Do you find your interest in pictures to be constant or would it waver? Passion and interest are a complex topics for me. I find myself wanting to answer why my desire for photography has remained solid over the years even through distractions and challenges along the way.
Table of Contents
On Passions
I used to be obsessed with chemistry, and for quite a while I was convinced I would one day have my own university laboratory. Many years ago, I actually do have a small laboratory in your own home, and I distinctly remember generating noxious purple smoke that was very cool.
But then, one day without really understanding why, I started to eliminate my interest in chemistry. I was sad about it because something that had brought me a lot joy was fading aside.
Over the years I’ve often wondered why interests fade. I’ve certainly been possessed by a large range of obsessions, many of which have afterwards lost their hold. So far, photography has kept the charm, but why?
To try and understand this, We asked myself: What’s the between first discovering some thing, and continuing with it right after it’s familiar? When I very first discover a new pursuit, it’s all about the initial spark as well as the learning phase. However, after getting used to some thing, I often switch to a more goal-directed approach. In photography, this means analyzing my pictures, getting better shots, getting better gear, and learning more things.
Is this goal-directed approach bad? Not at all. There is no doubt that goals are essential to improve. They also provide essential challenges, and I do take pleasure in being challenged. However , becoming immersed in goals can occasionally make me forget the initial ignite that brought me to a passions in the first place.
The Initial Spark
What does this particular mean for my photography? If you’ve seen some of my posts on Photography Lifetime, you might have noticed that I like birds. More rarely, I also photograph people and scenery. What do all of these have in common? I enjoy being amongst all of them. I love walking through the woodland and observing birds plus I’ve enjoyed the company of the people I’ve photographed.
Photography is an expansion of this enjoyment. It’s the act of capturing a small piece of my connection with the planet. It also helps me understand how I see the world because it pauses time and allows me to see the aesthetic of an individual scene that I have experienced. This gives me satisfaction, and that is the original spark.
I’ve been asked a few times, “what do you do with a hard disk drive full of images? ” Personally i think that the images I’ve taken are like a journal – something I can examine over and over to understand how I visually match existence. Moreover, the behave of sharing photographs with others is a powerful behave of communication, often appropriate than words.
Distractions
Nonetheless, I sometimes get distracted. I confess, I am sometimes gear-obsessed and I get very intrigued simply by new cameras and lenses, perhaps too much so. Being a birder, I have often thought about the possibilities of a 600mm f/4 – which gives more reach and more light gathering capacity than the 500PF I use.
Panasonic also simply announced their new DG Summilux 9mm for micro four thirds, which has a reproduction ratio of 0. 25x – which is unusually higher for a wide-angle lens. Extremely intriguing indeed! I often feel that reading about gear has become an entirely separate pastime from photography.
I also sometimes get distracted by trends and other people’s photographs. Of course , I have also learned a lot from them as well and I love looking at these types of photographs to discover new tips. For example , soon after I acquired into digital photography, I were on an airplane and a guy was editing his pictures in Lightroom a few chairs ahead of me. By viewing him I actually learned about incorporating vignetting in post. I have also stolen learned many of my composition techniques from other people’s work.
However , in paying attention to trends, I sometimes get put up on replicating certain styles or using certain effects. Sometimes this can be a good studying process, but it’s important not to get too attached to certain ideas. I guess the total amount between learning from established performers and finding one’s personal voice must be a struggle in numerous art forms, as it certainly is in photography.
These distractions sometimes get in the way, because they can make myself lose the immediate connection of just being in the moment and noticing nice compositions. If that process isn’t there, then I can’t actually transmit the peaceful feeling I have of being surrounded simply by birds because the peaceful sensation doesn’t exist.
Back to the Beginning
Looking back again on my journey being a photographer then, I feel such as I’ve never lost our passion because I’ve never ever lost sight of what brought me here in the first place. When I first open up the Raw files I have taken for the day, I have the same feeling I had once i got my first move of film processed into prints.
On the other hand, my goals are also extremely important, and I don’t ignore these. In fact , in every single image I’ve ever taken, almost always there is something I want to improve on for next time, and this learning process is very important to me. Sometimes this feeling causes pressure with the discovery process, but I think I would also be unfortunate if I didn’t have something to strive for.
In short, I believe that photography is a great balance between a photographer’s initial spark, longer-term objectives, and even expectations and equipment (distractions though they can be). Personally, I feel that if I could keep staying aware of this particular line, photography will always be main in my life. And even though we all have different motivations because photographers, hopefully something right here made sense to you and helps keep your interest in photography thriving.