We're all getting older...the "pros & cons" for us photographers

monk3y wrote in post #10035787
I can't, I have quite a good/comfortable life here compared to others, I have my own businesses here, car, travel, can afford some nice things etc... no reason at all to leave my country to work for others... its just that I don't have enough money to buy myself all the gears I want yet hehehe

Hey Steven, I just took a look at your blog and seriously...you have NOTHING to aim for regarding camera gear! Your technique is great and with such a beautiful place to photograph, if I were you, I wouldn't envy the guys with a ton of gear....
Really hope to see a lot more of your shots from the Philippines in POTN soon!

Anders Östberg wrote in post #10035803
Pros of getting older... grey hair makes it easier to get access to venues, you get the "who're you shooting for" treatment, you are taken more seriously when you want to come photograph something. People get out of your way when there's a crowd if you're older and carry a big white lens. You can afford it (scr*w the pension fund ).
Cons....lugging tons of gear around hurts your back, climbing ladders to mount remote cameras makes you sweat....it's getting harder to get down on and up off the floor to get that nice low camera angle, etc...after a full day of shooting you're really tired...
I don't like how my body gets more brittle with age....
The pros outweigh the cons though, so far.

Great words and tips there Anders.
I remember being 17 and being "blissfully unaware" that I had any joint and muscle pains on their way...
If I'd known, I'd NEVER have gotten on a motorbike when I was 19.
Ho hum...


BUT....so far (touch wood) the pros of getting older are still outweighing the cons.
Just.......

1. Trying to get up off the floor after shooting an entire quarter or half of a HS baskeball games. "My KNEEEEEESSS!"

2. Agree that aging and shooting HS cheerleaders can kind of creep out the young ladies until they get to know you a bit and they realise I'm there to shoot my son, (who is a classmate) and the football game. The bonus is that the girls also get nice shots for themselves and parents.

3. Feeling an obligation to get to nearly every local HS game in hopes of getting that "SI Cover Shot" of a player.

dave

snyderman wrote in post #10036722
1. Trying to get up off the floor after shooting an entire quarter or half of a HS baskeball games. "My KNEEEEEESSS!"

2. Agree that aging and shooting HS cheerleaders can kind of creep out the young ladies until they get to know you a bit and they realise I'm there to shoot my son, (who is a classmate) and the football game. The bonus is that the girls also get nice shots for themselves and parents.

3. Feeling an obligation to get to nearly every local HS game in hopes of getting that "SI Cover Shot" of a player.

dave

Hey Dave...good points all!
About the knees:
I realised after moving to Japan, eating "like the locals" (except whale, of course!!!!!) and losing about 15% of my body-weight without any real effort that a few pounds off really helps with joint pains.

I only get them nowadays when the weather is damp.

Keep at it mate, and don't freak out those HS cheerleaders too much or you'll give us all a bad name!!!

One pro is being able to carry my camera bag on my walker, one con is having to use a walker.

hello, my name is birdfromboat and I am an old duffer. I realised I was an old duffer when I could still start a dirt bike and ride it, but could no longer slide one off a hill side trail, drag it back onto the trail, and THEN start and ride it.
Being an old photographer is better because I have money to spend and the equipment is obtainable.
In fact, being old was my main reason for getting into photography again after a long absence.
I sold the dirt bikes, but found that I could still walk (unlike some of my friends) and decided that walking with a camera was more fun than walking without a camera. Old age=Dirt bike sale=Dirt bike money = camera money. The circle of life.

How about when your so old new is frightening. My 91 rear old dad is a retired ad shooter He made his living with Hasselblad 2&1/4 and Nikon 35. I 've handed him my Rebel XS and told him to shoot away. Nooo there's no film in there Almost like it was diseased. "I don't want to mess with it" Well it's the same as your 35 SLR. No I have to look into a ground glass at waist level. He has taken about 6 pictures of my wife and I with my digital rigs. I print and he says nice but that's not from film. Would I like to have the Blad for free? Not me A beautiful instument. It would take me a fortune to add a digital back to it plus no AF. He won't even consider a point and shoot digi
Sam

Pro: Ordering your first vest.
Con:Whoops !! Too Small.

