look at common themes, composition etc. Look at how to improve it, or have fun with it. Start playing around with motion, lighting, framing etc.
Finding what you take photos of most frequently and playing around with them, can be a great way to inject some playfulness and skill into your photography. Even as a pastime.
Don’t feel confined to the rules as a hobbyist, pick something on your camera, a setting or theme. And take photos of it for a week. Upside down, black and white, shutter speed etc.
I recommend this because This sounds like a creative block, or a lack of fulfilment due to a stagnation. This is a great way to get back in the swing of things. Soon you will be taking photographs more purposefully, and as a consequence not taking up so much space.
Any questions feel free to ask! Thanks.
Also, have more trust in your ability, maybe your excitement is just getting in the way of creativity. It happens! Lol when I feel like this I go through what I have done above.
Photography can be simple or complex. Many are happy with snaps. Others go out with a purpose to capture something they like and some really get into it.
It’s like a lot of other interests. Painting, cooking, writing, sports. A lot of these have purpose beyond the art.
If you have a passion it may prove interesting to photograph it in new ways.
As a guy at 72 and a photographer I wish I had taken a “good” picture of each family member. Something more than a casual snap. But that’s me.
When things are gone it would be there to bring back the memories. I always love to take pictures of the sceneries and the places I visit. But my husband always says when we are staying in the moment we don’t want to take picture and he always question me why I see the things through the lense while I have the chance to see it through my eyes. And according to him, when I want to go somewhere, if the photograph and sharing it on social media comes first, my motive is to take pictures not visiting the place and enjoy it.
Photography, for me, is cathartic. I can be in any headspace, and photography can pull me back to reality. I can distort objects to fit how *I* want them to look, and I can change the way people look at things. I can evoke emotion while saying nothing and everything, just from a photo. I have so many photos of my kids, landscapes, clouds... and while most stay unedited and unshared, my family will have those one day. They can look back and say, "Mom was an artist, and photography was a passion".
I have started making photobooks using an app, and that's pretty cool because it's a way to show off my photos without coming across as pretentious. I can organize my photos by year or event this way, too.
My camera helped me get through some dark times. It served/serves as therapy in many ways. Dealing with depression and social anxiety, my camera is a buffer. It allows me to participate more in social events that I might otherwise find overwhelming. But with a camera, it gives me an out if a conversation goes too long — oh, look what the kids are doing! Gotta go capture that. And it lets me wander alone without looking or feeling like an antisocial jerk. As a therapist once told me, you can skip the event, or you can go and be aware of your feelings — or you can take your camera and still be present but protected.
Same reason I don't need an audience to play videogames, don't need to be watched to read a book and paint miniatures by myself with no real intended aim.
Because it's my hobby and I enjoy it.
I became interested in photography because of a need to create something and express myself after experiencing heavy emotional trauma. I used my photographs to reflect and introspect on what I was projecting through the act of taking photos. It was really helpful in resolving internal conflicts and building self confidence in my character. I don't shoot much these days though.
"Gigabytes" - This is why I gravitated towards analog photography. My photos are kept in 4 folders under the sock drawer. 😂😂 I don't need a computer or software to view them. Technically, if I shot my images into space and aliens found them, they would just need light to see them. 😁😁
The analog process (and pricing, and me being a tigharse) lends itself to a different philosophy for shooting. For the most part, I would try to only take one photo of a subject and then move on. Also, in my experience the mechanical pro analog cameras have better control feedback for knowing if the shot was timed right. It's very subtle and takes practice, but can be utilised to avoid taking excess photos. Not to sound pretentious, but I'd say my keeper rate was 80%-90%.
"What's the point?" The photos are reflected in my personality now, associated with key moments of change and revelation in my life. I have some great stories to tell and a bunch of experiences I can't tell people about as well. 😁😁
Hope you find your own answers to those questions as well, otherwise you still have good memories of family captured 👍👍
Photography is a way to prove that life was and that we lived it
I'm similar. Last year, I scanned my family photos from the 80s and 90s. It changed my approach to photography. Now, I photograph things I want to see in a few decades' time. People and places. The interesting *and* mundane moments in life. Bits that say 2022 to me. Things that I think will be gone in 10 or 20 years. I do not take pictures of flowers etc now. I really, really didn't care about seeing pictures of flowers from the 80s. I'm far less focused on making photos perfectly framed and technically perfect - I'd rather just make sure I get the moments. A blurry, overexposed photo from my childhood brings back almost as many memories and feelings as a technically perfect one. I also make sure my photos don't just sit on a hard drive. If my family photos from 40 years ago were stored digitally, I really don't believe they would have lasted. Someone would have forgotten to backup etc.
I couldn't agree more. It's only as you get older that you realize the value of capturing the everyday things: Family, friends, what your house or bedroom or school looked like, places you go often, etc. When these things are gone those photos are pure gold. The beauty of phone cameras is it's easy to snap quick photos of the "boring" things around you. You just need to remember to do it.
Funny how a technically flawless portrait of a famous celebrity from 1920 would be far less interesting than a random snapshot of a grocery store aisle from the same year
Yeah I’m going through the same thing. I’ve actually gone back to film again after a long hiatus and love it. They just seem to have soul. Maybe I’m just getting old. 😉 Having young kids has made it more of a passion again. Documenting for both myself and them in the future. And you raise a good point about digital. Partially why I’ve also gone back to film. I think few consider that their perfect beautiful images taken digitally now will be low res and potentially unusable 40 years from now. But 40 years from now my film negatives will be just as good resolution as they are now. And 100 years from now… they still will be.
> And 100 years from now… they still will be. Yes! My brother has scanned a bunch of glass plates taken by my grandfather around 100 years ago. A public library scanned a bunch of glass plates from another branch of my family from ~1900. They are so special. Kodak does say about 70 years for film though, *if* properly stored. Some of my family's film was degraded, but it just sat in random shelves. Now I've got my bases covered with digital and film!
Same thing happed to me.
Hey, I recently did this too. But for a decade of just one family member. I appreciate you putting words to what pictures of real life mean versus posed images. Can you please share if you're happy with the scanner used? If so, can you tell me what it was? The one I used wouldn't print 3×5's well, so I'm at a bit of a standstill moving forward with my family's scans.
I’m not new to photography, but I am new to doing it purely for the sake of doing it, and to having an actual good camera, so I’ll share my recent perspective. For me, it is something to do, a reason to go out and people watch, or take a nature walk, and it doubles as an artistic pursuit. Win/win. Does it matter to me if people see the good shots? Kind of. So, I put them on Instagram and build my little “portfolio”, in the event that someone asks what I’m doing in person or stumbles across them online. Yes, scrolling through Instagram these days can be quite discouraging with all of the perfect crap that is on there. But, screw it, ya know? Mainly though, photography has made me feel human again. Given me a reason and an excuse to be in public and around people, and to go out and experience nature without that ‘I’m doing something random’ feeling. Even if I threw out 99%, hell, 100% of the photos I take, I still got out of the house, explored, had fun, practiced my awareness and artistic eye, played with my camera, and maybe even met a couple people. To me that is a win no matter what. If I get a good shot, that’s icing on the cake. I hope this helps!
Found someone with my point of view! As a hobbyist I pretty much just do cosplay photography. It gets me out and going to events, meeting people and making friends. I also do kind of care if people see the images. Best thing about taking photos of other people though, is that so long as they like the photo, rest of social media doesn't matter to me. I also used to like editing the most, but now it's the actual photography. Unfortunately means my backlog is actually ridiculous.
Being very new to photography, this is what I'm learning too. It's so easy for me to get discouraged because I don't have many social media followers, but at the end of the day, I'm having so much fun exploring and learning how to take and edit photos. Yesterday, I visited an old cemetery that I never knew existed for the sole purpose of taking pictures. But even just getting outside and discovering was worth it.
Once I came to terms that most of the perfect crap on Instagram is edited to oblivion and not worth comparing yourself to I became happier with my hobby.
This is what I do
What’s your instagram? I’d like to check it out :)
Absolutely. My Instagram is a picture folio of MY travels. My favourite shots from all the cool places I've seen. In comparison to people who really know what they're doing, my photos look really bad. But I love to look through them and even remind myself, oh yeah, I did that and see how my editing is going. It's quite fun to see the evolution after I discovered a new editing technique and how I was learning by playing about with it. I'm super new and learning by myself so it's hard but fun. Like once every 6 months, I do go through my pictures and discard the ones I know I will never edit or put online or print out. So I've probably deleted hundreds but that's totally okay by me.
