Why Photography ?

[geotography]

For nearly six decades I have been engaged in some type of composition: writing, music, film and now photography. In 1968, I was splicing together my Super-8 film in Vietnam with a $29 Sears and Roebuck film editor. I bounced around in film as hobby through years and spent alot of time dreaming of photography. My experiences with composition have always had to take a back seat to career and family; that is, until now. I retired from my work as a city planner on November 30, 2007. On December 7, 2008, I purchased my Pentax K10d...my first SLR of any type.

I recently had a special opportunity to view a film that was produced to stimulate cultural change and creative thought within a community hospital organization. Photographer Dewitt Jones was the speaker throughout this film. He spoke words that sum all of this up for me...paraphrasing:

"Photography is the creative vehicle for falling in love with the world"

As a closing note, I am grateful each day for being able to engage in this awesome, inspirational hobby. I am also thankful for being a part of the DPS community of people who are also falling in love with the world through their camera lens.

Geo

[Nobie]

I tend to live in the past, so photos come in handy.

It's also a nice break from my other hobbies. Sailing isn't something you can do when you have a few free minutes. Playing guitar can become exhausting, particularly to the ears. Fly-fishing is seasonal. I find photography to be a great match up with my other interests.

[windrider86]

The name of my little company (lack of a better word) is A Lock in Time. I've chosen photography because I love having the ability to freeze moments in time by locking them into a photograph. Whether it be a child running thru a founatin, A flower blooming, a wedding or birthday. To me it is a privledge to be able to share that moment in such an intimate way and then to make that moment into a work of art. And then, to know someone is hanging that precious moment on thier walls for the world to see is such a fulling moment of a great achievement.

[chireau]

Great question/poll kunaldaswani !!

I think its a good exercise to actually pin pointing what has got us started (individually) in photography!

[airbrushjohn]

well i have been an artist for a long, long time, i used to like taking photos when i was a kid, but the cost, was a little crazy. so a few years ago i bought a dslr, and i guess i just fell in love with it. and when i'm out shooting wether at an event or school portraits, or even taking photos of my son and his little crazy dog, you really see things that you normally would never see!! and that was actually a huge perk. because when i go to some of these schools to shoot kid's photos and if you take your time you can really, some times see what the kids are thinking, its amazing! anyway, it is really a blast!

[Boogedy]

I have always needed a constant creative outlet. I have been interested in photography since high school but once I started searching for my wedding photographer last year I became OBSESSED with the idea. I can't really pin-point it, photography is just something I feel like I need to do. I love everything about it from composing a shot to the post-processing to sharing my shots with friends and family (and random strangers on the internet thanks to Flickr and this site...though you are all starting to feel a lot less "random" due to the amount of time I spend on here...LOL).

Was that even an answer?

[jiminyClickit]

Not a new question, but lots of new answers. Photographs have been inspiring me to Art since Life and Saturday Evening Post magazines brought the world into my home. A camera turns out to be much cheaper and a thousand times faster than drawing or painting. Often it becomes much more rewarding, also.

When my memory gets really bad, I'll have lots of images of moments and things that no longer exist. That's sort of like time travel, or Magic.

[moi]

'Painting with light'..............that's why I take photographs.

[Mandy73]

It's a brilliant way to express my creativity and I just love taking photographs. Finding a subject, taking the shot, seeing what I've got, it's just loads of fun and very rewarding.

I could go on for ages, but I wont!

[ssladybug]

Like a lot of other people have said here, I have an artistic eye but cannot paint, draw or even write to save my life. Photography has been a great outlet for me. I also have a horrible memory and being able to capture a moment or a scene helps preserve that memory forever.

There's also something really rewarding about showing someone a picture you've taken of them and have them LOVE the way you captured them.

Another reason I think it interests me is genetics (seriously). My grandfather, father, several uncles and cousins are/were all serious photographers. Mind you, I grew up in a different part of the country than them all (except my father) so it wasn't that I was exposed to all that photography. I think its just something that runs in the family. Although, it did help that I spent part of my childhood in the darkroom...an experience that children of most photographers these days won't get thanks to digital.