Truely the most relaxing thing...photography

[timmyquest]

The past month has been a personal hell...women, and friends...you all know that gig. I have been tired and distracted at work, makes for mistakes which makes for a disappointed boss. I visit my friends who go to universities, it is fun, but it depresses me as i go to my community college that is stuck, literally, in the middle of some corn fields.

Monday i was up until 3am finishing a 10 page essay/works cited, extensive 20-30 source bibliography and another 3 page paper about what it was like to write this paper.

Tuesday, i wake up...i'm very tired, i drag myself to class only to find out that the paper is now due on Thursday. G...thanks for the extension :rolleyes: . I go to phsyc, get my test back...should have studied a little more, 70% :rolleyes: . I get to go home now, i get home, i turn on itunes...my songs are not playing "The file you have requested can not be found, would you like itunes to try and relocate it?" No...i wouldn’t, why isnt it there. I open the folder...my music is gone. That sucks. Say...wait, my photographs are on this hard drive too. Say look, they are gone too, yay!

Wednesday, class goes without a hitch, i get home...i'm angry. I pick up my camera, i go to the woods.

I'm standing on a rock, water is rushing over it...my toes are wet, and cold. My camera is on a tripod in front of me in the water. My back hurts because i'm leaning over trying to keep my balance on this rock. Hrmmm...it's not looking quiet right. I rotate the ring on the CP filter...ahh, perfect. I hear nothing but birds and wind and leaves rustling...*click*. Nailed it.

Then, i had an epiphany. I'm standing in the freezing cold, the wind is blowing, i should have worn more then a sweatshirt...maybe some gloves. My toes are soaking wet, i should have worn my waterproof boots. I'm the most relaxed i have been in a month. Photography loves me, photography, I love you. Photography-on-the.net, thank you for rejuvenating my interest in photography…my only escape.

Oh, and a shout out to Mother Nature, spring looks good so far this year. Keep up the good work, i know you'll let me know when your finished with it :D

[Skitzy]

Sounds hectic but glad something relaxes you. It's a bummer about your stuff, have you considered theres a hacker on your pc. Happened to me insept they decided to whipe my harddrive with windows on and my pc didn't work... anyhows it sounds like you've got a lot on so it's good you've got something to calm you down.

[timmyquest]

Sounds hectic but glad something relaxes you. It's a bummer about your stuff, have you considered theres a hacker on your pc. Happened to me insept they decided to whipe my harddrive with windows on and my pc didn't work... anyhows it sounds like you've got a lot on so it's good you've got something to calm you down.

I'm sure we've all got a lot goin on. I just feel sorry for the guys who use photography to pay the bills...i have to wonder if it relaxes them the same way :confused:

[FlipsidE]

Man, I honestly wish I had your passion for photography. While it is one of my favorite hobbies, it isn't on the top of the list. I enjoy it. I love learning about it. I love seeing the results of a good shoot. And, at the same time, I think it might be nice to make some money off this hobby one day.

But, if I'm mad, grab my camera, and walk out my back door, I run smack into a line trees about 10 feet thick which leads directly into another neighborhood behind me. If I walk out my front door, I get the pretty sight of asphalt and more townhouses. That can be more frustrating that settling. I have found some good subject matter around this place nonetheless. Unfortunately, I think I've dang near exhaused my possiblities directly around here unless I invest in a bit more camera gear (and I'm in the middle of juggling money to see where I can spend some). To go macro is gonna run me $700. To get a decent light and backgdrop setup will probably run me about the same. Seeing that I'm trying to balance two expensive hobbies (get into the other one soon), it's almost become more of a frustration than a relaxation.

My main hobby is video gaming. I absolutely love it. I've been a hardcore gamer for a little over four years now. When I'm having an especially bad day, I find that a quick offline game of Unreal Tournament 2004 can really calm my nerves. Honestly, you'd be amazed at just how settling being able to kill everything that moves can really be. That said, the Playstation Portable (PSP) hits stores this month. I didn't get my pre-order done in time, so I'm on my own trying to find one. That's going to run me between $250 and $400 depending on where I'll be able to find one and if they require bundle purchases or will just sell the system.

Add that to the simple fact that I am overweight, don't have the motivation to drive all the way out to the gym everyday, and that I want to spend $400 on a treadmill so that I can get some exercise w/out having to leave my house, and you'll see that I just have so much on my wishlist that I must balance.

Treadmill - $400
PSP - $400
Camera Gear - $1500

I just can't afford to drop $2300 right now, and this doesn't even include other games I might want or the fact that my furniture in my den is YEARS old, broken, falling apart, isn't comfortable to sit on for long periods of time, and is in overall desperate need of replacement I might be able to afford most of these things throughout the year this year, but I gotta decide where my priorities need to be. Hence, I am very limited on what I can do with my photography gear right now...which in turn causes more frustration than relaxation when I go to shoot.

FlipsdiE

[timmyquest]

I can relate flip.

Recently in my life i found myself mediocre at many things.