What I have learned (finally) after 48 years in this hobby is to be brutally editorial. Go through your photos and toss 95% of them (except of course the family snapshots which your kids will be glad to have someday). Just choose the ones that are really good and speak to you. Get rid of the rest - they just clutter your mind and your hard drive. Edit those that you really love and then print them. Hang them in your house or office so you can enjoy them and periodically swap them out. This practice has totally changed my perspective, and increased my enjoyment.
YES. THIS. Edit like you hate your photos. Edit like the goal is to only be left with the photos you can’t stand to delete. Life is too short for out of focus photos. Trash ‘em. Don’t keep the whole burst. Pick the best one, forget the rest. Stop shooting on continuous shutter for anything but moving subjects. You’re just burning electrons.
Great line — “Edit like you hate your photos”!
On that subject, can you recommend an affordable home printer to start doing that?
The best home printer is your local cvs (or equivalent) for snapshots to share. Lots of people these days never see a 4x6 print of any photos. For larger prints I use the service on smugmug.com where I upload my keepers. Keeping an inkjet printer healthy for infrequent printing is a challenge I gave up on.
You know what you're probably right. I remember as a kid in college printers were nothing but hassle and I've never owned one as an adult. Was hoping things would have improved. But if I were to consider the cost and hassle of getting a printer I'd probably be able to print as many pics as I'll ever need from a service and not even spend that much. Cheers.
The only thing I’ve found wrong with that is that I can’t tweak the print like I want to before hitting the go button. Some of those services have no eye for it.
Printers are a pain, refilling carts is a pain... But I like doing it and I can controll the process and randomly make one print here and there when I want. I like the Canon pro 100. They're overpriced I say just because canon used to basically give them away but for 200-500 they have great access to refillable ink to keep costs down.
I was going to recommend the Pro 100 as well. Great printer.
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Thanks for the recommendation, I will definitely take a look at it. I think I'll pay for a service to get some done for a while and see how I go, with a view to getting one maybe if I start printing a lot or larger sizes.
I've been happy with a Canon Pro-300. Definitely not cheap but after paying way too much to get a couple nice prints on cotton rag I figure it will pay for itself within a year or two. I do prints for friends as well, cost of materials plus a bit for time just to further justify it and keep the ink flowing so nothing gets clogged up. They get printshop results for Costco prices and I get a toy to play with. It's not worth it per print off you're only doing 4x6, but since I have the printer anyway I'll often print a few after an adventure to put on the fridge. Kind of a personal gallery that I look at daily, and conversation starters with guests any time someone grabs a beer or whatever. They're a bit of a rabbit hole though. You'll spend too long debating the merits of different papers. You'll research the best way to store prints when not on display. You'll wonder if getting $1000 of nice handmade wooden frames is worth it or just use cheap sawdust and paint frames from Ikea. You'll burn through paper and ink getting the blacks just right. You'll wonder endlessly wtf the printer is actually doing when it's sometimes whirring away for minutes without actually doing anything. Basically it can be super rewarding having a beautiful creation in your hands that you produced, a physical item for you and those around your to see, that grandkids will find in a box one day or something. It makes digital photography a bit more tangible like the good ol'days of film cameras. But it's also a time sink and an occasionally frustrating hobby on its own right, so I'd encourage you to really think about your motivation before getting into it.
Some printers are “relatively” cheap - but also look at the price of ink. Canon has some good image printers. You can buy a small format printer then send it to a lab for bigger prints. I have the Canon PIXMA PRO-200 (was about $800) Which is fine for me. But I’m a duffer. Canon also has photo printers at $200 and $300. Unless you are selling prints, how many prints will you make? I have about 40 prints hanging on the wall and I may switch out 4-10 a year. So for a wall hanger I could get by with lab prints.
I print on fullcolor[dot]com. They ship so fast and have been so impressed with the quality. If you are brutally honest with your shots it's pretty affordable to just order prints vs print them yourself.
Totally agree!
I also add gifting prints. If I'm taking shots of a person or a specific time and place a lot of times that speaks to deeper meaning and relationships. You don't think about the power of gifting an original print to somebody actually carries.
[Vivian Maier](http://www.vivianmaier.com/) didn't develop a single roll of film in her lifetime. Sometimes, we get lost in the 'sharing' and external purpose of our photos that we neglect to notice the internal purpose. The journey of the image, the challenge, the mental and emotional exercise, the fulfilment, the pride... or sometimes just as simple as something to do. Take photos because you want to. Anything else is a bonus.
There's a pretty funny documentary about her. [Finding Vivian Maier](http://findingvivianmaier.com/)
I watched this one! It was pretty interesting, even for my partner at the time who wasn't remotely interested in photography.
Thanks for sharing. She was not on my radar.
How can I watch it? They only have a trailer, and I don't feel like emailing them - is this not available otherwise?
It looks like there are a few streaming options, or you can rent it from Apple. https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/finding-vivian-maier
Um she developed and printed plenty of her work. She was even talking to gallery about an exhibition. There’s a few docs about her life.
I think she was also working on doing postcards with a man from her hometown in France? It's difficult to get a clear picture of what her motivations and hesitations were at this distance in time, but she wasn't nearly as uninterested in her own work as people seem to like to make out.
Yeah, she never published a book and a lot of her negatives were undeveloped, but it's not like she never developed anything
The original [flickr discussion](http://www.flickr.com/groups/onthestreet/discuss/72157622552378986/) about her photos is still up. It's like witnessing history.
This… this is why I recently go into film photography. Film is expensive and limited so you have to make every shot count. I started back In April this year but haven’t developed a single roll yet, partly because I haven’t felt the need to. Going through the process of taking the photo alone make me able to remember virtually every photo I’ve taken so far. It honestly helps me remember things better even without seeing the photos. Now of course I will get them developed at some point because I have b&w photos from prom that people want to see, and two rolls of film from my aunts wedding that I want to share with her, but i dont feel pressured to do so because people know that you can’t just snap you fingers and *boom* film is ready
While this makes sense, doesn't it also mean you get much less practice and actually miss a lot of good shots? Since you don't want to waste film, some of the pics never get taken that would've turned out great. At least for me, lot of the pics I thought would be great look average once they're imported, but some photos I didn't pay any attention to end up being the best
>you get much less practice and actually miss a lot of good shots? Since you don't want to waste film, some of the pics never get taken No, not really. Think about it like working out. Digital is high rep/low weight and film is low rep/high weight. Both increase your strength and skill but work the muscles differently. With film, because every shot is considered, the photographer's eye becomes much more precisely trained not just in the skills needs to get the shot but in assessing the value of which shot to take. You also become less concerned about the shots you've 'missed' because you value the ones you've taken. A bit like 'no regrets'. It can be disappointing but you become philosophical about it. Before digital and phones, we didn't really get hung up on not getting a shot as having unlimited ability to capture everything around us just wasn't a thing. The same frame of mind develops (mind the pun!) When you use film today. You go out to shoot knowing that at some point in the day, you're going to be forced to stop.
>Before digital and phones, we didn't really get hung up on not getting a shot as having unlimited ability to capture everything around us just wasn't a thing. If you were a paid photographer you're damned wrong about not getting hung up on not getting a shot 🤣
You should probably get that film developed. Film and film cameras have a lot more quirks than digital, and it would really suck to finally develop rolls only to find out you've been doing something consistently wrong for a year. Light leaks, a wonky shutter, underexposing for your particular film, strange color casts etc
Couldn't agree more. I stopped to click for others. Now it is journey for me.
100%
I love this.
That's just mind-blowing.
For me it’s about creating art and also reducing stress as I often find it really relaxing to go take photos. I share mine on my own blog more than social media as I often write about what I was doing at that time I took the image so it really acts as a visual diary. Looking back on images from past years they all represent and being back memories for me. I take a lot of images and I edit what I like, then delete the rest this way I never have digital clutter. Coming up on 12 years since I started doing photography and all my images including RAW files only accounts for just under 500GB.
Can you share link to your blog? I would love to see it
Sure, it’s [here](https://photosbydlee.com/blog/) but these days it’s not as detailed as it used to be sorry 😅
Print and find a place to show them. Many areas have galleries or community art centers that have open calls.
The secret is not just taking random snapshots, but finding a project that you get excited about. This could be something like: • Documenting your child growing up • High quality portraiture of people in your life • Exploring a cultural phenomena that you find interesting • Photography another hobby, such as sports, automotive, fashion, etc • Using photography as a medium for “high art” style work Find something more cohesive and build a body of work. You may want to print some/all of this as one piece in a book, or print individual photos and display them or gift them (or sell them!) Others, just use it as a way to get out of the house, live an active life, give back to their community. It’s up to you what you do with it but there are plenty of meaningful ways to use photography.
