Linda S.

As an amateur, I like learning new things. On my bucket list, I had photograph the Northern Lights. Took 3 trips due to cloud cover (Iceland and two in Fairbanks Alaska) but on the 3rd trip, I got them! Now, I am interested in wildlife. Taking my first trip this year (polar bears in northern Canada) and next year (African safari). I've always done macro photography; that is my first love. The subject can be the center of a flower, a knot in a tree, or the eye of an elephant (zoo). Sometimes, when I travel, a person can't definitively tell where the shot was taken for I will take a close-up of patterns. For a while, I was taking environmental portraits of my fellow employees just for fun. I enjoyed that as well. Landscapes are the most difficult for me to not generate boring photos. Still working on that.

Bottom line, if I see something interesting, I will take a photo. It is for me and my enjoyment.

delder Loc: Maryland

Opportunity is another determininate of subject.
I ALWAYS have my Smartphone on me & often my Lumix DMC-ZS6, [BOTH in holsters] so I do the best I can as I come across worthy subjects.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Sometimes I get the impression that those early photographers with their relatively primitive equipment must have known a thing or two.

A. T.

Linda,

It's funny to hear you say that you enjoy learning. I'm 67yrs. old and started this wonderful passion some 7yrs. ago and it's developed into something I can't quite explain. I study and practice all the time. Every moment of the day I'm thinking about photography. I'm not a gear junky but I own five of Nikon's flagship DSLRs and I recently purchased a Hasselblad 500CM because I want to start shooting film and I came across this amazing camera that was in top mint condition. I am most comfortable when I have a camera in my hands. My passion is wildlife and landscapes but I enjoy everything except weddings. When I read your post I could truly identify with your thoughts and passion for learning and wanting to try new subjects to photograph. I believe that shooting with film will encourage me to really slow down and truly visualize the moment. I really try to do just that with digital photography but so many times, especially with breath taking landscapes, I find myself trying to capture every light changing moment which tends to accelerate the process. I've been devoting lots of time studying Ansel Adams. I don't ever intend to try and emulate this great man's work but I believe we can all learn something from other great photographers. So, with all of my rambling I would encourage you to continue learning, trying new things and most importantly, slow down and really enjoy the moment.

God Bless you,
A. T.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

When people use incorrect or misspelled terms it belittles their ideas.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

They will appreciate those photos for years to come.

I've decided that 92 will be just a stepping-stone for me.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Yes. And yes. It's kinda like talking about guns. "The person it shot"
Just trying to encourage clear thinking and writing!

Mwilliamsphotography Loc: Royal Oak Michigan & Palm Harbor Florida

I think once you master the fundamentals of photography including post processing, you can evolve to most any genre or approach that draws your interest and engages you.

Commercial photographers develop a style within a genre and pretty much stick to it because that is what the client is buying, not some new approach. It the same with illustrators also.

The wild card in all this is talent and creative intuition.

As a trained painter and graphic designer, one thing I found of interest is what made photography different from the other visual arts? The fact that we take a photo and it preserves a fraction of a second and freezes it forever is a prime difference.

Robert Doisneau noted this in how he titled his book: "Three Seconds from Eternity" which references the sum total of his curated works adding up to 3 seconds ... 1/1500 to 1/1000th here to 100th and 1/250th there.

For much of my photographic history I used that insight to inform my creative approach for private work, then evolved it to shoot events and weddings for artists, writers and art directors.

Separate from that I developed a commercial approach using lighting and more static or staged images for commerce.

User ID

Weird jevver get suchen idear ?

(Download)

pauldh Loc: Melbourne, Australia

Personally, I feel to get to a point where you have developed an unique style you need to try every genre, at least ones that appeal to you. It is this uniqueness that seems to separate run of the mill photographs from acclaimed ones irrespective of the genre. Some people are definitely gifted and their creativity is mind blowing. We probably see only the end results of their journey rising from ordinary to extraordinary. They too probably tried everything at the start. Point is you do need to try everything along the way until you discover your niche.

User ID

Maybe thaz what some will attempt but its not any sure path to the summit. As with most of my peers, I acheived my unique style without trying on any genres at all. There were simply never any genres that appealed to me.

(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)

pauldh Loc: Melbourne, Australia

I'm no expert but just an enthusiast just taking photographs that are interesting with no genre in mind or expectation of being acclaimed. It is nice though when it's peer reviewed and liked. Here are some of my photographs posted in VIEWBUG https://www.viewbug.com/member/PaulDharmaratne

By the way, I like your photographs.🙂

Linda S.

Hi A. T.! I appreciated reading your comments! I'm 75 and have been taking photographs since sometime between 7-9 years old. They let little kids put in the glass flashbulbs and remove them after the flash. Times are different now. In 2020, I purchased my first digital camera. I had to for earlier I was traveling in Italy. A fellow traveler had a digital camera. She was reviewing photos and going back to some place to retake. I, however, had 20+ rolls of film not to forget to bring home to be processed...Purchased the Canon 5D and stayed with them until I had to sell the 5DM4 because it was too heavy to handhold and I am not crazy about tripods.

I wish I was more like you, who immerse yourself into one huge field and learn all that you can every day. I am not like that - I love photography. I also love riding my horse, quilting, crafts, reading, and traveling! Oh, and I am learning guitar. I excel at being a dilettante!

My husband and I took community photography classes at Rochester Institute of Technology (where I live). It is very highly regarded school. They taught us the concept that photography is "painting with light", and they used some of the Ansel Adams works to give us examples. I think that was the most important concept I ever learned about photography. We also worked in the darkroom, added color to b/w prints, learned about so many different aspects. Unfortunately, they don't offer the classes anymore.

You have me smiling here at midnight for I have heard for my entire 75 year life to slow down. I tell people here, who meet me, that this is slow! I do enjoy every moment of everything I do, while I am doing it.

Thank you for the "God Bless You". He and I been having some interesting conversations lately.

God Bless you,
Linda S.

User ID

Thaz a fine approach. You work a subject or scene to make it yield up a worthwhile image. Any mental filtering that sorts it into a genre while you are working it is something you must shut down.

It would be disingenuous to gush that I love ALL of your viewbug images, but I really did find many of them to be very intriguing.

------------------------------------------------

Seems to be no harm in recognizing genres you may see in your work. When posting for advice, a named genre is a possible way to describe the situation youre working in. But when facing a "photo op", mentally naming and assigning it a genre can blind you to its much wider range of visual possibilties. Just see the "op" as a sample of the wider world. Think of it as "visual stem cells". Stem cells can ultimately become any tissue or organ.

Wallen Loc: Middle Earth

I fully agree with you.
It's nice to have one's own favorite genre or style, but to box oneself and always aim on such approach in all situations can be limiting or a hindrance to get the best out of the scene/moment.