before I learnt about photographer I used to carry a video camera around with me everywhere.
Well, actually when you think about it Photography is actually a fairly cheap hobby - Ok, sure, I've spent some money on a DSLR and a telephoto lens, some accessories, etc - but when you take and divide the amount of money I've spent total on the hobby by the number of hours of enjoyment I've gotten as a result of that investment, well there really aren't much in the way of cheaper hobbies out there to be honest with you. Sure the initial investment is a little higher than some, but when you consider how much use I get out of the equipment the amount of money I spend per hour on my hobby is ridiculously low - far lower than something like say, golf.
As for my story, well I recently had a bit of an epiphany myself that will probably illustrate how I feel about photography. My father passed away this saturday after a prolonged battle with cancer. I had taken part of the day off Monday to help my step-mom get some arrangements made and deal with some of the details. After I finished with that I was on my way home, I decided to grab my camera and head out to the safari park and take some pictures. As I was on my way into the house I got a call on the cell, it was a distant relative of the family that is notoriously difficult to deal with even under the best of circumstances. The conversation didn't go well, the family member in question was asking a lot of questions which were quite frankly inappropriate and mostly dealing with financial matters that frankly were none of their business. They kept insisting on asking about things that really were not appropriate at the time to discuss. After dealing with all that I was in a really foul mood. I grabbed my newly acquired D5100 and headed for the safari park.
On my way there I had a blowout. I pulled off to the side of the highway, got out and discovered that my brother had apparently borrowed the floor jack I keep in the trunk and had forgotten to return it. So I pulled out the cheap scissors jack that came with the car, only to discover that in addition to the floor jack apparently my brother had also borrowed the tire iron that goes with the jack - which also happens to be the piece you need to turn in order to get the jack to go up or down. A few choice words later (the kind I can't repeat in polite company), I dug out a pair of vice grips.
Quite some time later after a tremendous, indeed a ridiculous amount of physical effort I managed to get the tire changed. I almost turned around and headed for home. It was cold, I was splattered with mud, wet, tired, and basically feeling about as used up as I think I've ever felt in my life. But being a rather stubborn cuss I wasn't going to turn around. I was out here to get a photograph.. at least one, with the new camera. I wasn't going home without one. So I climbed back into the car, drove to the park.
I went to my favorite spot, found my subject, hefted the camera and fired. 1/500th of a second later, and everything was right with my world once again. I realized at that moment that the camera, at least for me - isn't about "expressing" myself. What it truly is for me is my connection with the natural world. In that briefest fraction of a second, I was connected again.
I hope this explains things for you.
