Have you noticed...

[Nikon Fan]

I was just thinking about how since I've started taking photography seriously for not even quite a year that things just seem to look a lot more beautiful to me. Has anyone else noticed this? Those same drives that I take all the time are no longer so boring, there is always something that strikes me and says that's worth taking a picture of, or wow that's a heck of a sunset today. I guess I've just been noticing lately how it seems that when you stop and really look at things, they are a lot more appealing. I also have noticed that my mind doesn't quit wanting to take pictures. Things that most people overlook are really starting to pop out at me, and my mind takes a mental picture whether or not I have my camera with me (I know I should always have it though ) Anyway, I know most of you have experienced this same thing time and time again, but I thought I would post about it. So do you see the world in pictures?

 

[Unimaxium]

I've been noticing the exact same thing. I'm always looking around for a good shot to take, even if I don't have my camera or I don't have any film. Simple things just seem to look more interesting now.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

So do you see the world in pictures?

I tend to see pictures in the world.
Keep looking - and if you look in the right way you'll eventually see through the surface into the essence of things. Then you try to photograph that

 

[Rob]

I have found something very similar with my commute to work - now that photography occupies a good deal of my brain's spare time, I'm always thinking about how to capture the image of my journey so that others could recognise or understand it.

It's frustrating when you see a cracking picture and DON'T HAVE A CAMERA aaarrgh. I agree with Hertz though - I see pictures in the world, not the world in pictures. Capturing the essence, character, soul (insert appropriate word) is definately the difference between the great stuff and the ordinary stuff.

What you're saying also reminds me of the thing about the difference between looking and seeing. I used to look around, but I saw nothing. Now I see things. (not dead people though)

Rob

 

[Scurra]

I'm with the rest of you, I find these days that as I travel around i automatically consider whether what i'm seeing could be made into an interesting photograph. Like rob says I occupy my mind on commutes by taking photos in my head and deciding whether or not to come back with my camera.

 

[mentos_007]

exactly! I never noticed some things like flowers, butterflies... they were so boring... but not I look differently on simple things

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Just to let you know how serious I am when it comes to Photography.
I found a location today that I wanted to photograph and took a few shots but the lighting and weather was wrong. I looked at the sky to see how the clouds were moving, then sat down and waited for about half-an-hour.
But the weather didn't do what I wanted so I went back to work.
About half-an-hour and 15 miles later the weather changed. Instead of going on to my next drop I found myself driving like a demon back to the location, begging the weather to hold out loud all the way.
I would hold that up as an example of being a little obsessive - but that's me.

(And I carry 2 cameras with me at all times :roll: )

 

[AIRIC]

Just to let you know how serious I am when it comes to Photography.
I found a location today that I wanted to photograph and took a few shots but the lighting and weather was wrong. I looked at the sky to see how the clouds were moving, then sat down and waited for about half-an-hour.
But the weather didn't do what I wanted so I went back to work.
About half-an-hour and 15 miles later the weather changed. Instead of going on to my next drop I found myself driving like a demon back to the location, begging the weather to hold out loud all the way.
I would hold that up as an example of being a little obsessive - but that's me.

(And I carry 2 cameras with me at all times :roll: )

I know how you feel. That is pretty much my life. It is a great feeling when you get the elements right.

Eric

 

[Alison]

I do the same, but for me it's more about lighting. I think that's why I favor black and white photography. I can be stopped in my tracks to admire the way light hits an object and like most photographers love to be out in the golden light hours just after sunrise and before sunset. I also mentally compose and tend to see the world as being made up as photos. Good to know I'm not alone :mrgreen:

 

[Nikon Fan]

I tend to see pictures in the world.
Keep looking - and if you look in the right way you'll eventually see through the surface into the essence of things. Then you try to photograph that

You always seem to find the proper wording I agree pictures in the world is a better statement And I guess it's a good thing you live on the other side of the world Hertz, otherwise we may have accidently wrecked while speeding off to a certain destination for that perfect moment. I do this for the right spot and the right sunset all the time, my problem is I seem to get there about 5 minutes too late everytime :lmao:

 

[Nikon Fan]

I had to post this Ansel Adams quote as well which is in my sig at the moment:
Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter. -Ansel Adams

 

[Hertz van Rental]

I chase clouds and pools of light. And I always get there with time to take two or three shots before I loose it.
My muse is back and I think she still loves me ;-)

 

[ksmattfish]

A couple of Minor White quotes that I was reminded of while reading this thread.

I am always mentally photographing everything as practice.

Often while traveling with a camera we arrive just as the sun slips over the horizon of a moment, too late to expose film, only time enough to expose our hearts.

 

[Unimaxium]

That last quote reminds me of something that happened on my vacation a couple weeks ago. It was the last evening of the cruise, and during dinner I noticed out the window that the sun was setting. The conditions were about perfect, and everything was getting ready for a great sunset. Remembering that I had my first ever roll of Velvia only half-exposed in my camera, I left dinner and tried to run back to the cabin in time to grab the camera and capture the beautiful scene. But my, how the sun accelerates as it gets closer to the horizon. So as I got up on the deck of the cruise ship, still on my way to grab the camera, one of the many people up on deck to see the sunset sopped me and asked if I could take his picture of him with his camera. Realizing I probably wouldn't make it to get my own in time, I agreed and took what was probably a beautiful shot of him with the firey red sun behind him. So instead of getting the last sunset of the vacation captured on my own film, I just stood there on the deck and absorbed the scene in my memory, watching it duck below the horizon, knowing I had at least captured it on a roll of film somewhere. In the end I think it was more worthwhile to watch it through my own eyes than to spend the whole time trying to get a perfect exposure on a 35mm frame anyway. Plus, I got a great shot of the sunrise the next morning

 

[Jovian]

Here's one from Dorthea Lange, "The camera is an intrument that teaches people to see without a camera."

That one's going to the opening page of my website when It's updated here in the next few weeks.