I got my first vest last year when I was 18... Then again that was a Camel up to fashion vest.

One thing I am looking forward to is to need less sleep, I have spent this winter sleeping the days I haven't had work.

And as someone wrote earlier it is a bit scary reading about getting older!

In my 60's and semi-retired I'm able to go places I want to go during the week when others are working. Escaping the crowds is a real benefit in shooting wildlife etc or just enjoying
more space with less noise.

I am so looking forward to that. Gearing up (no pun intended) for retirement as we speak.

riverdog1 wrote in post #11876827
I'm able to go places I want to go during the week when others are working. Escaping the crowds is a real benefit in shooting wildlife etc or just enjoying
more space with less noise.

Hmm, advice for the young. Top of my list would be don't be an idiot daredevil like I was. While you are young try and avoid broken bones and knee reconstructions at all costs! Every one comes back to haunt you in your old age!!

Other than that do not ever let yourself get slack with your fitness after 50. Getting it back is bloody hard. It starts to go downhill in your mid 40's and you seem to have to do more excersize to stay in peak condition, then when you are in your mid 50's the downward spiral increases. Now I'm nudging 60 I have to do a minumum of an hour a day of strenuous excersize every day just to stay fit.

Cons I might be an outlier (age-wise, at least) on this. I have a few various conditions that make things even more challenging. I drop things quite a bit due to nerve damage and coordination issues, so IS, tripod, monopod and one of those sometimes belittled handstraps are ALL a must. Further, a well-padded camera bag with shoulder strap and access in the center of the bag seems to work best for me for "not dropping the camera while still being able to get to it quickly," especially a deeper one with a nice wide top opening like a messenger-style bag. I also have issues with stamina and distance I can go, so photography shoots and trips have to be paced and planned carefully for me to get any real benefit/worth out of them at this point.

Pros - one of my pros is the fact I was around when film and manual SLRs were common. I'm grateful to have the "basics" of photography taught to me by a very basic medium with few controls at my disposal (but all of them requiring me to be in control of them). I think that that background makes me better equipped to deal with today's technology. Twenty years from now, today's shooters will have the experience of the various changes and modifications imaging technology will take and will have grown with the medium, also better "grounded" by their experience compared to newbies who have never had to do some of the things "for themselves" because the camera has done everything (if there are even cameras by then - maybe there will be implants that let you beam your dreams straight to another's head without either of you having set actual eyes on what your brains came up with? who knows?).

It is easier to get taken seriously by people when you're 40-something than when you're twenty-something. The twenty-somethings know you're old enough to be their parent so expect you have to know something about what you're talking about and the people older than you know you've probably been around long enough to know what you do and don't know and are polite enough to be able to listen even if you might BE a know-it-all that knows nothing. It's a win-win.

rklepper wrote in post #10020950
Harder to manual focus.

Harder to hand hold long lenses.

I can still walk like a crazy man. I put in 78 miles in San Francisco in 6 days recently, but harder to take the photos.

I need either a tripod or IS to shoot successfully.

Sometimes I get out to shoot and forget what I went to shoot.

rklepper wrote in post #11880352
I am so looking forward to that. Gearing up (no pun intended) for retirement as we speak.

Doc, sounds like you and I are on the same path. We need to get out and shoot together once it happens. When's your target date?

I plan to celebrate the last week of work by getting an American Eagle Senior Pass. A friend who volunteers at the C&O National Park has offered to set me up with a canal boat ride on the day.

I am eligible in Dec of this year. So it is approaching very, very fast. I will be traveling a lot so we will need to plan a get together.

Jon wrote in post #13809066
Doc, sounds like you and I are on the same path. We need to get out and shoot together once it happens. When's your target date?

I plan to celebrate the last week of work by getting an American Eagle Senior Pass. A friend who volunteers at the C&O National Park has offered to set me up with a canal boat ride on the day.

Got a couple of months on you then - end of August. But yeah. Want to come East in the fall and shoot the Blue Ridge with Wool and me for starters?