Why do I love photography?

SuzyView wrote:
Creative needs, now that's deep. Can I use that for my husband when he asks me why I spent $2000 on a new lens?

Should work, as long as your creative enough.

Stick at it and study up on techniques etc. it may be because your looking at how you shoot using the wrong angles or depth of field etc. It's the techniques in photography that really make a photo - having a good eye is essential, but if you have a plain old shot with no real creativity put into it, then its just a photo.

Rule of thirds, leading lines, narrow depth of field, shutter speeds...all really simple to learn - stick your head into some books for a while and practice as much as you can.

Post some of your shots so we can see what your talking about, im sure a lot of it is because you are a perfectionist and your own worst critic - i am too, i find a lot of photographer's are! But we all need encouragement at some time in our photography career's, post some photo's and maybe some constructive criticism is somethign you need to get yourself out of your "My photos suck" rut haha

Del

Well firstly it would be interesting to see just how bad you are, so if you have any space please share it so we can have an idea if you're as bad as you seem to think you are. It true that you should be your own hardest critique, but if you've taken nothing that you're proud of in a number of years, then as rich said, you're treading water creatively or you're simply very hard on yourself.

This art is just as subjective as any other. For me it has become a way to express myself, and i'm expressing it to myself first and foremost. Hopefully others might get it, but it's secondary.

If you don't like your pictures you should wait and then look at them again in say 40 or 50 years or so. Some pictures get better the older they are. ...Bob

I though that was Scotch that got better with age . . .

I will never be a pro photographer, but I enjoy creating images - whether it be because they show something I've done or seen or just simple ordinary things in life that you don't look twice at that I might have looked at differently.

I enjoy driving my car (RSX Type S) but I will never be an F1 (:p to all you NASCAR fans) driver. I enjoy playing my euph, but will never sit in with the London Phil. I enjoy playing around with Drupal, but will never be able to call myself a real PHP programmer.

I like it because I like it. I just like the take pictures. I spend thosands on my gear to not make a penny in return. Nor do i care... I have a job. I wouldnt mind makin a few bucks off my skills, but at the end of the day it really dont matter if im having fun.

For me, its also about the challenge of getting that prefect shot.. then chopping it up in photoshop since thats what got me into this mess in the first place.

This thread makes me want to go home and play with my dads AE-1 Program.

Interesting replies! Thanks for the feedback. Its true, just because I am not a pro doesn't mean I cant enjoy it. I will continue to have fun, and not worry about it.

I love photography (especially digital) because you can see the results of your work instantly.. There's very little waiting time before you can see what you've done and then improove on it.. Once you start taking photos you think of other people/places you can go next to take some photos of. you start to work out angles in your head of places before you even get there.. It's realy good. Also the new technology makes even the amatuer look pretty good.

My wife urged me to get back into photography because we were getting a new puppy and her sister was expecting her first child. Not long after I got my new camera and upacked my old lenses, I couldn't believe how much my interest in travel, nature, the outdoors increased, and how many places I now want to go to.

This summer we're going to Arizona for a week, and at first I thought to myself "Arizona and the desert in June...wow that can't be much fun." Now I'm thinking...."awesome, GrandCanyon, Saguaro NP, Sedona!"

BINGO! That's exactly why I love photography! It gets me out of the house and makes me see things in a different way. I find myself looking at things that most people wouldn't even see and trying to figure out how (or if) I could make an interesting photograph out of it. Am I any good? I'm not terrific, but I'm a lot better today than I was 2 years ago, and there's a great satisfaction in that.