How much time do you spend in Photography?

[adalove]

Hello, all!!

The last two, three months (since I got my digital camera), I´ve been excited reading, downloading, searching about photography and getting out making my shots...

All that make me wonder how much time do you spend in your photography hobbie? Do you get out at weekends? Do you take your camera with you everyday? Do you read magazines, books?

Thanks! :p

[loosestring]

Much like you I am new to photography (for the most part). I got a Canon DR XTi about 4 weeks ago now and I've hardly put the thing down. My mother-in-law started calling me "camera-nose". I've read some online to learn here and there. I've been through the manual for my camera trying to get the operation and photography theory to "stick" in my mind. But mostly I've been taking photo's of near anything and everything in hopes that I'll begin to understand more fully what each setting does and the result of tweaking them in one way or another.
I have a plethora of nice photo's of my family, house and yard, but I'm feeling some photographers cabin fever and I want to get out and take more pictures away from the ole abode. Perhaps some of the historic architecture around the city or some nice landscapes in the marsh, river, or ocean. I hope to make way to the Okeefenokee Swamp this spring or summer to get some wild gators and other wildlife.
I'm having lots of fun with it, but I have a ways to go before I would actually consider myself a photographer. After I have a good collection I hope to open a Shutterstock account and perhaps start shooting events or something so I can create a little supplementary income for my family. I hope to get good enough to be featured in an art gallery or magazines or something. It could happen right? :D
I don't take the camera everywhere I go, but I have it with me probably about half the time we leave the house. I'd like to get a smaller camera to take everywhere else; maybe a Canon SD600 or the like. It will have to wait for now as my end-of-year bonus has been fully exhausted.:o

[adalove]

Hi, loosestring!

I feel I have to practise a lot, too. I´ve been in a very known park by the river, in my city, and in a pair of popular places in towns near by.. In Christmas I didn´t have time and my family this year wasn´t in the right mood for photos.. so I have to go out again!! This thing is like a drug, isn´t it??

Thanks! :p

[loosestring]

Yeah. Some days it can be. I think my wife is getting jealous of the camera as it probably seems I spend more time with it than her.

[mikem12188]

I just got my camera too and I've managed to grab some photos. But the weather has been pretty bad where I live and the colors are all gone until spring, so I've been spending a lot of time reading up on photography and Photoshope Elements 5.0, which I also just bought. But the weather will turn nicer and I will be taking more photos as the days get better. :cool:

[heliot]

Have been taking photos off and on for the last 25 years but since I got my Canon 20d in August I've been told I'm a little obessed. I tend to have a camera with me all the time now, if not the dslr then a small canon point/shoot or the dslr and an old kodak duaflex II w/ contraption for taking Through the Viewfinder shots. Then of course theres time online here, at flickr and other photo sites, books and magazines. And don't forget any time in photoshop. Hmmm...maybe I need a 2nd hobby... nah.:D

[alissasanderson]

It depends...on the day, the weather, my mood, my husbands work schedule. Some weeks I'm out every day for an hour or more with my camera, sometimes I'll go days without taking a shot. But the days I don't shoot, you'll find me tinkering with photos I've already taken, or browsing my contacts on Flickr, or here, or reading a magazine, or scrapbooking old family photos...

I just wish it showed more in the finished product. I feel like I don't make much progress in my photography, no matter how much I work at it.

[Saralonde]

I was into film photography years ago. I had a Pentax. But then my children came along and I did it less and less. Now they are college age and I got the bug again. I really enjoy learning about digital and it has become my main hobby. I don't take my camera everywhere, but it accompanies me a lot. Even if I don't take any shots somedays, I'm always doing something with photography.
Like Alissa, sometimes I feel like I'm not making any progress, but it is similar to how I play golf. When I'm golfing, sometimes I feel like saying, "What's the use, I'm terrible at this." But then I'll hit a beautiful shot or an amazing putt and it will keep me going. Same with photography. Lots of bad shots, but then you get one that keeps you going.:)