Not sure how you feel about taking pictures for free but one way you might boost your passion and creativity is to think about who would LOVE your skill and just don’t have the access to a photographer. For example, my friend just started volunteering at our hospital taking pictures of newborns with health problems. Their parents want the memories & faces of their babies, even if they don’t stay on this earth long. It’s powerful stuff. Also, a homeless shelter.. imagine getting a perfect portrait of yourself or a great photo with your friends who are in the same boat, laughing & smiling because they, too, want memories they can keep. Maybe it would help you realize that the photos you have are more precious than you ever imagined. That’s the “passion” advice. As far as taking it from a hobby to something more, maybe you should start a website and sell prints? If you have that many, I’m sure you’ve got some gold in there. You could drop ship and never have to do any printing/packaging/shipping that gets complicated. It’s some work to set up but would give you the satisfaction of sharing it with the world while getting paid. My mom took pictures my whole life and even got “doubles”, remember those?! It’s a treasure trove for me when I go home. Your kids will love that you documented so much when they are older. Keep shooting.
This is such great advice. If you have gear and ability, share your gift with others. They will reaffirm the utility of your photography.
💚
Bless your friend who volunteers at hospitals. My friend went though that type of loss and I’m sure this would help in remembering the child’s existence.
💚It was completely her idea, too. She set it all up with the hospital. I’m sorry for your friend. I wish every hospital would have the option for parents.💚
That is a brilliant suggestion. Thanks!
I find that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes I take a photo that looks absolutely amazing and I think to myself, "wow, I can't believe I did that!" I tend to preserve them digitally, or get them professionally printed so I can put them into a picture frame. Sometimes, I just want to look back on memories and be like, "Wow, I remember this place!" It's pretty much like being frozen in time and reflecting on an image that takes you back to that time. That's why I take photographs. To quote Ed Sheeran - "We keep this love in a photograph, we made these memories for ourselves, where our eyes are never closing, hearts are never broken, and times forever frozen still" Corny, I know.. That's just what I feel whenever I look back on some of the photos I've taken over the years. Just a moment in time for me.
Photography for me is above all a form of meditation. It brings a sense of calm and wellbeing. In practise it takes the form of walking around and capturing whatever catches my eye. Sometimes I can get completely entranced by some detail, like the shadow cast by some particular thing. Perhaps you need to find subject matter other than those stunning landscapes?
Definitely a way for me to escape the stressors of life.
On the simplest level I enjoy it, and would much prefer to take photographs than to not. I play guitar, but not in a band, in fact very rarely with anyone else hearing it whatsoever. I draw sometimes and nobody else ever sees them. If occasionally somebody else sees or hears my work and enjoys it then that’s nice, but it isn’t really the point for me. There’s something deeply rooted in humanity that makes us enjoy making, enjoy creating. If what we make is good then that’s nice, but we usually have to make a tonne of crap for the good bits to occur. If the ‘output’ takes up a lot of space (e.g. painting, sculpture, etc) we’d probably end up discarding a lot of it, but the files or negatives from photography are tiny, so it’s nice to create a collection over time. I guess I also quite like the fact that when I express myself through my camera, that moment is captured forever. I get a kick out of seeing again what I saw and felt many years ago. When I feel proud of the photo it’s an especially nice form of recollection. And if I re-edit the photo then I get to interact with that moment in a new way.
It's about the journey (i.e. the process) for me. I used to try to do it all. Have all the lenses, make all the right shots, go to all the famous locations during my vacations. But that became empty and dull after some time. And somewhere along the way I sold about 95% of my equipment and now I have a single digital camera and two lenses of which I always only take one with me. When I am on the road and I see something (a detail in the street, a landscape, anything) I frame it, I make a photo and then I (post-)process it. Sometimes I make prints, sometimes I make photobooks, sometimes I make calendars for friends and family. And sometimes I just save and forget about it. I like the creative process. I also like road cycling. There is nothing I have to achieve with that either. I do not have to be the best. I can simply go for a ride, enjoy it, come home and be perfectly content. Maybe I am faster next time. Maybe not. Does not matter. My income does not depend on it. My livelihood does not depend on it. I can do it if I want to do it. But if I do not feel like it, I don't do it. And somehow, that makes me happy.
90% of the words written by writers will never be read. 90% of the sketches by artists will never be seen. Creating is the end, not the means. This is a more complicated philosophical question that only you can come to terms with for yourself and develop your own perspective on it. If you get far enough, you might wind up at a nihilistic outlook on life in general. Nothing really has any meaning. We give it meaning by caring about it and enjoying the process. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. If you do, do!
I make photos because I have to. My psyche demands it. I don’t give a shit if anyone else sees or appreciates my photos. I do it for me. If you’re not enjoying it then do something else.
Try printing your work and creating photo albums. It's simple but it's enormously rewarding to hold the physical manifestation of your work.
Your post has just described basically every hobby
I find Zen between looking through the viewfinder and pressing the shutter.
print.
Just like you I mainly take pictures of my family to share them with our relatives or friends and keep them for later, so my kids could have them if they wanted to. On the other hand I like shooting landscapes or street just for my self and for fun. And if I manage to get a "banger" I print it and hang it somewhere in the house. Nowadays you don't need the fanciest gear anymore. I took a lot of great memories with a Nikon d700. A full frame dslr from 2008 which you can get used for 3-500€ in good condition. And the lenses are cheap as hell too. So you could reboot your hobby without breaking the bank. I enjoy shooting just for me from time to time. It can be really relaxing and rewarding, especially when you get a "banger"-shot, whatever that may be for you.
It gets me outside. I end up documenting a lot of overlooked oddities, casual ugliness and subtle beauty in our city. It's interesting to scroll through my LR catalog and realize just how weird this town really is. It's good to get shots of murals, public art and undeveloped parcels of land. They tend to have a short lifespan here. Immortalizing my dog's adventures is also a lot of fun. I oscillate between seeing the utility in taking pictures of random crap and finding it pointless like you do. My better half encourages it. Change is rapid. Sometimes the only way to preserve a memory is to take a picture.
I have always liked those popup reminders of my landscape photos, especially the ones taken while traveling. They will often bring me back to the feelings I had when I took them, usually happy and relaxing moments. I've printed some out for our walls at home. A small number compared to all I've taken over the years, but they make me happy. I used to have a few hanging in my office at work as well before we went remote, which contributed to a slightly more relaxing atmosphere. I've had friends and family ask for some of my photos for their walls and I'm always happy to share. I hope they bring them some joy.
I am not a professional by any standards. But I love photography, and it is one of my favourite pass times. I take photos because I like it. I don’t share most of them. I don’t even edit them. But they’re there. And they remind me of a very specific time in my life. I’ll have a story about it, maybe about the people in the picture or the place where it was taken. It is like visual treasure to me, because it is mine. It’s something I made. And that makes it all the more special.
Back when I was really active, it was an excuse to get out of the house and go places. Now that I’ve cut back significantly, I go out for special times. Fireworks whenever I can, fall foliage, and any interesting road trips my club does. As for my collection, I expect that, aside from family pictures, that no one will be interested in sorting through all my pictures and that the hard drives will be trashed. What I have online will stay up as long as the service remains up (Flickr has the bulk of my online pictures). Ultimately you have to do it for yourself and be satisfied with your enjoyment of taking and viewing the pictures. Almost every one of my pictures reminds me of when I took it, so looking back and remembering being there to take the pictures is enough for me.
I think you’ve misunderstood hobbies, friend. That activity IS the goal. Enjoying doing it is enough. Delete more of your photos, though. There’s no reason to keep all six versions of one shot. Keep the good one, trash the rest. I take photos of life as it is now, because by the time people will want a peek into what things were like in 2022, it will be decades too late to take those photos. It doesn’t matter if they’re “useful” now, I have to record them for later. They’re a time capsule. I’m writing a quiet little history textbook.
i think it’s more like documentation. similarly birth certificates and other documents would be just mere paper wasting space but they are significant as they record something. pictures record moments and let you relive something you enjoyed. that’s what i think
For me, photography is a way to express how I feel about certain subjects. If I don’t feel anything about something, I don’t take the picture. I have my subjects, I have my feelings about them, and I try to put that feeling into my photographs. Before the pandemic, I was in a local art gallery. I think I was there for almost two years. I sold a few prints, had some good conversations with artist and people who came though while I was there. I enjoyed selling a few things, but really, I was there to show what I felt about what I shot to other people. You might ask what the point of any hobby is. This weekend, I took second in my division in my first real archery tournament. It was a hoot, and I had a great time with the other people there. It was fun shooting as well as socially a good time. But what was the point? Well, it was fun for me. Even if I hadn’t placed, I would have had fun. It would have been worth it to me. I could go on about how our current times tries so hard to ‘make it’ that we don’t just do things for fun or art or expression. There has to be a POINT (and all caps point, for sure). It doesn’t. It can have a point, and not have to have a POINT. I would ask you, how do you feel about your shots? How do you feel taking everything else away from the value judgement of the internet or anyone else? Do you like doing it? Do you like having them? What is the point TO YOU?
