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rws

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    Are there those who don't use their cameras as often?

    in Casual Photo Conversations

    Posted

    Like many of you, I too have cut down on the number of photos I take in the past couple of years, whereas previously I would go out many hours a week. Covid has been one factor and advancing age and some medical issues have been another. I had a revelation halfway through all of that however: with all of the time spent taking photos in previous years, I had spent relatively time "finishing" my photos, turning them from raw files (or slides) into final (?) versions that were truly ready to display. I started printing more, but my Epson R3000 gave up the ghost, so for my 70th birthday I invested in two new Epson printers (a P700 and a P900) which I have used almost every day since then.

     

    I remember reading a quote from Elliott Erwitt (a favorite of mine) that essentially says that every photo contains two compositions: one formed in the viewfinder by confronting your subject, and one formed upon reflection in the final picture, in which you uncover the appealing dynamics of the competition (which may not inlcude all of what you originally saw in the viewfinder. This is a paraphrase, of course, but you get the idea. So for the past year I've mainly been taking older photos (digital and film) and discovering the interesting "dynamics' of their contents -- sometimes what I originally saw and sometimes something different.

     

    I'm now also preparing to do more actual camera work, though. Working to make a finished print of a picture does have its "ah ha" moments when your efforts all seem to come together. But I miss the "ah ha" moments that my various cameras have provided over the years via direct engagement with life/the world/the visual. I also miss the social dimension of photography, so also hope to pick my activities with local clubs and photography meeting places.

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