I had friends who dedicated their lives to basketball and were great at that. I had friends who dedicated their freetime to guitar and were great at that. I had friends who dedicated their time to art and were great at that...you get my point.

Me, i'm a very well rounded person, although people seem to be impressed by the fact that i can build a computer from the ground up in 45 mins and then go to football practice and bust my ass for 3 hours (although i'll never do that again...now that highschool is a thing of the past). Or that i can pick up a guitar and play a typical bar chord progression, talk to you about why although the chevy's 350 sounds better, i'm sitll a ford guy at heart.

The problem though is that i could never talk to you about whats going on inside of a hard drive in depth. I was a 2nd string varsity football player. I'll never be able play a jimmi hendrix song allt he way through, and although i love the idea of owning a nice mustang with a 302 under the hood...i doubt i oculd build it myself.

My point is that until i picked up a camera again (i use to take photos all the time with my moms ae-1...about 7 years ago i supose you could say) i had many hobbies and things that i spent my time doing but there was nothing that i felt i was actually good at. Within any group of my friends, someone was better then me at it.

With photography, it just seems to come to me, and hte more i do it the more i understand it. I feel i've got so much to learn and improve on, but when i see what i can do, and what people around me say, about my photography. It just makes me wonder if this is what i'm supose to be doing...

My rooms use to just be messy, but now they are messy with photography equipment. I have a friend who is very into RC cars and when you go into his room it is just plastered with postars, broken cars...tires that should be thrown out. With me, i have my digital over there, my film on the desk, that holga is on the floor right now, i should probably put the box to my new lens away...that film canister is making a nice change holder at the moment. It has infected me like a virus, and it seems to be spreading.

I get hungry and say tomyself "Deal with it..you've got a lens to buy". Maybe i have issues :lol:

[Skitzy]

I suppose we all have things we are good and bad at, for me I think I am getting better at graphic design and everything else is more or less medicore or poor. I've never been brilliant the only two subjects I do well in are ICT and English and hopefully the Graphics Course I hope to take in college. If it feels right, do it.

[mikesd]

A wise person once said " if you wake up every morning and the only thing you can think about is photography: you were meant to be a photographer" wait a minute that was Whoopi Goldberg talking about singing in Sister Act! However I do think there is alot truth in that statement. Remind you of anyone Timmy?

[roanjohn]

I'm standing on a rock, water is rushing over it...my toes are wet, and cold. My camera is on a tripod in front of me in the water. My back hurts because i'm leaning over trying to keep my balance on this rock. Hrmmm...it's not looking quiet right. I rotate the ring on the CP filter...ahh, perfect. I hear nothing but birds and wind and leaves rustling...*click*. Nailed it.



............:confused:.................CAREFUL!!!!

Thats good that you have photography as an outlet. It is very calming when you're in your element. Sometimes, when I am stressed, I walk down to my local zoo and take photos of animals that I have seen millions of times........and it calms me..........So I can very much relate to your story.

Good luck with school...........one day you'll be working and you will encounter other problems (bills, money, kids, etc........) that you'll wish you only have homeworks to worry about.

Ro1

[timmyquest]

............:confused:.................CAREFUL!!!!

Ro1

Hehe...i have to admit, you crossed my mind :lol:

[roanjohn]

Hehe...i have to admit, you crossed my mind :lol:

.........actually, reading that paragraph made my "spin**er" cringe!!!

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Ro1

[tim]

A wise person once said " if you wake up every morning and the only thing you can think about is photography: you were meant to be a photographer" wait a minute that was Whoopi Goldberg talking about singing in Sister Act! However I do think there is alot truth in that statement. Remind you of anyone Timmy?

First thing in the morning i'm usually in too much of a hurry to get something to eat and get to my day job to think about photography. Apart from that though, i'm either taking photos, editing photos, or reading about photography!

I recently took 2 weeks off work to take photos, and I went to all sorts of interesting and nice places I wouldn't have otherwise gone. So for me photography is relaxing, interesting, plus helps me win friends and influence people! :)

[Skitzy]

Because I only started what two weeks.. ago lol and have only took perhaps 20 photos, I can't say much. But my first journey out was great, I went out and enjoyed it and I rarely do it. It felt very relaxing out in the countryside on my own just with my camera, seeing the odd person walking their dog or horse in a field. Very relaxing and calming.

[pradeep1]

My point is that until i picked up a camera again (i use to take photos all the time with my moms ae-1...about 7 years ago i supose you could say) i had many hobbies and things that i spent my time doing but there was nothing that i felt i was actually good at. Within any group of my friends, someone was better then me at it.

With photography, it just seems to come to me, and hte more i do it the more i understand it. I feel i've got so much to learn and improve on, but when i see what i can do, and what people around me say, about my photography. It just makes me wonder if this is what i'm supose to be doing...




Photography...the last bastion for losers, geeks, underdogs, dweebs, nerds, propellerheads, dorks, dipwads, dillweeds, schmucks, and putzes :D :D Welcome to the club. :p