What did I think about before Photography?

<p>I was reading some recent comments here on photo.net and came across one that I thought might generate some interesting discussion. One of the photographers here was commenting about his being consumed by his passion for photography and that it is all he thinks about. Then he said..."I started to wonder...what did I think about before photography?"<br>

For me, since my wife bought me a Nikon D300 for Christmas 2007, I've been thinking about and doing photography, with a passion, all of the time. How has photography changed your life and what you think about? Has it interfered with other pursuits? I just thought it would be interesting to hear what other photographers think about this topic.</p>

<p>i have been interested in light since my early youth. this made me very interested in art and art history in general. i remember being fascinated by the light in some of the scottish highland paintings from late 18th and early 19th century. i painted for a while, mostly water colours and some pastel but soon realised that somehow, i dodn't feel very passionate about painting as a process. about four or five years ago i picked up a copy of a photographic magazine that had a picture of a scottish location that i had earlier seen in a painting. anyone who has been the scottish highlands in spring or early autumn might know about the special qualityof the afternoon light. i saw in the picture a good representation of that light. in a couple of years time, just by chance i pictued up an olympus om40 and there began my photographic journey. i am still fascinated by that special light in scottish landscapes. although unfortunately, since being interested in photography, my finances had taken a very bad turn. so a formal walking trip is beyond me for the moment.. perhaps next year.</p>

I was forced to cut back on my hiking trips more because of my physical health than my financial health. But I have found many local land conservation areas with good walking opportunities so you may also find some. Are you familiar this website - http://www.geoffspages.co.uk/camerawalks/ ? Good for armchair expeditions.

<p>What did I think about before Photography?<br>

I would be lonely!</p>

<p>Happy I'm here on planet earth at a time when I'm able to use photography as my chosen medium to tell a story.</p>

<p>Well, photography has certainly become such an integral part of my life, that it's very hard to imagine a time when I wasn't glued to a camera. Certainly that was more so right after what I call my "awakening" at the Getty in LA, upon which I "borrowed" an old Pentax from a friend (still have it) and just started devouring everything photography. But even still, it's very rare that I go someplace that I don't have a camera ready to go at the drop of a hat, even if it's just making sure my Holga's in the glove box on the way to the store. </p>

<p>Of course, before photography, it was all about music, and most notably being the best bassist I could be (I'm a much better bassist than photographer actually, but then I've been doing THAT for 20 years). Initially photography interfered with that, largely because it was just the new thing, and I think it's pretty natural that the novelty of something is going to override other parts of one's life. Of course, I picked up my trusty "J" and realized my fingers didn't move quite as fast as they used to! </p>

<p>At this point, it's safe to say that photography is a very integral part of my everyday life, just not at the obsessive levels it once was. Now, it ebbs and flows along with other endeavors, so I'll swing from taking thousands of pictures in a very short time to maybe 10 over the course of a week, but rocking out on bass in the meantime, to playing video games and not doing much of either! For me, it just had to be a somewhat organic progression, and with anything creative we take on, it's good to just let it happen the way it happens. Interestingly, it seems like creativity really spawns more creativity. Often, I'll get a new design project for work, usually one I'm very happy with, and out of that will come a bunch of new photos, new songs, and I'm doing all of it at full intensity. </p>

<p>I would say that photography has changed my life. There will forever be that new way of seeing the world as a series of compositions, crops, and exposures. What's most notably different is that I've come to appreciate how everything around us can be a piece of art, and how detailed and interesting the world, even the most mundane parts of it, can be. </p>

<p>Girls as I recall. And now it is Photography <strong><em>and</em> </strong> Girls. Actually I became interested in stereoscopic photography as a teen at first by looking at Keystone views in middle school and am now even planning a re-awakening of that early love with a CLA of some really ancient cameras and-(yes, sportsfans)-<strong>film.</strong> <br /> Picture taking has stimulated me to get up at ungodly hours and made me some good friends throughout the years who can share my life's trajectory and memory of when we all had a lot of hair:-). And I am pushed to learn new things about my subjects, people are the most interesting if they reveal themselves. Plus,my wife appreciates my documentation of our family and trips. She gives me 7/7 figuratively,devoted fan and supporter. Example- my slipping behind on a tour grip of the water plant and being last to catch up---it helps to have spousal support. And she actually will hold a lens once in a while if I ask nicely. PS: I tried sketching and painting when younger and was too impatient for mixing colors and varnishes and stretching canvas. But I did try that first way back.</p>

