5 Reasons to Photograph

[Gary@Red Photo]

Everyone has different reasons why they photograph.  I am always curious what drives people to be photographers.  So I posed the question to me and I came up with the 5 following reasons.

1. Challenge

I have always liked the challenges of photography.  No matter how much you learn  you are never done, and there is always more to learn, or a new way to do something that you already know, or a different way that you learn from someone else.  Photography education is a bottomless pit.  While some poeple would see this as a hopeless situation, I see it as motivating.  I want to be challenged.  I want to learn more.  I want to get better.

2. Creativity

I photograph as a way to be creative.  Nothing else gives me an outlet for my artist side like photography does.  I have done many types of arts; visual, musical, and written, but there is still a sense of fulfillment that I get when I capture a great image that none of the other arts that I perform gives to me.  It is that indescibeable quality.  It is the best artisitic outlet that I have found.  Something about the visual medium for expression rings true with me.  Truer than the other art forms.

3. Satisfaction

This goes hand-in-hand with the idea of creativity.  There is an overwhelming sense of satisfaction that I get from making photographs.  I am aways thinking that I might not come back with something that good, but I always do.  There are always surprises and new things that I find.  There are always problems and reinterpretations.  Figuring these things out is very satisfying to me.

4. Travel

I love to travel.  I love to photograph.  Put the two together and you have the idea situation for me.  I am very interested in documenting people and cultures all around the world.  And I have been fortunate enough to have traveled over most of the world.  I have been to every state in the US.  Maybe I am searching for something, I don't know.  But my camera affords me the opportunity to try and capture some of the places that I have been.  Photography is a great excuse to travel, but I could photograph anywhere.  It is just that I prefer Paris.

5. Passion

Without passion you might as well not do it.  You have to work so hard at any art form to master it.  So you better be prepared for long hours of learning and practice.  That is where passion comes in.  Passion is what gets you through it when you are tired, or cold, or hungry.  Passion drives you on to take another image and another.  I really think that passion is the single most important reason to photograph.  And it is so often overlooked.  When I ask classes of my beginning photography students to list why they photograph, unfortunately passion often does not make the list.  This doesn't mean that they don't have passion.  They may and just do not realize it. 

That is why it is important to stop for a moment and ask yourself the 5 reason why you photograph.  Look over the answers and see what motivates you.  Use these things to further your motivation, your creativity, and your photography.

www.redphotophotography.com

Red Photo Houston Wedding Photographers

Eye Candy and Brain Veggies

[LeeR]

May I add a sixth element to your list?

6. Therapy
As I get older I find time spent in photography to be incredibly therapeutic. It helps me process whatever is going on in other parts of my life and those things often, in turn, influence my images. It may not be cheaper than time spent on the couch, but it's a lot more fun and you end up with some really nice gear.

[Michael_2010]

Originally Posted by LeeR

May I add a sixth element to your list?

6. Therapy
As I get older I find time spent in photography to be incredibly therapeutic. It helps me process whatever is going on in other parts of my life and those things often, in turn, influence my images. It may not be cheaper than time spent on the couch, but it's a lot more fun and you end up with some really nice gear.

I can relate to this notion. Age and illness have slowed me down considerably over the past couple of years. I had lost that instinctive need to learn, or reach just a little further each day. Then a very old passion for photography was awoken and it has literally changed my life.

Now, when apnea wakes me at 3-4:00 in the morning instead of sitting in the dark staring at the television, I'm splashing water on my face, grabbing my gear and headed in the direction of the rising sun.

I have a long way to go in mastering my equipment, but I have not been as inspired about anything else in many, many years.

[Gary@Red Photo]

I agree that photography has always been therapeutic for me. But doesn't five things sound better than six?

[Michael_2010]

Hmmm....... most of us love six in one way or another...... lol

[RichardTaylor]

A couple more you I would like to add to the list.
7 Memories....
8 The ability to bring some joy into other peoples lives

[Gary@Red Photo]

How about 9. Memories. Photography serves a very important record keeping role. Think of all of those cherished family photographs that everyone has. These are always what people want to save in any house fire.

[Krusty79]

Ability to share your vision/interpretation of the world around you with others and conversely, the ability to see how others view the world.

[velvet4269]

Originally Posted by LeeR

May I add a sixth element to your list?

6. Therapy
As I get older I find time spent in photography to be incredibly therapeutic. It helps me process whatever is going on in other parts of my life and those things often, in turn, influence my images. It may not be cheaper than time spent on the couch, but it's a lot more fun and you end up with some really nice gear.

This was the justification I used when I finally broke down & bought my camera (which was a lot of money for me to spend on something I didn't see, at the time, as absolutely necessary): It's cheaper than therapy, and I get more out of it.

I joked about it, but after a while, found a great deal of truth in it; the more time I spent out with my camera, losing myself in my surroundings, the more I found myself, and the happier I was. I could lose myself for hours in my own bathroom-turned-studio, and not realize so much time had passed.

And I marveled at the world around me, the things I would have never seen had I not tread those paths, or taken my time: caterpillars munching on flowers, spiders eating bees, herons taking flight & hunting for dinner.

It's something I need to pick up again: to find my happy place, and myself again.

[Gary@Red Photo]

I appreciate all of the additional thoughts. I am working on a second set of inspirations since so many people have contributed their own. We are all teachers and all students.