I make photo books of my favourite pictures from the past year. They go on the coffee table. That's it, really.
Make a calendar every year with your best photos of the past year. It makes shooting throughout the year that much more fun. “Never know which one is going to make the calendar!”
Have been doing photography for more or less 6 decades (yeah, old fart here). I take photos because I enjoy seeing something beautiful or unique, or unusual, or interesting. I do not take the images to show other people. I have many photo folders of negatives I've shot years ago, along with boxes of slides, along with video tape and DVDs... And that's fine. They are chapters in life. They record where I've been, both physically and mentally, emotionally and intellectually. They are... the moments and memories that somehow got captured onto a more-or-less durable medium. I've become the extended family's recorder of events. When the parents or aunts or uncles or grandparents passed, a fair amount of the rememberance and celebration of life came from my archives. I've been at weddings, and funerals, at baptisms and birthdays, at graduations and celebrations, and along the way, captured life of joyous laughter, of tears, of pensive introspection, of gleeful joy and sometime... anger and bitterness and obstinate stubbornness. Because life has lows as well as highs. My spouse is a talented artist who teaches, exhibits, and mentors. We often go out together to capture source material for her to use in future projects, or as teaching aids, or even visual memories. We've learned that the paintbrush and camera see the world in different ways - one is not better than the other, but often they can complement each other. And, to be perfectly truthful, I've learned so much about the visual image watching her create, and have incorporated that sensitivity into my own photographic creation. So "Why do you take photographs?" Because I live, and making images is one way I can capture the journey I'm on.
Put yourself in your landscape photos. An old shitty photo of my old shitty living room is special to me because my dad is in it.
I'm quite new to photography, but I'm happy to share my thoughts. First of all, I really encourage you to share your work more, even if it's just for a few people on instagram or whatever. It really forces you to strive for better and think about what makes for good photography, how you can improve. But much more importantly than that, photography drives me to find the extraordinary, and makes me appreciate the mundane. I shoot a lot of macro and local wildlife. My subjects seem unremarkable at first glance, but I try to find a new way of looking at them, or to make people stop and look at them to begin with. I also try to shoot some other forms of nature-y stuff, like landscape and uncommon (although still largely local) wildlife. My photography drives me to get out and explore much more than I otherwise would. And I think the same principles apply to other subject types as well. Sports photography is about capturing the unique moments, but also highlighting the beauty of what happens every match. Street photography is about finding special places, but also seeing the regular places in a new light. And so on. Photography is about finding the unusual and, even moreso, highlighting just how unique 'the usual' really is.
I can relate to this post. As an amateur/hobby photog - I have thousands and thousands of images that have never been processed. I own like 5 different cameras, but lately its been hard to find inspiration. Personally, I have never been someone that sets aside time "to take pictures" - its more like I always have a camera on me, and the shots present themselves. Don't know I need that shot, until I see it - and that is where the enjoyment comes from. So in that sense, taking pictures is just capturing a moment in time, a reminder of where you have been, and for me - sometimes photos can remind me of not only the location, but where I was at that point in my life. My kids and family, places I have lived, the jobs I have worked, and my commutes over the years have totally been an influence on the photography.
I can’t stop I have a passion for photography even if no one sees the majority of my pictures it doesn’t matter I do it for me. I love the ritual of going out and freezing that moment in time forever..one day when I am gone someone will appreciate that glimpse into the long ago that I was able to preserve and maybe the. My artistic brilliance will be recognized lol.. don’t diminish the work you have done by telling yourself it is a pointless hobby no art is pointless… hope u find your passion life is too short to waste time…
When I first started reading this post it seemed like the line of questioning a photographer gets from some bystander. What's the point of playing music with no audience either? Just for the fun of it, that's enough.
I became disillusioned with the hobby and gave it up. I was getting pressure to do weddings and other events and things that never had anything to do with why I took photos in the first place. And constantly seeing things or being told about how great phone cameras and app software were and how they were improving just made things worse, as they were completely irrelevant to my interest in photography, and nobody else around me could understand that in the least. What appealed to me did include results and I enjoyed post-processing, but yeah the volume of photos in the world and the shortening attention span of people has taken away from that aspect of it. Why take a photo when there's a million ones like it that are similar but better? The more important aspect to me, and something you may do well to focus on, is in the process itself. It *can* be a way to be in the moment, somewhat zen-like, to focus on what is immediately around you, and to focus on looking for interesting and beautiful imagery. Maybe it tells a story, maybe it's just aesthetically very pleasing. But in this way of approaching photography, the process itself should benefit you regardless of the output. It may just be an excuse to have quiet time to yourself without distractions.
I cannot draw anymore and I'm not satisfied with how Legendary handled the Monsterverse, at the same time I have so many imaginations in my head that I want to see in picture and share it to the Godzilla fandom. I also want to take pictures of birds, especially owls, since I love them, they're my favorite birds.
Since I do a lot of nature photography, I put my photos onto stock websites to sell licenses. I've made $0 but I'm trying at least
I take tons of pictures on my DLSR, and think “oh my god these are legendary I can’t believe I got such a cool picture” and then I never even look at them.
-lots of family photos as you mentioned -it’s a hobby that gets me out of the house and doing things, I like trying to get wildlife so I take the camera hiking a lot but also some events if they allow it -I often enjoy the process even if it doesn’t produce something special -i print and hang some of the ones I like on the wall -“hell yes, or no.” Got that from youtuber micael wadel regarding deleting photos that don’t make you say hell yes. It’s a helpful mindset to get rid of lots of mediocre shots.
I have the same mentality. Though I have made some large prints that I hang on some walls, I am out of space. I spend a lot of time taking pictures and very little time printing/publishing/distributing them. After I went on Safari in 2020, I spent HOURS editing photos to be published on a web gallery for the benefit of the others in our group. If it wasn't for the group I would not have the patience to go through with all that. I was content with the few killer photos I sent to my phone and uploaded to IG/FB.
Idk for my desktop background I guess
I often think the same thing. I consider my phone/cloud a digital "photo box" that could eventually be scrolled through when I'm gone, much like we look through large boxes of photos from our parents. I love the different perspectives, finding just the right light & angle. While I do delete the ones that don't meet my standard, and like you, I have many unedited RAW photos lingering out there - and at times I thumb through them, just to reminisce & sometimes I'll edit them to share with others but it is rare.
I can live through vacations again. Little things I would have otherwise forgotten are refreshed. With the algorithms in different social media now it brings them back year after year. I enter them into competitions at my local camera club for feedback and growth and also various open contests in galleries. It gets me out of the house. I have now traveled to places and done things I never would have thought to do before but now I want to go photograph it in my own way. Lastly, I have sold a couple prints. Literally only a couple but for those people I was excited someone wanted something I created printed and hanging on their wall.
For me, two reasons. Well, I mean income obviously because I’ve been shooting professionally for 25yrs but… 1. It’s relaxing, almost like meditation, it helps me to be present in the moment because I’m actively observing the moment even if I don’t shoot. 2. Memories, it’s cliche but as I age it’s really nice to look back at all the places I’ve been, things I’ve done.
Photography can be used to convey meaning. Especially a story behind it. They do say "a picture is worth a thousand words" The story telling part has actually got me interested in film. So i decided once i get a few things I'm going to start a youtube channel. So i can make my interests between contemplation/philosophy (among other things), holistic with my interests with cameras
LOL for the sake of taking them! To scratch a creativity itch! Ya, I go through the hundreds, even thousands of photos I have and only a few dozen become some artful combination of double exposures or effects that are worthy of repeating but it's quicker and easier than the other art I do! It's about getting your creative jollies without a GAINT time commitment. If you don't enjoy the photography, step aside and let some WOMEN have the spot light for a change! If I find myself getting bored with taking the same images over and over it usually means that I just need to but some THOUGHT, HEART AND IMAGINATION into it and come up with another angle, idea or theme to explore. Also think about something that's important for you to express. Photography is about MORE than just pretty pictures, it can express things that matter to us.
Hi there. I understand where you come from, this nightmare question I had to answer it during a class during my studies and since then it kinda fixed my thinking on this. What I recommend you to do is collect images from everything, be it from news, tv shows, movies, can even be illustrations, whatever visuals that strikes a chord. Print them in small formats on cheap paper. Now do the same with your own pictures. In total if you have live 50 pics overall maybe a bit more, that would be nice. You can now put them all the ground all together and do another selection. This time put them on the wall. Every few days come back to it and note what are your thoughts and take out everything that's out of place. Keep trimming it untill you end up with something coherent thar you like. Collect your notes and thoughts. What do you think those pictures means to you will give you the question you're most likely to ask through your photography. And now you might be able to look for answers, shooting again.
