What Photography Means to Me?

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I thought I would write down some of my thoughts about photography and photographs, and what they mean to me and how they make me feel. I have actually split it into two articles because it was too long as one! In this article I talk about what I get out of taking photographs.

The Hobby

For me photography is a life long hobby that I started when I was young and have always enjoyed doing, and learning about. It’s more than a hobby it’s a love for learning the skills required, and constantly updating them as technology moves on. Like moving from film to digital photography, and the new opportunities that has created. I like learning how to use the new software that is available for editing photographs and seeing what you can do with them. Having the ability to change the photograph post production has given me a new way to enjoy taking photographs, and to play about with them and how they are presented.

I love gadgets so I get a blast out of looking at and using photography equipment. The different designs, styles and specifications of cameras are great to look at. I always want the camera that is just out of reach! Let alone all the other accessories available like flashes, lens and filters, the list is endless and the companies know how to draw you in!

What would I like to see in this photo?

I love the challenge when taking photographs. It gives me a great feeling of satisfaction when I bring together what I know about the camera with my choice of subject, and the result is a good photograph (well what I think is good anyway). And when there are mistakes which is often, then I want to learn from it and it urges me on to do better next time, and learn a bit more.

It’s a very creative process and an individual expression of how you see the subject whether it’s a landscape, flower, food or animal. So that makes it exciting, trying different techniques to produce different results. And when I create something that is completely my own and has turned out well, then that is the pay off for all the hard work - seeing the result. I love putting my photographs on my computer and having a proper look at them and being proud of what I have created and produced. Especially now the digital age has made that process pretty much instant instead of waiting for the developers to process the film. Ah the good old days!

What does photography mean to you?

Photography will be different for everyone as it is very individual. What you are creating is individual to you the photographer. If we all took a photograph of the same landscape then they would all be different, as everyone would capture something different about the landscape through their own eyes.

What does photography mean to you and how does it make you feel? Is it a job, hobby, passion or something else? Let me know what you think in the comments…

More in part 2 coming tomorrow…

Thanks

Mandy

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