A photographer's appreciation for beauty in everything

I don't consider myself a good photographer by any means, mediocre at best. I have always loved photography. I was a long time P&S shooter until I got my Canon 40D in January of this year and began visiting this board. That opened my eye to a whole new dimension. I look at everything i see in every day life as a potential picture. I look at things with greater detail and find many things to admire and appreciate about them.

This forum turned me into macro photography. I used to find insects to be quite repulsive, flies in particular. But after seeing some of the amazing photos posted by the hard core macro photographers, I started looking at them in a different light.

There is beauty in everything. We just need to learn to appreciate it. Most of my friends make fun of me because they think I take too many photos. But I just laugh it off and do my thing.

Sorry for my long winded babble. But I wanted to give credit and thank everyone for participating in this wonderful forum and for sharing their knowledge as well as all the beautiful pictures.

I couldn't agree more. I study light everywhere I go now, camera attached to me or not. I can't turn it off. You know how some people will be driving along an see an incredible sunset and say "Man! I wish I had a camera!"? I find myself saying that to myself a lot more than I used to and about much more seemingly simple stuff, because I know how the camera will see certain things and make them even more incredible than what we see naturally.

I can be at lunch with the family in a restaurant and the way the natural window light falls on someone just sitting in the restaurant can be this incredible mix that I KNOW would make a great portrait exactly how it is. And I will mention it, and the family just looks, shrugs, and goes back to eating lunch. Just one example of many. If photography does not give you new 'vision' you either don't get it, or always had it all along.

A great majority of my friends belong in the "don't get it" gategory unfortunately.

the "don't get it" camp puzzles me at times. it could be a simple picture of old shoes under subdued sunlight from a window, or a sillouetted old man smoking a pipe under a streetlight. if someone can't "see" beyond what the picture is about, then he must be going thru life without stopping to smell the roses.

i agree with all these posts 110%. you really do see in greater detail and appreciate your surroundings. one of the greatest things i learned from photography.

Many around us are blind. Just not visual people. I tried to show one client a design for her travel agency. She could not understand what I meant even with the aid of drawings and full color 3d renderings.....

Artyboy, For me stopping to smell the roses is more like stopping to capture them on film. I do have a terrible sense of smell.

Red Dot, I find myself taking more notice and developing a greater appreciation for my surroundings every day.

Poloman, on a few occasion I have told some of my close friends who couldn't understand me that I wished for a brief moment that they could see the world through my eyes to understand.

I know what your saying, I see detail very easy now. Light catches my eye wherever Im at. Im getting into black and white now, and im trying to see things in shades of gray instead of color. It goes on and on

Chuck

Zayets wrote in post #5259847
This forum turned me into macro photography. I used to find insects to be quite repulsive, flies in particular. But after seeing some of the amazing photos posted by the hard core macro photographers, I started looking at them in a different light.

Zayets,
Yes.. Macro photography opens up viewers eyes to beauty that might not be normally be seen or noticed

Luckily you are starting to capture the beauty you find while it still exists

Dermit wrote in post #5260073
I couldn't agree more. I study light everywhere I go now, camera attached to me or not. I can't turn it off. You know how some people will be driving along an see an incredible sunset and say "Man! I wish I had a camera!"? I find myself saying that to myself a lot more than I used to and about much more seemingly simple stuff, because I know how the camera will see certain things and make them even more incredible than what we see naturally.

I often find myself thinking about light even as I watch TV... For example, the other night I was watching "300" and I remarked to my wife how that beyond the storyline, the movie is a very beautiful and stylish piece of artwork. Another good example would be the movie "Traffic", with how they changed the color temperature between the Mexican and American scenes to portray the stark contrast between the two cultures.

Very well said by the OP...

I agree with very well said... except you lost me at the "flies" part

Photography is an art form just like any other, IMO. Just as not everyone can appreciate or see it to paint/sculpt/etc, no one will see it just as you do to photograph it either.

I don't know how many times I've glanced at something, be it landscape or person, and wished for a mental recorder to save exactly what I was seeing so that I could have it forever. My painting skills aren't to par to recreate it, so for now I'm trying to shoot it all. My husband just laughs at me when I shoot mundane things

For years I had pretty good P&S's, but usually couldn't get the picture I could "see" and wanted so badly. After finding this forum (and reading a blog I loved with flickr links) I'm hooked-and realizing that to get what I see I probably need things like a UWA, 85 2.8, etc, to save what I "see" lol! I got my first DSLR last year, and I've been trying to better myself with it ever since.

I'm on board with you all here! On the one hand, this forum inspires the "gear habit", but on the other hand it inspires the creative urge in us!

It's easy for me to get into a particular mode -- in the last year I've put a lot of energy into wildife photography, for example. It's easy for me to not have the energy to stretch myself in other areas. But whenever I shake the dust off, it's fun and rewarding, whether it be macro, like the OP mentioned, or any other creative endeavor!

Here are some examples of shots from this past week that aren't my "normal" areas of endeavor:

Learning to pan something in motion with a slow shutter speed:

I am completely right brained. Math and science make sense to me. Punctuation and anything beyond basic grammar never have. Yet my hobbies continue to draw me toward more artistic endeavors. My two hobbies are woodworking and photography and there are so many things about the two that are similar. The overall design of the furniture, the proportions, the color. This is so similar to constructing a photograph. I find that the more I learn about photography the better my furniture designs have become.

I have always spent a great amount of time outside hiking, fishing and camping. I also find that I am much more involved in the environment now. Not just picking up my trash from the campsite but actually changing my involvement in environmental issues. We are getting a more fuel efficient vehicle for around town driving although I still have to have my 4 wheel drive to get out of town. We recycle now and many other changes.

I would like there to be beautiful things to photograph 50 years from now. And it has become more important to me.