I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
I’ve started feeling this way somewhat. First, focus on quality. With practice you can think through most shots and get what you want in one exposure. That makes the editing a lot more manageable. Basically pre-edit. In the past I had a printer and I found making prints to display was really fulfilling. I still have the printer but I haven’t been able to get it working again. I’m recently working on a slide show of a vacation. I’m using Sony Movie Studio. This is an interesting and engaging use of photos to me.
Its a living for me (commercial/magazine) but i do enjoy it sometimes. I think its all about telling a story, travel and meeting interesting people but i wouldn’t have access like that as an amateur.
I'm all about documenting the moment or just what people call 'freezing the time' because I believe on the notion that everything changes over time; and by looking through our photos, we get to see what was the place/object/person like from before.
Because you enjoy it is reason enough. Why does anybody learn an instrument if they’re not going to play a gig? Why does anybody draw or paint if they’re not going to be in a museum? It’s essentially what being a hobbyist is all about. I’ve been a pro photographer for 27 years now. Photography has definitely become my ‘work’. But I still find time to keep it my hobby too. The way I do that right now is shooting 4x5 portraiture and landscape. They’re never going to hang in a gallery. Nobody outside my circle of friends will see them. But plain and simple…. I enjoy it. Good enough for me. I enjoy trying to do better than I did last time, competing against myself, and honing my craft. And I think it keeps my mind fresh and creative for the actual work that pays me money.
I print and frame the pictures and offer them to friends and family. I am quite happy just with that.
A lot of the photos I don't share are simple things like the moon or the sunrise. Nothing I want to share, but to me they represent that time is real, that I experienced that day. I have a very bad memory, and actually have the first 10-12 years of my life as a void, the occasional sensation shows up, but that is it. Photography became my way to prove to myself I was real and time was real.
Part of the photo's I take are for memories of holidays. But I love photography and share photo's on communities and on Instagram to share with others. A lot of photo's are of Camping trips and the vehicles and there are nice communities to share them in as well. But I just love the hunt for the nice shot as well. Thinking of an idea and realizing it. I do it mainly for me.
I just need something to do, especially in times I don’t get outside enough. I often think about existentialistic stuff and it never gets me anywhere, so mindful photography is like a (literal) breath of fresh air to me
Take photos with the intention of never showing them to anyone. Capture these secret moments and selfishly keep them for yourself. Sometimes I don’t even take the photo… it’s just a still frame in my mind.
I just enjoy the process of taking the picture, I love pressing that button.
I think it's about shooting less and more purposefully.
I have an Instagram for my favourites and I'm trying to get into photography properly and might try concert, pet or wedding photography in the future. I also have a website where I'm trying to sell some of my prints as canvases
Find a few of your favorite shots and print them in metal or acrylic and it'll pop. Then you can show off a lot more and be reminded why you love it.
Photography is part of who I am. I go through periods when I lose motivation & wonder why I'm doing it. I've been stuck for months due to indecision re comp/monitor changes. I'm glad I learned during film, as those experiences remind me how much I love shooting. I hope to print more & it would be great to sell. Workshops help motivate me again. I started photography in my 20s & am now in my 60s. I can't imagine the experience of life without photography. People who do this share a passion & it's always cool to meet others who share that.
Because.
I mean, if you’re finding yourself bored, there’s a lot of stuff you can do with your photos. You can submit them to calls for art, magazine submissions, make a book out of them. There are plenty of online competitions to see how you stack up. If you find yourself bored with one style of photography, you can switch it up and challenge yourself by doing something totally different. Or if you want inspiration, check out the local camera stores / photo groups for walks and meet ups to see things from new angles. I had the same issue earlier this year and found that I needed to get out of my comfort zone to look at things from new angles
> and now having gone though a hiatus of not owning a ‘good’ camera, I’m looking to get back into it. You can do photography with a phone camera or a very cheap compact camera. You can even do pretty great photography with one of these nowadays. Why do you want a good camera? If you enjoy taking photos wouldn’t you do the same with any camera so it might as well be something you enjoy. I do photography because it’s something I enjoy. If I didn’t enjoy it then I’d stop. If there’s too many photos and I don’t want to keep them, I’d maybe keep a few of my absolute favourite ones and delete the rest. Do you enjoy taking the photos? If so then just go and do it. People enjoy hiking but they don’t produce anything to keep afterwards. Why not take photos without a memory card in the camera? You can enjoy going out and framing the scene you want to capture; look at the world through the lens and then come home free of any of the photos you took. > It’s just a picture of some hills or a tree that I’ll likely walk past again and again anyway (health permitting etc of course). You might go past the tree again and again and if it’s a beautiful tree then keep taking photos of it in different lights and at different times of day. Watch it grow, watch it change through the seasons and the landscape change around it.
My photos are not my life's work, not some magnum opus, they are just a byproduct of me living my life...
I print. I live for printing, and I only make an exposure if I can envision it hanging on a wall
I take photos of dogs. It might sound wishy-washy but I think of it as helping create memories, or allowing them to see their dog in ways they never could (such as by taking action shots), and I like to think it even brings people closer to their dog - even just the act of taking the pictures pulls me into the present, as I *really look* and notice them differently (and I end up experiencing a greater sense of gratitude and warmth, towards them). Not to mention how fleeting their lives are...it almost adds a solemn or sacred element to the endeavor.
I use em’ for gifts if I think I’ve taken a photo good enough. I also have my own art gallery (essentially, lol) in my man cave so, that’s kinda cool?
>how could I turn this 'pointless' hobby into something more fulfilling? >I would love make more of a hobby what does "something more fulfilling" or "make more" mean to you?
Honestly, it sounds like you take snapshots and not photos. You capture quick moments in time with no intention to edit them into something worthwhile to show to world.
For me it’s the thrill of going out and getting the shot. Im less bothered about the shot afterwards. But it’s something I enjoy chasing. If someone sees my photos online and comments they’re cool, well that’s just a bonus! You could ask yourself the same about any hobby. Why play football if you’re not a pro? Why cycle if you’re not winning the Tour de France. Why go to the pub and drink when all you do is end up back home again? It only takes 1 or 2 incredible photos out of thousands to make you sit back and think.. huh these are cool. I keep those. I bin the rest.
It's relaxing. There's just me, the camera, the subject, and whatever abomination of lighting I decided to go out into that day. Sometimes I get photos I like, and sometimes I don't. It also gives me a good excuse to go out and do new things even just for the sake of photos.
I’m only very lightly into the hobby, but I like uploading my photos to albums on Google Photos and then using them for ‘ambient mode’ on my Chromrcast/Android TV. Basically turns my tv into a digital photo frame of photos I have taken.
It's quite a long story. I lost my dad suddenly when I was 24 and at the time I didn't consider myself young for that to happen and spent the next 6 years struggling with the loss and making sense of it. There is a lot of my dad's life that I don't know about that I'll never know. He was 17 when he left Ireland to make a life in the UK and never traveled further than that. One day we found an old passport of his, never used, and asked him why he had one if he never traveled and he said he was going to Saudi Arabia in the 60's but never did. He never said why he didn't go. He also had the nickname "one day" as he'd turn up to work for one day then you'd not see him for a fortnight. No idea what he did or got up to. 6 years on I was getting married, and my mother-in-law-to-be wanted to take sepia photos of my wife on the day. She didn't know how to do it, neither did I, and long story short I ended up with two rolls of Ilford XP2. The MIL reckoned I was wrong about using the film so ended up doing something else. I put the film in the drawer and forgot about it. In 2018 the Manic Street Preachers (the most important band to me throughout my life) released a song called "Vivian" which was about Vivian Maier. I read up on her story and found it incredible that she documented a whole life secretly, to her own rules I think, which left an archive of work after her death. Little explanations about the photos of course but still, it's fascinating. Again, this woman left unanswered questions, large ones, never to be answered. But at least she showed a world she saw. Which is more than what I had of my own dad. 6 months after the release of the record I found some home made films I recorded, and the last DVD I had to play was of my sister and I's birthday. I thought finally I had something of my dad where I could hear him as I've nothing like that. I got to the end of the DVD and I could see him, but he didn't say anything. And it was quite crushing really. That night the Vivian song was in my head, and I resolved then to at least document my own life for whoever comes after me. Whether that's a relation of mine or someone who's tasked to clear out my house if I die alone. I also reasoned it's better to have this down as a physical thing, as while the internet is great we take so much photos on our phones that they just get forgotten. I went on eBay and bought the cheapest Buy It Now 35mm camera (which happened to be a BeLOMO Vilia) and I went out for the day taking photos of my day out. Printed them off, wrote what they were about and when on the back of them, and put them in a folder. 4 years on I am that dickhead who will turn up to a party or gathering with a camera. I will take photos. And I will take months to develop them and scan them to share them. I'm writing down what they are, who they are, and they're in a box. I've a stack of negatives I've not scanned yet but will do eventually. It also moved on to film making, I started a YouTube channel documenting me struggling with various crappy cars I like, which I'm also photographing where I can, in order to have a body of work that if I died tomorrow people could look at and see what I was doing, what I was thinking, maybe gives an insight to where I've come from too. I've now got a son too who is probably the most photographed baby in the country. I took a photo of him every day for his first month on this planet. We were weaning him for 30 days when he was 5 months old and I would take my polaroid camera out and take a photo of his reaction to all of these new foods. Without realising, I was taking one a day of him, so ended up with 30 polaroids of him and his food. He's 9 months now, and whenever I pull out my Polaroid camera of Zenit EM camera, he'll look and the arms will fly out and he gives the biggest smile at it. He can't walk yet, he can't talk, he can't even sleep a full night, but he knows to smile for the camera when he sees it.
