Why do you take photo's

[alsoran]

I recently found something out that shook me really badly. I started to think why?

Is it all for money, for the pleasure or for another reason?

I am a newbie on this forum and this is a fairly heavy question I do realise that but bear with me if you will and the South African spirit will come through esp. after both my teams saw off NZ and Au teams tonight.

Anyway I guess the question is why do you take photos?

 

[terri]

I think we've had a thread on this before, but I'm too lazy to look for it.

I do it purely for pleasure and artistic outlet. That's kind of saying the same thing for me, though, really.

 

[alsoran]

Oh, I am really sorry I did look for a post like it but possibley due to the time of night i did not find one.

My apologies if I offended anyone.

Once again sorry for reposting an old topic.

alsoran

 

[drlynn]

It's not a problem. There are lots of new folks on the board, and I don't think it's a bad idea to redo things once in a while in off-topic forums.

I shoot for enjoyment and to make memories right now. I'm looking at starting a side portrait business to enhance my wife's scrapbooking business, tho.

 

[Mitica100]

Artistic expression outlet and pleasure.

 

[Big Mike]

I think that one reason I take pictures is to share with (show off to ) friends & family.
I could put people to sleep telling/showing them what I do at work but everybody likes looking at pictures.
Besides, it's a nice ego boost when people complement your photos.

On another level, it's deeply personal. Experimenting and learning the craft of photography is a personal journey.

It also gives me an excuse to hang out here

 

[terri]

Oh, I am really sorry I did look for a post like it but possibley due to the time of night i did not find one.

Listen to Drlynn. It's not a problem at all. One thing you'll discover is that we DO like to hear ourselves talk.

Besides, from this:

I recently found something out that shook me really badly. I started to think why?

Is it all for money, for the pleasure or for another reason?

I gather you have a special reason for asking this question, and I'm curious as to what that was. What happened? If you don't mind sharing.

 

[alsoran]

Hard to explain, my fiancee reckons a possible mid-life crisis I disagree waaaaaaaaay to young for that.

Anyway I will try and explain, As a newbie does I was cruising old posts trying to pick up as many tips and tricks as possible (I need all the help I can get ) when I saw a a topic which as far as I can tell was the sad demise of an otherwise excellent poster.

The attitude displayed, the driving ambition, the single mindedness (is that a word) made me think that I am missing something, that I should not be travelling , seeing new places, meeting new people but should rather be driving towards becoming great, rich and famous.

The only problem is I don't care.

My fiancee is young but she has the drive to be really successful (damn spelling again) in life (depending on how you define success) . But I have always been of the theory if you can pay for what makes you happy and can afford to put a steak on the table then all is good.

The post has just made me question what I have been doing for the last 10 years and whether I am just wasting my time.

I take photo's for my enjoyment, a chance to express myself, a chance to improve.

At the end of the day I guess it was just the driving ambition in the post that has made me question my values not only in the photographic sense but in a larger sense as well.

Sorry you did ask.

 

[terri]

The attitude displayed, the driving ambition, the single mindedness (is that a word) made me think that I am missing something, that I should not be travelling , seeing new places, meeting new people but should rather be driving towards becoming great, rich and famous.

The only problem is I don't care.

Then it's not a problem. And you're not missing a thing, from what I can tell. :thumbsup:

Hopefully your fiancee will come to appreciate that mindset of yours. We all have different definitions of what constitutes "success" and sometimes get blinded by our perception of what the elusive spotlight can bring.

Success is all about what's inside, imho. Sure, I have to work and put a kid through college, but the fact I'm making 2x what most of my friends make doesn't make me "successful". I am successful because I am a happy soul, who can brag on a great marriage and inner serenity (while putting a great wine on the table along with that steak).

If someone pays attention to my work (and I mean my artistic work, not what I do for a freakin' paycheck) then I've had a gloriously successful day. But I guess degrees of artistic validation vary, too. I value the praise of those whose work I respect, no question. But I'll do it whether or not I ever sell an image, or be praised by *the big boys*. I don't have the mindset that I'm only as good as others tell me I am. I want feedback, I like critiques to help me learn, but....it's self-validating in its own right, for the most part.

No ego problems on this end, eh? :lmao:

Sorry you did ask.

Please don't be. I'm not.

 

[alsoran]

Damn forgot the wine. I will be in real trouble now.

 

[tr0gd0o0r]

I agree w/ terri, don't let others ambition bother you. If you're content with where you're at theres nothing wrong with that. If you think you are successful then thats all that matters, if you don't like where you're at, then push as hard as you can to get where you want to be. And dont let other people define what makes you succesful.


To answer the original question. At the moment I'm in a pretty strange spot with my photography. I'm having problems just going out and shooting for pleasure, it seems so pointless to me. I feel like I need a reason behind a picture. I'm doing a lot of portrait work and stuff at my church (don't really count this as my "real" photography is ya know what i mean) On the other hand i'm in the beginning stages of a photo-documentary which is starting to grow nicely. These are the kind of photos i'm talking about when i say a reason. I think they might be able to make a difference to someone, effect their view on life, make them think about something (if only for a few seconds). Thats why I take photos right now.

 

[oriecat]

Totally and completely agree with terri! (well aside from all the steak talk, since I'm a vegetarian ;0) You have to define for yourself what your photography means to you, the type of images you want to produce and how you want to display them to the world, if you even care about that at all, which you just might not. It's all good, man. You can't look at someone else who decides what their definition of success would be and apply it to yourself, unless that is how you really feel and what you really want. You might run across a wedding or portrait photographer who is fully booked all year round, making good money, feels like a successful pro... well if that's what they want, all the power to them, but to me that just says *yawn* I personally have zero interest in taking pictures of memories for strangers. And that's me, and that's cool for me, and that's cool for them.

I too have been struggling with motivation problems lately, and what I want to photograph and why, but no matter what I come up with it will be because it is something that interests me and images that I want to capture and perhaps even have something to say, and it will be for me and me alone that I do it, and screw what anyone else says or if they think I'm not ambitious enough, because I'm the one who has to be happy here... and I think I've stopped making sense so I need to go get some lunch.

 

[Walt]

At this point in my life photography is a creative outlet and a diversion. My job can be quite stressfull at times and I need something to make me look at things differently.

 

[bean]

My mother and father were both photographers...soooo....kind of obvious there 8)

 

[Big Mike]

Oh ya, I forgot to mention...my Grandfather, who lives down in California (very far away), recently published a book of his stories & photographs from a lifetime spent as a wildlife officer. This was one reason that I took up photography.