Why do you do what you do?

[raventepes]

I remember, even at an early age, having an old 110 camera in my hands. I loved that thing. I took it with me just about everywhere I went and almost always had a spare cartridge on hand. Fast forward a few years and a bunch of cameras later (I switched to 35mm when I got older), I realised that it was the sense of capturing emotion, which is what I enjoyed. While I can take a bland, boring photograph, of say, a guitar, or a jar of mayo straight on and technical, that's not my passion. Me? I'll add "mood" lighting with all sorts of modifiers, and shoot the thing at 14mm, up close and personal to get an image that draws in the viewer. I take a very cinematic approach, I suppose. But the essence of what I do, always boils down to capturing emotion. I'm an emotional being, at my core (For that matter, I'm a Taurus, for any of you astrology junkies), and emotion is just what I enjoy. Something beautiful. Something sad. Anger. Regret. Happiness. Serene.

 

[rexbobcat]

One of the many many things I get irritated unfairly about, and try moderately hard to check myself on, is this business of duplicating looks.

This is a very very common theme in photography, people who really get into it can spend essentially their entire career making test shots. They want to master some technique, so they make tests and maybe get critique and learn and after a while they've purchased the right equipment, and learned where to put it and how to use it and now they can make bog standard senior portraits. Then they get a focusing rail and learn focus stacking software and now they can make bug pictures just like that other guy's bug pictures. And and and and.

They keep putting arrows in to the quiver without ever seeming to take any out.

It's not a bad thing, but it's a) not a thing I understand and b) often not quite what the budding photographer imagines himself to be doing. If you wanna make art, or make money, or both, someday you gotta stop making tests and make some pictures.

If you just wanna mess around with cameras and photographic gear, well, that's cool. I think you might be happier if you knew that was your goal, though.

Some guys collect cameras. They are not photographers, they are just camera collectors. They like old or not so old gadgets. There is nothing bad about it at all, especially because these guys are generally happy:they know what they are. There are also people who primarily "master techniques", as you mentioned. They know anything about cameras and stuff. They are not photographers either, really. They are knowledge collectors. Some of them are not as happy as the first group, mostly because they can not quite figure out what they are. Others are just fine.

I have no problem with both groups whatsoever. But between the two I would rather collect cameras. I would know that I can sell my gadgets on ebay, any day and some people would be interested. As a knowledge collector I would probably be quite desperate, knowing that I am unable to apply it to anything worthy. Apart from teaching photography, of course.

That's one way to look at it, but many don't see themselves like that, so it can become annoying. "I'm a true artist...even though I've deliberately studied and duplicated X's style. But I'm not going to tell you that mwahaha."

This is the reason why I dislike many of the PPA certified photographers....at least those in my area.

lol