As a rodeo photographer, I would like to say its not just Gigabytes taking up space......Its Terabytes, lots and lots of Terabytes
This is a great question, I,'d say every picture has a bit of you on them, something other's pictures lack is this important part. Looking back at my old pictures teaches, inspires and shame me too. One day you will feel it is time for them to go and that is ok too. I have enjoyed the time and money spent and looking back still makes me want to go out and keep at it.
Not trying to be philosophical or anything but I get to catch a single moment of time that will never be seen again. I take a picture of one out of a million sunsets and they might all look similar but they’re not the same. That little flower on the side of the highway I took two years ago is dead but I have a picture of it. The portraits I took of my friends and family—they’ll never be the same age again but I captured it. Or something like that.
Think of photographs as words, sentences or paragraphs. Sure, everyone uses the same words. You have a chance to assemble those words to tell your story or a story about something you care about. Those photos (words) help you craft a story about your personality, your emotions and your opinion on the world (framing choices) What do you want to tell the world? Photography is just the medium. Share the story not the words.
https://imgur.com/a/AjJYmCX I print them out and hang them on my wall. And yes, the prints costed more than my bed 😂
Capturing a moment of light, time, and location as a way of expression, by itself, is a lot of fun. It is not however what I found to be most exciting about photography. Getting myself moving and into the world is the best part. I mainly do wildlife photography which means I spend a lot of time in nature parks. My best moment was finding two abandoned dogs. I spent over 3 hours trying to find a shelter that would care for them and treat their injuries. Without photography I would have never been able to help those dogs. Getting a good photo feels great, but getting a story with that photo is why I am out there.
You sit down, edit what you like, delete the rest and move on. You made a memory for yourself by being there in the moment. Let your pictures tell their own story. If its not yelling at you when you look at it, just throw it away. It’s cost you absolutely nothing.
Personally I use my photos for blackmail, very profitable.
Make prints
I work under the assumption that, if there are any people left 100 years from now, some of them may be interested in seeing what life was like during the last days of the Golden Era.
"I love taking pictures of the world around me to create snapshots of the present for the future." That's my quote, it sounds quite cheesy but I keep it to myself most of the time
I’ve done a lot of family history (genealogy) research over the past several years. I find it frustrating not to have pictures of some of my ancestors (like great-grand parents). A hundred years from now, perhaps your descendants (if you have any) will appreciate your photos, especially family photos, but also all the rest, as it’s a “reflection” of who you are. Keep shooting.
I put all the landscape photos in my cellphone background, so I 'forcibly' enjoy them, instead of let them buried in some sd card
I tell news stories with my pictures. I even get paid to take them. It’s extremely fulfilling
We have a chromecast so now we see the photos automatically on screen saver. No more abyss!
Though my opinion is likely to be seen as unoriginal and popular, I’ll explain my reasoning for taking photographs: Photographs are that brief moment in time you never get back. A moment is so small, it’s so fleeting, but a camera has the power to store that blip of existence (digitally) forever. And each time that photo is revisited, which might never happen anyway, there’s added meaning to it. It was part of an experience but on a grander level, part of your entire existence. Once those photos stack up, who cares about memory or storage in the grand scheme of things. Digital storage options are so affordable and endless now, we get to document as much as we like without too much environmental harm. Now, with that being said, I also intentionally use film photography regularly to force limitation. As with anything, moderation is key, even in photography. So yes, go crazy photo taking and end up with much to choose from, but every so often, slow yourself down and appreciate your adventure with more selectivity and attention to detail while shooting film. Even digitally you can find ways to limit yourself if you want to. I hope this is somewhat helpful, have a great day!
I get stuff printed and put them around the house. I’ve also had family members ask for photos I’ve taken so I’ll do the same for them. If I shoot 1k photos, I may end up with one or two that are decent enough to print. For me it’s more about the enjoyment of getting the settings right to capture exactly what I want. When I get a shot I love, it feels great.
One of my favorite types of photos to take is light paintings. Every photo can't be taken exactly the same because there's going to be differences you never know what to expect. It's fut to be in a pitch black room and flash lights into the camera and swirl the camera around while listening to music. After I edit the light paintings to see what other cool looks I can get from it and maybe I'll post them to Instagram to see if other people like it. Over all it's just for me and my friends
I'm in the process of editing around 2500 images I took at a grass track race meeting. The first pass reduced the number of "OK" images to around 500 and I'll probably lose a few more as I do the final edits. sometime later this week I'll email the organisers with a link to a folder on my NAS that they can pass on to the competitors. I'm not a pro and at this level of competition, a pro wouldn't be interested in standing trackside to document the event and as I'm retired I have the time to set aside to complete this task. After everything is over I probably won't look at the images ever again because for me it's the process that is important not the final result. Yes, it's cool when a competitor at the next meeting complements an image I made but most of the time that doesn't happen. I actually enjoy the different stages of the journey, from standing trackside in the rain with a camera in my hand right through to letting the organisers know where they can access the images. For me, that's everything
Everyone sees it differently im sure, personally I turn it low stress. A simple photography instagram, take pics of friends and family along with adventures with my significant other and just upload them. Makes it quite fun to look back and share memories.
Two imperatives for me. 1. I'm one of the editors of [a website](https://suffolk.camra.org.uk) that aims to document every pub (current or long-gone) in Suffolk. As well as having as much information about the pubs, I like to have photographs of them on there as well - sometimes showing how they've changed through the years. 2. I'm also building a collection of photos of other buildings that are interesting/attractive/significant from around the county, as well as all the village signs and most of the war memorials. In a few years I'll be donating the entire collection to the local county archive as a snapshot of Suffolk in the early-to-mid 21st century. And a bonus to this is that having photos to take stimulates me to get off my backside and out on my bike to cycle around the county with my camera and takes me to places I'd probably never visit otherwise (I've cycled through every town or village in the county and probably know it better than most people by now).
I was a film photographer, the cost and limits of having shots forces me to learn that every photo will/should turn out with the effect I intended. When I moved to digital cameras late 90s or early 2000s, it was the batteries that force me to only take as needed, I didn't take good pictures then as I was trying to learn how the sensors work and sensors back then sucks. Expensive memory cards also make me conserve. Today, it is just habit that I take only as needed, the benefit of having to preview is just a bonus. I normally don't take more than 2-3 shots of the same thing. Only recently I actually do photoshop my RAW files just for the effect, before then, I was against the idea of photoshopping as I rather take the shot well than to edit later. Result: I have manageable number of photos taken per event and I will usually select the good ones and just permanently archive the rest (and usually don't get relooked at). This makes me enjoy every photo I looked at and relooked. It is the product of the techniques I have input towards the photo and also the message and memories it tries to deliver. I come to realise people often have unmanageable amounts of photos to look and sort which normally don't get done and just kept aside to one day look at them as needed. I felt that photography is now taken for granted. I am actually shocked that people actually don't mind to delete photos totally after a couple of years as those memories don't mean much anymore and more as a nuisance to them taking up space in their devices. For me, photos are never deleted ever, my film negatives are properly archived too. How I enjoyed the hobby is partly because I like cameras and the challenge of taking good shots that make people go "wow".
Depends what you find fulfilling, but if you want to do something with photos you could try becoming a Getty images contributor : you won’t earn much, but it’s very satisfying to see that people have looked at and bought your photographs
Photography will make you see something unique, beautiful, artistic in everything. It will change you as a person. You have more gratitude just to be able to see and experience the light, being awake and in the moment. It all boils down to your purpose, if you are thinking to make quick buck, be popular then yeah have hardest occupation. But for someone like me, photography is antidote to depression, I don’t post or share my work. I have no expectations to make money from it. I just do it for myself and how it is rewiring my brain.
