A few weeks back on one on my road trips down in Central Florida, I met up with one of my compatriots' at one of our favorite hole in the wall restaurants. As we sat around discussing the world's problems and how we could solve them all if we were in charge for a few days, this veteran of some 20 odd years unloaded a bombshell. After much consideration, he was hanging it up,
Needless to say, I was just little shocked by this announcement and as I gulped down the remaining half cup of coffee I'd been sipping on for the last few minutes, I asked why?
Contemplating for a minute or two and after one long deep breathe, he simply said "I've lost the desire". The look in his eyes also told the story; you could tell that the passion was gone.
He went on to say, "The good old days are gone". Everyone claims to be a photographer now, there's nothing special in what we do anymore.
I understand how he feels, in this day and age where anyone who carries a phone around has a camera. Where for just a hundred dollars, anyone who wants - can snap a few shots and be happy selling them for pennies on the dollar.
Professional photography is for many of us – a lifestyle. To get up at the break of dawn to catch the sun just right or putting yourself in a situation where most folks wouldn't dare. It's capturing that facial expression of someone who has just lost everything after a natural disaster or the joy of children simply drawing on the sidewalk. It's a passion to tell a story with the simple click of the shutter.
What do you see when you look through the lens?
Sure there are plenty of times when a person just takes a picture for the sake of just taking a picture. Everyone has done that, including myself – but would you travel for hours then not take the shot if the conditions weren't right. Therein lays the difference between being a photographer with the passion to get it right whether than just snapping pictures.
When you lose the passion, what can be done? It can be hard to get it back, some never do. Do you take some time off, store the camera away for awhile, struggle through it or do you simply call it quits and go get a real job? Don't really have an answer for that. Each person has to deal with that issue in their own way. Over the last few years, I know several of my fellow photographers have not been able to get "IT" back and the world loses yet another talented individual.
But for everyone who finally gives up the ghost, there is someone waiting in the wings to try and fill the gap. Are you that type of photographer? Think about what you're about to shoot, remember the old saying "He can't see the forest for the trees!" I can't tell you how many times I've been asked while setting up - what are you shooting? Or someone says I don't see anything? It's your vision; it's your insight that will set you apart from everyone else.
Get it right the first time and don't count on the myriad of software programs out there used to try and make a bad snapshot into a good photograph.
Remember – Photography is a Frame of Mind, be in the right frame of mind when photographing.
Murray
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Photography a Frame of Mind
A few weeks back on one on my road trips down in Central Florida, I met up with one of my compatriots' at one of our favorite hole in the wall restaurants. As we sat around discussing the world's problems and how we could solve them all if we were in charge for a few days, this veteran of some 20 odd years unloaded a bombshell. After much consideration, he was hanging it up,
Needless to say, I was just little shocked by this announcement and as I gulped down the remaining half cup of coffee I'd been sipping on for the last few minutes, I asked why?
Contemplating for a minute or two and after one long deep breathe, he simply said "I've lost the desire". The look in his eyes also told the story; you could tell that the passion was gone.
He went on to say, "The good old days are gone". Everyone claims to be a photographer now, there's nothing special in what we do anymore.
I understand how he feels, in this day and age where anyone who carries a phone around has a camera. Where for just a hundred dollars, anyone who wants - can snap a few shots and be happy selling them for pennies on the dollar.
Professional photography is for many of us – a lifestyle. To get up at the break of dawn to catch the sun just right or putting yourself in a situation where most folks wouldn't dare. It's capturing that facial expression of someone who has just lost everything after a natural disaster or the joy of children simply drawing on the sidewalk. It's a passion to tell a story with the simple click of the shutter.
What do you see when you look through the lens?
Sure there are plenty of times when a person just takes a picture for the sake of just taking a picture. Everyone has done that, including myself – but would you travel for hours then not take the shot if the conditions weren't right. Therein lays the difference between being a photographer with the passion to get it right whether than just snapping pictures.
When you lose the passion, what can be done? It can be hard to get it back, some never do. Do you take some time off, store the camera away for awhile, struggle through it or do you simply call it quits and go get a real job? Don't really have an answer for that. Each person has to deal with that issue in their own way. Over the last few years, I know several of my fellow photographers have not been able to get "IT" back and the world loses yet another talented individual.
But for everyone who finally gives up the ghost, there is someone waiting in the wings to try and fill the gap. Are you that type of photographer? Think about what you're about to shoot, remember the old saying "He can't see the forest for the trees!" I can't tell you how many times I've been asked while setting up - what are you shooting? Or someone says I don't see anything? It's your vision; it's your insight that will set you apart from everyone else.
Get it right the first time and don't count on the myriad of software programs out there used to try and make a bad snapshot into a good photograph.
Remember – Photography is a Frame of Mind, be in the right frame of mind when photographing.
Murray
Posted at 06:59 PM in Articles, Comments, Current Affairs, Opinion, Photography, Stock Photography, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: Arts, Arts and Entertainment, Business, Central Florida, Photography, Techniques and Styles, Travel Photography
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