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

skydog , I thought you just became a new daddy last year , you can't be feeling old already . I am a great grand mother and the best thing about taking pics now is I don't need to be paid for my habit anymore. No cost with digital . I can shot with no thought of cost. before with film a weekend shoot could cost me hundreds to process and print .

Juneb wrote in post #13827160
skydog , I thought you just became a new daddy last year , you can't be feeling old already . I am a great grand mother and the best thing about taking pics now is I don't need to be paid for my habit anymore. No cost with digital . I can shot with no thought of cost. before with film a weekend shoot could cost me hundreds to process and print .

Last fall I ran out of space on my 8GB card shooting my son's football game (good thing to have a teenager at home when you're older - keeps ya young!) and had to swap it out. I had almost 400 pictures on it. Realized suddenly that the MOST I would get on a roll of film was 36 exposures, then had to rewind it, remove it, thread in a new roll, do it again, etc. multplied that times ten... wow. And to think I was kind of cranky about the shots I might miss swapping out an SD card?

Definitely a plus for digital. Still miss film for some reason though. Strange, huh?

I know what you are talking about I do miss the film and darkroom experience . but on the flip side on my last 2 week trip out west I took over 5000 pics. then you have the computer to make art out of your pics in moments . I love the tech side of it. My teenage grandson lives next door to me so he gives me tech help if I need help .

I'm the young one - when I remarried my hubby was 20 years older than me (but strangely we clicked - I kept thinking, "we're supposed to have nothing in common?!?!?") so usually I'm tech support. No one else in this house is really "tech savvy" to say the least. Can't remember what it was my son said he "knew" the other day - oh that he could "fix any computer." I asked him what RAM was... and he had no clue. He definitely isn't ready to take over from me yet...

I'm considering making my own B&W dark room and getting out my old Pentax and at least doing some black and white for the fun of it.

I admit at 60 I know more than most about computers but my hubby builds them and I love the graphics programs I also do digital embroidery and need a lot of software knowledge to do it. I always did love darkroom work but don't miss the smell

Wow! I've never heard of digital embroidery! Learn something new every day. I run our network wireless (N), secured, etc. Upgraded my router by myself, etc. I don't know... I probably wouldn't miss the smell long, but right now I'm feeling really nostalgic about it all for some reason. I probably should really think it out before spending $800 or so getting everything together to have a new one?

I am sure if you think about it you are familiar with digital embroidery . most malls have a place that will embroider on blankets and hats and so on, well it is all done with a computer and digital embroidery machine now. I can pretty much draw about any thing I want and digitize it so my machine will stitch it out. It is a hobby that has become a part time business , like most of my hobbys

Oh! Okay. Yes, there's a place here that does that large-scale. The only "industry" of any size in our town (employs maybe a half dozen people).

Most of the big pros and cons have been mentioned already, but for me, it's the eyes. Yes, the knees don't work well, etc., but I'm afraid of what is going to happen when I can no longer see well enough. Crappy hearing isn't fun, but doesn't effect the photography much, but it is already difficult to see some things. By the way, young ones, be aware that the amount of time it takes for the eyes to focus on something drastically lengthens as you get older. i.e., you come up to the intersection, glance one way and then the other. When you are young, that works. But when you're older, you have to look longer and multiple times to catch it all.


.... and then there's the memory .... why did I come out here today... ?

Oh I know - I rely so much on autofocus because I really can't be completely sure I have it in focus. Part of it is the focusing screen. I think that when I get another camera I'm going to see if I can swap focusing screens in them and consider getting one of the old fashioned ones with the split in them...

thank GOD for auto focus . I also see things with a different eye now . I still love macro but tend to shot parts of buildings more now .

50 years ago - just walking down any road would present many photography opportunities. Now it is just not there. No it is not about my fading vision. I still travel to places far, and there I feel renewed again.

Pros:
I can afford the gear a bit more easily (though I've hit my limit for now...)
I can devote the time to messing about in photoshop.

Cons:
I'm having lots of trouble carrying the gear around.
The long lenses are too heavy (anybody want to buy an 80-400 sigma?)
IS is a must.
Staying up all night to shoot the stars plays hell with work the next day.
Getting up off the floor is an ordeal (bad knees and way too much weight is a dangerous combination!)

I'm 52, and so not too old - but the mileage... ohh, the mileage...

"Even at a little over 40, I can understand that. To the "truly" young, look after your knees and hips - if/when you begin to feel pain in them, trust me, life takes on a whole other meaning."

I am only 15, and I know what you mean; my right hip hasn't been completely pain free since I had to have surgery last spring; good to know I have more to look forward to!

cons: People think you're creepy when you pull your camera out around children.