<p>I would like to say that it was wine, women and song, but since my obsession with photography began when I was about 5 years old I think it was likely to have been the whereabouts of my 'teddy bear'!</p>

<p>yeah...it was definitely wine, women, and song. But I was, unlike Graham, 22 years old when I became photographically obsessed.</p>

<p>DJ'ing. I used to spend 5-6, maybe 8 hours a day practicing. It was all I did for 17 years. I was obsessed with audio production. Then video. But writing is still my most enjoyable passion. Reading is a very close second. I could live without a camera before I could live without a book to read.</p>

Before photography I spent most of my time going to school and avoiding going to Vietnam. When I was working on my first

masters I saw a photographer shooting a lovely girl on campus. I thought that would be a nice hobby (photography - not the

lovely girl). I have not lost my love for photography over the years. Actually, I still enjoy shooting a beautiful girl now and

then even though I do mostly street photography and artsy stuff.

 

Mark

<p>I was introduced to photography before I could talk. My father was a fairly accomplished amateur photographer when I was born and I became his subject willingly or unwillingly for more times than I can remember. I remember walking in a Salon photographic exhibition and seeing my own image plastered all over the exhibit hall. By the time I was old enough to walk I was playing with one of those Kodak instamatic. By the time I was 6 I had a Rolleicord and was taking pictures right next to my dad. So there was really nothing before photography.<br>

OTOH what I do besides photography is more interesting because I am into everything.;-) Girls, cars, radio control airplanes, helicopters, SCUBA diving, hiking, camping, reading, golf, alcohol........you name it.;-) </p>

<p>Before photography it was stone carving for me. That was the only art form I cared about. Photography and drawing made me lazy because they are so much easier. And take less space to store.</p>

<p>The birds and the bees what else.</p>

<p>Harry, that seems to be a common theme:-)</p>

Seems like I'm the only odd bird here.

 

Before picking up a camera, I really was into cars. Or rather, car design.

 

I tended to observe them as much as I could, learn their particular traits in design, shape, style, everything; the fact that

front headlights could be square had me fascinated (and I could recite a list of car makes and models that had oddly

shaped headlights), while the varying designs of tail lights were the most intriguing thing (why so small in the forties and

fifties and so large in the sixties and seventies). Why did European cars have yellow blinkers while most American cars

had them embedded in the tail lights without any outward difference other than their position (they tended to be at the

outer side). And grilles! What purpose do they really have? Are they smiles or what?

 

That'll give you an idea. Of course, growing up in Guatemala, when cars weren't easily cast away helped a lot; it was

like living in an automotive museum. In fact, I had friends who had relatives driving cars from the late forties and early

fifties... and the cars were still in very good shape.

 

But the day I picked up a camera... most of it went out the window. I was 16.

<p>For me it was music, guitar from age 13 on, music of the late 60s, early 70s...Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Beatles. Anyone who was in high school during those years would know what it was like...passion! Photography started in high school as a yearbook and newspaper photographer. I used the school's Mamiya double lens reflex(which I liked a lot) and developed my own film and printed it. I loved it, but then came college, medical school, residency, marriage, kids work, and more work. About 7 years ago I slowed down my work and started to think about other things, like my family. For Christmas 2007 my wife bought me my camera, now I am seriously hooked, in a good way. My daughter caught the bug and has joined PN and wants a camera like dad's...maybe a D40 for her birthday to upgrade from her Samsung P&S...we'll see.</p>

Diving and photography for the new millennium ; Decade before that: golf. Decade before that:: fishing. Decade before that: the theatre, dahling. Before that: trying to live with the EX.