Do you have someone to talk to that understands your passion?

[Tzetsin]

I was wondering how many of you have someone who you can talk to about photography? Someone you can bounce ideas off of, someone whom you can talk to about it that actually understands what your talking about?

I've only just recently taken up photography as a hobby lately and I've talked to a couple of local photographers, not to ask questions, just to talk about it, but they were very aloof and almost (but not quite) rude about it. These were people that do this for a living though, so i wonder if its just that they dont want to talk about work after work, or if they really dont want to "help the competition" or so they say.

As anyone who is passionate enough about anything can tell you, I'm almost desperate to talk about photography with someone. I do have a friend that lets me talk and talk and talk about photography, but he doesn't have any real desire to pick up a camera, or learn about it, he just seems to like to listen to someone who has more to say than how many girls he's picked up, how many beers he can drink an how the game went last night.

I live in a pretty small city, so there isn't much diversity for hobbyists around here, I'm on the nets and forums almost every day trying to absorb as much about the subject, but what i really need is some good hard discussion. Some back and forth. Someone to challenge and be challenged by.

Is this a pretty common thing amongst budding photogs or were most of you introduced to photography by someone you knew and could talk to about it? if not, how did you, (or did you?) find someone or some people to share in your passion?

Pretty much everyone I know runs away when they see the camera in my hand now lol, they know i'll have absolutely nothing else to talk about untill I put it away... this is a bit of a problem as I'm rarely without my cam.

The reason you're getting the flak is because those people are typical bombarded with people like you all the time. And, 95% of the time, it's a passing fad and they just go away.

The last few people that approached me about my stuff have been the, "like OMG! I just took this one awesome photo! We are like totally best friends, right?! LIKE OMG! I mean, i just got this D38x camera and LIKE i totally know it's not like yours and junk, but I take some of the best shots with it... aren't we just like soulmates?!?!!!!!111!!!one!!!11"

Err... no.

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by Tzetsin

I was wondering how many of you have someone who you can talk to about photography? Someone you can bounce ideas off of, someone whom you can talk to about it that actually understands what your talking about?

I've only just recently taken up photography as a hobby lately and I've talked to a couple of local photographers, not to ask questions, just to talk about it, but they were very aloof and almost (but not quite) rude about it. These were people that do this for a living though, so i wonder if its just that they dont want to talk about work after work, or if they really dont want to "help the competition" or so they say.

As anyone who is passionate enough about anything can tell you, I'm almost desperate to talk about photography with someone. I do have a friend that lets me talk and talk and talk about photography, but he doesn't have any real desire to pick up a camera, or learn about it, he just seems to like to listen to someone who has more to say than how many girls he's picked up, how many beers he can drink an how the game went last night.

I live in a pretty small city, so there isn't much diversity for hobbyists around here, I'm on the nets and forums almost every day trying to absorb as much about the subject, but what i really need is some good hard discussion. Some back and forth. Someone to challenge and be challenged by.

Is this a pretty common thing amongst budding photogs or were most of you introduced to photography by someone you knew and could talk to about it? if not, how did you, (or did you?) find someone or some people to share in your passion?

Pretty much everyone I know runs away when they see the camera in my hand now lol, they know i'll have absolutely nothing else to talk about untill I put it away... this is a bit of a problem as I'm rarely without my cam.

Much the same as you, I talk about it over the net, especially here. Even my facebook friends are starting to get burnt out on me talking about it all the time. So to answer your question, no, I do not have anyone to talk to about it in real life. I'm cool with that though. It's kind of my alone time.

[mshockley]

Omg......mr. max another day that you've made me laugh.Seriously, this is not an easy task.....

Anyway, I can understand how you feel about wanting someone to talk to about something your obviously very interested and passionate about. Is there a local camera club in your area? That would be a good place to start. I'm sure maybe a very diverse group of people and all skill levels, but still, at least people with your interests.

I myself have found this forum to be the best sounding board of all. Yeah, it's hard to really have a "conversation", and even harder to feel like your really getting to know someone, but it's still better than talking to my Golden Retriever, and even he has started to turn tail and run when he sees me with the camera.

[GypsyRose31299]

I feel your pain....I don't have anyone to really talk to about my hobbies either. I have been taking some night photography classes through adult education so that has helped me to get out there and learn some new things and also puts me around other people that are interested in photography. My problem with the social aspect of it is that it seems everyone wants to just talk about equipment and it starts feeling like they are competitive about that part of it.

The first couple classes I took were given by a local photographer that has been in the business for 20-some years and seems very knowledgable. I think in the first class he talked about how some people are all about equipment and others are more about technique....he said some people think that having the newest, most expensive equipment is going to make their pictures better but that really any good photographer can get a good picture with any camera. So he recommended becoming friends with the "equipment people" and then a year later when there is something newer and "better" out, they might sell their "old" stuff cheap. LOL.

The classes I'm in right now, the instructor hasn't been into photography as long and while I do feel like he's got a pretty good grasp on things (from my limited knowledge) he doesn't seem nearly as knowledgable as the other guy. The nice thing about this class is that its very hands-on...he'll lecture for about an hour and then we will actually go out and shoot for an hour. And in the next class we review some of the images we took the week before (we email a couple of our pictures to him each week) which I find helpful.

I'm totally rambling but if you can find some classes to sign up for that might be a good place to find people with similar interests. Or I know there is a camera club in my city (I even tried to attend a meeting but the info on their webpage must be wrong cause no one else was there...haven't tried again) so you might be able to find something like that. Also, there is a camera shop in the next major city west of us that hosts different talks and stuff....so you could check with your camera shops if there are any around.

Actually I even learned from the counter at Costco (where I get my photos printed) that the manager of the photo dept is majorly into photography....at one point he talked about giving a class but I haven't heard anymore about it. So I guess you could hang out where you get your photos printed and see what comes along for conversation?

Or, your best bet is to hang out here! I have been reading these forums for quite some time now but just lately getting brave enough to comment/post....a lot of good information here and seems to be a great group of people.

[scootermcq]

Um.... Mad Max.... does this mean we are not soul mates after all?? Wow, um, wow, is my face red.

[Tzetsin]

Originally Posted by maxharvard

The reason you're getting the flak is because those people are typical bombarded with people like you all the time. And, 95% of the time, it's a passing fad and they just go away.

The last few people that approached me about my stuff have been the, "like OMG! I just took this one awesome photo! We are like totally best friends, right?! LIKE OMG! I mean, i just got this D38x camera and LIKE i totally know it's not like yours and junk, but I take some of the best shots with it... aren't we just like soulmates?!?!!!!!111!!!one!!!11"

Err... no.

oi, your probably right. I'm a Computer tech an I get that too, so i suppose I understand. Didnt even think of it that way.

Originally Posted by mshockley

Omg......mr. max another day that you've made me laugh.Seriously, this is not an easy task.....

HAZZAH!!! A guffaw for the queen!!

Originally Posted by scootermcq

Um.... Mad Max.... does this mean we are not soul mates after all?? Wow, um, wow, is my face red.

Are you mental? We broke up 6 months ago!


Dude, get over it. I was never in it for anything but the free slash and go.

[thatBilly]

You lot should think yourselves lucky you have people to bore with your photography talk.

Originally Posted by maxharvard

I mean, i just got this D38x camera and LIKE i totally know it's not like yours and junk, but I take some of the best shots with it... aren't we just like soulmates?!?!!!!!111!!!one!!!11"

Never heard of the D38x, what make is it?

Originally Posted by dehaani

Never heard of the D38x, what make is it?

Please tell me there's sarcasm I'm missing.