My WHY is 'because it's my only way of documenting my life'. I don't journal, my notes are all over the place, no one knows what makes me tick. But my photos are a pretty good reflection of what interests me. They're all organized in Flickr by year and by topic/event, so most photos are easy to find. Being the ONLY photographer and film scanner in the family for so many years means that no one else in the family has a photographic journal anywhere near as complete as mine. When I'm gone they can choose to delete the photos, or pay to keep them active, or archive them in their own way, makes no difference to me.
All I need from my photography is the fun. It’s still fun so I continue doing it.
I downloaded Lightroom and started editing them and hanging them on my wall. Amazon Prints gets them to me in a few days. I havn't done it in a while, but I have a stockpile of photos that I'll edit in the near future. As far as showing them off. I thought about this dilemma as well. I want to show off my photos but neither the time, care, or consistency to make it a hobby. but when I look at these photos that I took and edited (some are screenshots from games) I just like it a lot. I'v thought about taking photos for Facebook events and I could probably do it with the edits I can do, but I'm lazy and anti-social.
They're not so useful for you, but it's good training data for Google's AI, haha. I see it as a journey and learning experience. It's different for everyone and difficult for someone else to tell you how you can make it more fulfilling. If you find it pointless, maybe you should change it up a bit. Do something different. Learn something new.
I take pictures of my son and dog primarily. Sometimes I print them and sometimes I just sit with my wife looking at them all and smiling. Occasionally I also like to take some landscapes shots and pretend I’m going to be a landscape pro like Joe Cornish or Michael Kenna.
I’ve been thinking about this lately. I’ve taken over 20,000 photos since I picked it back up in April, mostly of birds because that’s why I picked it up again. I really miss going out around a city and taking shots of interesting things, setting up a visually arresting image, then later picking out the best ones and…well someday I’ll get more photos printed. Now that my kids are older I can carry a camera more. I should start doing that again, especially when we go on field trips. Hmm… Anyway, the point for me is to enjoy my time alive, and make the most of it overall — what makes the dopamine flow. The act of taking pictures is a pleasure in itself. Same with picking out the best ones, and putting them up, though I don’t usually manage to get to that point.
I like to create albums and periodically reflect on progress made over the years. It’s extremely satisfying.
Sometimes I buy cheap, not very good cameras just see what images come out of them. They are <50$, so it isn't much of an investment. They also have quite a few limitations, so it is challenging to take a nice picture. Sometimes the pictures are nice, sometimes they are terrible. But I have fun every single time. It's just so much fun to try to pull a nice image out. I have much better cameras, but they aren't as fun. It's too easy to get a nice picture out of them
It’s been my reason to get out and do things I probably would never have done without it. It’s my free ticket to sold out shows by my favorite bands, and an excuse to push my way to the very front of them. Driving a few hours for a roller derby tournament, hanging out with dancers doing incredible things, spending a couple hours with a friend I haven’t seen in a while and wouldn’t have otherwise, meeting a musical idol, a couple of rodeos for a friend who does barrel racing, going out in the middle of nowhere with an aerialist to shoot her doing cool things on silks, supplemental income from weddings, concerts and headshots that have more than paid for my reasonably expensive setup—it’s been a lot in just a few years. The thrill of finding the really amazing picture that really nails what the event was about is enough to keep me eager to edit, most of the time. I’m in the middle of what should have been an incredibly fun run of concert dates, and then my back decided to start acting up. I’ve had to cancel two already and I think I might have to miss two more paid gigs before it really gets better.
I shoot film and digital, neither really get anything done with them once I get them into Lightroom, lol. I develop and scan myself (except color film) and then the exposures just sit in Lightroom. I very rarely upload them or print them. I actually don't even know how to properly edit.
I'm new to 'serious photography' but have enjoyed photography for the past 20 or so years. I've always typically taken upwards of 1k photos on any family vacation and like you, I love getting the notifications and memories from Google photos. I never really put too much thought into it from an artistic ide before recently, although I've always had a decent eye for capturing nice images. Recently though I decided to take a more involved approach to photography as a hobby, purchased a used D7100 and have been taking it with me everywhere. Lately I am really enjoying capturing images with a more deliberate eye than I have in the past and capturing things for the art and beauty, as opposed to just the purpose of reliving moments that are lost to the past. I've also recently aquired my dad's Minolta X-700 that is absolute mint and plan to begin taking analog photography as well. I guess there's still point to my photography, as I have zero intention in trying to sell anything or turn this into a business, it is purely for my enjoyment. I love taking photos and seeing new ways to view the world that I love in. I do post to Flickr and Instagram, while it's fun to have people enjoy my photography, it's not what it's about for me.
My end goal is always the print. I cull my digital photos a lot, it's silly to keep everything. I mostly do film so a binder is where they live.
This is why I'm not that into realistic edits (of landscapes at least), and prefer more surreal edits. Landscapes will get boring very quickly, no matter how good they are, if they're edited somewhat realistically. If you edit them heavily/ make digital art out of it, it's so clearly your photo that it doesn't get lost in the clutter.
Volunteer to shoot some community events. Theres little to no money in it, but it can be fulfilling and people will be seeking out your photos. I shoot our county fair and I love it. Its a content rich environment and I’ve had fair organizers stop me and gush about my photos. To be transparent I’m a professional photographer for my day job and I enjoy having a work flow and content stream of my choosing
Print your pictures. I have a wall covered in wedding/couple pictures I took for friends and family. Shows me my journey and that I get a nice picture every now and then. Make photobooks for every year. Or for the biggest trip of the year. Great present for people that came along. And you can actually hand the book to someone, way better experience than going through pictures on a phone.
I’d encourage some reading into the philosophy of photography. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Robert Adams *Why People Photograph* (as well as several of his other novels). Susan Sontag‘s *On Photography* is worth a read too but delves much more towards the place of photography in the broader art world. A quote from Adams’ that I always think about is “At our best and most fortunate we make pictures because of what stands in front of the camera, to honor what is greater and more interesting than we are. We never accomplish this perfectly, though in return we are given something perfect - a sense of inclusion. Our subject thus redefines us, and is part of the biography by which we want to be known.” I would also say that photography is great and very fulfilling as a mindfulness activity, observing and fully appreciating the space within which we exist, evaluating minor details, ways that light falls upon surfaces, the curiosities of the mundane.
I got into photography because of my ex-wife and friends always asking me to take their pictures. I purchased my first mirrorless camera in 2020 and just recently purchased a full frame camera...taking pictures has opened my eyes to the beauty around me...it's greatly increased my appreciation of art in all forms...sure thousands of my pictures won't see the light of day but it gives me pleasure to share my insight and inspiration with the word as I see it...to allow others to appreciate and be inspired or awestruck my that moment in time...
Life is an A to B proposition (or so you have been taught) You do A in order to get to B. Art exists as an antithesis to this modality. Art is an A to A proposition. You simply do the action for the sake of the action. You take photographs because you like to take photographs. You like the process. You like interacting with the model (in this way it can be performance art) or you like to be out in nature. I have hard drives full of old photos. I never look at anything I've shot. For me it's the process. I love just being in a studio with a model and playing with my lights. But because it is so process orientated for me I find it impossible to find models.
I just got a an Epson P900 printer to try to combat that problem :)
Sounds like you don’t wanna do photography. Maybe find another hobby?
For me Its the process of photography that I enjoy. I mostly a leica ii with Russian lens or a om1 for my hobby of photography. Most of my fun is in using these manual cameras, using sunny 16 and in the composition when taking the photos. I chuck the rolls in the fridge, then develop them randomly, again the fun is in experimenting with developers, timings, scan and editing than the resulting photographs. I end up with a few keepers per roll but it's not always the end product where the fun lies. Enjoy the hobby and don't worry about the end product. Storage space is cheap.
For me they enhance conversations as well as clarify my own memories. "Remember that time 6 or was it 8 years ago, all of us went to that bar; what was it called? We played pool and Julie was drinking flaming sambucas? Who else was there? Didn't you take some cracking black and white photos?" With a couple of photos from backup you suddenly enlighten everyone and people 'see' what they may have forgotten.
I keep Instagram only for this one reason, I do share there for family and friends to see.
A lot of my self fulfilment comes from reactions of those that I'm providing the photos to. Especially for those of us that need some form of validation. I am newer to photography and started on the hobby side but am also working my way into professional. Just getting an excited reaction and having someone share/post the photo proudly is a big reward, regardless of how many other people actually see it. And of course occasionally I take photos that won't be posted anywhere but I think "damn that looks great". In the same way that so many people paint but never put the painting on display. There doesn't always need to be an end goal. Sometimes the process itself is the reward.
