why are you interested in photography??

[nicotine]

I wanted to capture the beauty of the world around me.

[PnwGuy]

Mid-life crisis. I've always wanted to explore photography as a serious hobby as I've always had an interest. I just never took the time. Turning 45 and doing some math in my head made me realize I don't have forever any longer and that time goes by way too fast. This was reinforced by my father's recent passing at the young age of 66.

I looked at my "one of these days" list and got to work. Photography was at the top of the list. I wonder why I waited so long. Photography is a drug you know. :-) There really should be a General Surgeon's warning.

The other motivator was to tap my creative/artistic side. I've always been good at making things work, but not good at making them look good. My brain hurts sometimes, but it's good cerebral exercise.

[Saralonde]

Always loved those old B&W photographers: Ansel Adams, Margaret Bourke-White, Henri-Cartier Bresson, Dorothea Lange.
Plus I always need a creative outlet. I picked up a camera and it was love.

[kencaleno]

Originally Posted by gh patriot

WOW! I had no idea you could pp with a pencil. I know nothing about film processing (and not much more with digital)

Yes, negative retouching was a spe******t profession,using pencils,knives spotting ink and brushes-quite an art-then after retouching you processed-graded paper,dodge,burn,tint,tone,posterize,sabattier effect,etc-it was quite a lot of work. Regards, Ken

[katejohn]

photography is reality. how i choose to perceive and capture that reality is the fun part.

i started in highschool - dark room and all - and got away from it for a few years. went to graphic design school, got an internship and later on job at a professional photographer (all digital). we did a lot of food and product shots for a grocery chain. worked there for a bit and had to move on.....8 years later, just getting back into it and realize how much i have forgotten and how much the industry has changed!!!

[yalborap]

I'm interested now because, at the end of the day, I just love being behind the camera. I love going out and taking pictures of people and things and making gorgeous images.

Bit of a cheesy answer, I suppose, but it's the truth.

[dhart]

I also had the 110 kodak camera when I was a kid - took many rolls of the cat. Dad took me to Yellowstone when I was 12 and I came back with 7 rolls of 36 exp film. Still have those photos. They all looked like postcards to me. It's always stuck with me, I guess. I love taking photos of my kids and the world around me. My husband likes "seeing the world through my eyes." It's a way of keeping memories and events alive.

[AnnetteJ]

This is an interesting and thought-provoking question, and I have enjoyed reading other people's responses. It seems we have some similar and some quite different reasons! Myself I would have to say Art and Memory - recording something that grabbed my attention. My parents are a big influence, both by giving me a camera for my tenth birthday and processing the films [if my Dad didn't think much of my subject matter, he'd grumble at the cost, curbing my impulses towards abstract photography!] and also because they see holidays through the lens of a camera big time! My Dad usually gets 6hrs video and my Mum about 2000 pix from each holiday - I'm the only one who will enjoy looking at the whole lot! I think I've always had an impulse to record what I've seen, preferably in an artistic and pleasing way. I'm good at noticing stuff, often what others don't seem to notice, and I like to record that, by a photograph bring it to their attention. Of course the endless striving for the Holy Grail of a perfect shot, annoying my husband by not just taking one pic of something interesting, but taking several from different angles and zooms etc! He doesn't like going for a walk with me if I bring my camera, but if I go without it I always see stuff I want to take pix of and wish I'd brought it! I don't really know why I have that urge, so maybe I can't answer the question really.

I suppose another aspect, the art, might be that I don't paint or anything, I can draw, but having arthritis means I can't do that for long, and anyway - so many subjects, so little time!! So I can make beautiful and interesting pictures with the camera, sometimes playing with pp. It's the art of making a good picture that I like, rather than the tecnhical side. Of course the technical stuff can make better pix, but I'll likely never have a dslr as they're too heavy and with all the lenses not really suitable for me with my arthritic hands. But sometimes knowing your tool and working within its limitations can produce some very good results and be a good discipline.

Also, I discovered Blurb this year and have had great fun producing some books of poetry with photos, some where I already had the photos and some taken specially. I rather enjoyed going out and hunting for the perfect illustration for a poem. Several people were impressed by the pictures and asked if photography was my hobby, which I had never really considered. I thought of taking pix as just something I did and took so many that some of them were quite good. But it made me think and want to learn more - this site has been great for that. I find the more I learn the more I want to learn, especially about why a shot is good or not so good.

I don't know if that really answers the question, but I enjoyed thinking about it. Sometimes considering the whys helps us focus [!] on what we are doing. Thanks!

[Laurence]

Years ago I was dating a photographer and I was a model. I got tired of being the one having photos taken of me and wanted to learn to shoot. He bought me my first Nikon FM and from then on I pretty much was on this side of the camera. Since I have been taking photos I see the world in a whole different way. Everything is "that would be a nice shot".

[sognoinunastella]

Originally Posted by anthonybeard

i dont know!

i just loved taking pictures from the moment i picked up a camera.

same here, i love taking pictures there's no reason other that i can capture a photo almost exactly how i picture it in my head.

And because we al see things differently.. all pictures are different.