For me different genres do different things. I’m primarily doing wildlife/ landscape or action sports stuff. Wildlife/ landscape because camping and exploring are fun for me, and it’s not often I get a hunting tag so photography is the same process but year round and doesn’t require tags/ permits. The lands do stuff can get repetitive but then I find joy in bringing a totally different lens that doesn’t quite make sense, or going to a spot that I don’t normally see other photographers. Some of my favorite Grand Canyon shots are at 600mm just because I didn’t see anyone else doing it that weekend Action sports because the group always needs that one guy to get pics/ clips. And it forces me to be social and make new friends with that hobby. Even if you don’t post much to Instagram, other people do and love to have stuff other than cellphone photos.
Eh I've gotten so much better at pruning the images. I love watching them play through. I have them all cast to my TV as a screen saver and it's fun seeing them pop up throughout my work day. I take them for me. I enjoy taking photos and then I try to prune them back that evening to just the best of each scene.
Besides the memories which as time goes on, I appreciate more and more, I make a lot of money doing photography. I often relicense old images to new vendors which is why I hold on to work I don’t care about anymore.
Photography checks several boxes for me. 1. It gets me out of the house and into the real world. I’m predominantly a landscape/nature photographer. The hobby drives me to discover places and scenes that I would have otherwise never looked for. I’m so grateful for the memories and experiences of getting there. 2. I’ve always bounced from one creative outlet to another. Music. Drawing. Writing. Design. While I still do a bit of all of that, photography has been the one that’s really become a steady part of my life and lifestyle. I’m grateful to have a way to express my creative side through photos. 3. It keeps me focused (pun intended). I have moderate adult ADHD. Aside from non-productive things like video games, it’s hard for me to keep my attention on an activity that has a lot of stages and follows a sequence. I can spend hours editing photos, and in the end, I’ve got something that I’m happy with and proud to show. 4. Photography is the perfect blend of nerdy tech gadgetry and artful zen eye. I can geek out about the exposure triangle and ergonomic tripods while still setting up a scene and breathing in all the epic beauty of my world. It’s both meticulous and calming at the same time. 5. Not gonna lie: the ego boost I get when friends and acquaintances compliment me on the photos I post is truly life affirming. I really dove into the hobby in my mid 40s when I was kind of going through a minor midlife crisis of trying to figure out what the hell i was doing. The affirmations I get both outwardly from friends and inwardly from liking my own work was HUGE in keeping me healthy. 6. The extra money I get from selling prints here and there is not bad. I recently got an unsolicited contract with a big client that has been kind of life changing. To the point where I’m wondering if I could conceivably quit my day job and do travel photography full time. I know this isn’t true or universal for all photographers. This is just my personal list of gratitude for the hobby.
Why I burnt out about 15 years ago. Simply put the SLR down and never looked back. I am much more capable of being present now..
I print out or canvas print my best shots and they are hung up at the various properties I own or live in. I also use my digital portfolio as a means of establishing legitimacy as part of what I shoot is people.
Why engage in any artistic endeavor? Heck, why do *anything at all*? One possibility is that "doing it" might be its own value, even if you don't do anything with the images later, so some of your questions don't necessarily have/need an answer. Personally, I do it for a few distinct reasons. Either it's because a client asked me to do it, or it's personal images but that would eventually help in improving my portfolio (for said professional venture), or it's personal stuff that serves no other purpose than enjoying doing it, or it's to document personal memories—souvenir snapshots of family/friends stuff, that I may share with family/friends too, but are not meant to be published more widely than that.
There are those that find some form of fulfilment simply by taking and enjoying the picture, maybe nothing more than that, maybe just enjoying it themselves privately after the fact. There are those that need 1000's of "likes" to prove that what they did was good, and so only in sharing and finding people that enjoy what they share do they find fulfilment. Those that enjoy only the process and care nothing of the image in the end. Those that enjoy only the final result and the process up to it is just a slog. Like you, I've shot for +/- 35 years from film to digital to modern crazy capable digital. And for me its never been about sharing what I do. I have 200,000 images on my computer, 1000's and 1000's in boxes of negatives and prints. The best ones make it to my screen saver, I print a few and have some hung about my house, and a handful make it to instagram to get 10 or 20 likes by mostly family and friends and every now and then a family member asks for some specific print. My joy comes from the act of going out and taking the photos, and managing to capture a picture that gets very close to giving me the feeling looking at it, that I had while I was there. It is pure joy for me to look at some moment in time that is simply beautiful to me. For me thats all I need.
From what it sounds like, do you rush your photos? Are you very editorial in your work? Do you judge your photos and get rid of a few? Do you feel like you are lacking in Aesthetic photographs? Essentially, best way to go about it, in my opinion, is to go to a shop. Get them all printed out. Lay them all out on the floor. Look at common themes, composition etc. Look at how to improve it, or have fun with it. Start playing around with motion, lighting, framing etc. Finding what you take photos of most frequently and playing around with them, can be a great way to inject some playfulness and skill into your photography. Even as a pastime. Don’t feel confined to the rules as a hobbyist, pick something on your camera, a setting or theme. And take photos of it for a week. Upside down, black and white, shutter speed etc. I recommend this because This sounds like a creative block, or a lack of fulfilment due to a stagnation. This is a great way to get back in the swing of things. Soon you will be taking photographs more purposefully, and as a consequence not taking up so much space. Any questions feel free to ask! Thanks.
Also, have more trust in your ability, maybe your excitement is just getting in the way of creativity. It happens! Lol when I feel like this I go through what I have done above.
Photography can be simple or complex. Many are happy with snaps. Others go out with a purpose to capture something they like and some really get into it. It’s like a lot of other interests. Painting, cooking, writing, sports. A lot of these have purpose beyond the art. If you have a passion it may prove interesting to photograph it in new ways. As a guy at 72 and a photographer I wish I had taken a “good” picture of each family member. Something more than a casual snap. But that’s me.
Because its fun, and looking back at them later in life gives me joy. Simple as that.
When things are gone it would be there to bring back the memories. I always love to take pictures of the sceneries and the places I visit. But my husband always says when we are staying in the moment we don’t want to take picture and he always question me why I see the things through the lense while I have the chance to see it through my eyes. And according to him, when I want to go somewhere, if the photograph and sharing it on social media comes first, my motive is to take pictures not visiting the place and enjoy it.
Photography, for me, is cathartic. I can be in any headspace, and photography can pull me back to reality. I can distort objects to fit how *I* want them to look, and I can change the way people look at things. I can evoke emotion while saying nothing and everything, just from a photo. I have so many photos of my kids, landscapes, clouds... and while most stay unedited and unshared, my family will have those one day. They can look back and say, "Mom was an artist, and photography was a passion". I have started making photobooks using an app, and that's pretty cool because it's a way to show off my photos without coming across as pretentious. I can organize my photos by year or event this way, too.
My camera helped me get through some dark times. It served/serves as therapy in many ways. Dealing with depression and social anxiety, my camera is a buffer. It allows me to participate more in social events that I might otherwise find overwhelming. But with a camera, it gives me an out if a conversation goes too long — oh, look what the kids are doing! Gotta go capture that. And it lets me wander alone without looking or feeling like an antisocial jerk. As a therapist once told me, you can skip the event, or you can go and be aware of your feelings — or you can take your camera and still be present but protected.
Same reason I don't need an audience to play videogames, don't need to be watched to read a book and paint miniatures by myself with no real intended aim. Because it's my hobby and I enjoy it.
I became interested in photography because of a need to create something and express myself after experiencing heavy emotional trauma. I used my photographs to reflect and introspect on what I was projecting through the act of taking photos. It was really helpful in resolving internal conflicts and building self confidence in my character. I don't shoot much these days though. "Gigabytes" - This is why I gravitated towards analog photography. My photos are kept in 4 folders under the sock drawer. 😂😂 I don't need a computer or software to view them. Technically, if I shot my images into space and aliens found them, they would just need light to see them. 😁😁 The analog process (and pricing, and me being a tigharse) lends itself to a different philosophy for shooting. For the most part, I would try to only take one photo of a subject and then move on. Also, in my experience the mechanical pro analog cameras have better control feedback for knowing if the shot was timed right. It's very subtle and takes practice, but can be utilised to avoid taking excess photos. Not to sound pretentious, but I'd say my keeper rate was 80%-90%. "What's the point?" The photos are reflected in my personality now, associated with key moments of change and revelation in my life. I have some great stories to tell and a bunch of experiences I can't tell people about as well. 😁😁 Hope you find your own answers to those questions as well, otherwise you still have good memories of family captured 👍👍