bersharbp Loc: Texas

When I was young I spent a lot of time drawing with paper and pen or pencil. My parents bought me colored pencils and eventually a Brownie camera. As I grew, I bought better and better cameras and graduated to oil paints and SLRs and darkrooms.. Finally I dropped the oils because of the time, mess and smells. Now, with DSLRs, we have the best of all.

Though I found it gratifying that someone would actually offer me money for an occasional painting, I did the hobby for me....not the money! I have made money from taking portraits, but I didn't like being REQUIRED to go to the darkroom. I still have a hard time with portraits and I don't like being required to take pictures.

There are many who are definitely much better at photography than I, but I do this for me and for my purposes and I appreciate looking at other peoples work (good and bad)

izzyandal Loc: Hilton Head Island

Animal rescue has become an important part of my life.
A great picture of a kitty or pooch can help in getting a forever home for some poor soul living in a shelter.

j.collinst

I take pictures and I make images because I must. Passion is like that. I love discovering and sharing the beauty that God puts around us... that most people ignore or miss. Did you know that even Thrift and Dandelions are amazing works of art? I didn't until I photographed them. I love visual story-telling.

As a long-time graphic designer, painter and sculptor, I love the relative immediacy, incredible economy and light weight of digital photography, though I was a "late adopter". Now, I have thousands of images to treasure and share, not just the relative few that I produce with paint and clay.

And, though I do not seek recognition, it is gratifying having someone admire my work and compliment me for how it effects them in some way.

Photography for me is therapy, it is a release, a creative outlet, a treasure, a passion and a blessing.

Georgia Peddler Loc: Brunswick, GA

As an old retired commercial/aerial shooter and having grown up in beautiful East Tennessee (Smokies and Cades Cove being favorites) it is calming and peaceful to just mosey around some interesting site and try to capture something that pleases me and satisfies my need to "enjoy photography". I still have RB, a few Hassie pieces, and my 35 and digital experience is all Nikon for over 40 years. I get my old Kodak Master View 4x5 out and look at it and wonder how in the world we did what we did with some of the equipment we drug around. But, I guess if it was good enough for ole Ansel then who am I to complain. What I find interesting is the fact that photo processes do not change, some skill and knowledge is still required, irregardless of what the newest and greatest entry into the digital world proclaims.
Good Shooting All

tusketwedge Loc: Nova Scotia Canada

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-61970-1.htm

Instead of ranting on here's a post I did why and what photography didfor me. Thanks for posting ,love to read the answers and see the different reasons.

jfrrn117 Loc: chicago

....because it's cheaper than a life time of therapy!

Wickspics Loc: Detroits Northwest Side. Cody High School.

Well said photoman;

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

I guess I am one of the few that can draw and paint, been doing it since I was 5 yrs. old, now 71. I am very good at it,
but did it as a hobby mostly, I started oils in my 20s. I did
mostly portraits and did them for friends and people I knew. I never wanted to go professional, it was just to tedious.
Anyway that is what led me to photography, my love of cars and the ability to take my own picture and draw
them or put them canvas. I use to go to car race in So. Cal
all the time to take pictures, Riverside, Ontario, Pomona and that was Drag racing, Nascar, Can-Am and Indy car.
My Minolta SRT101 was a great camera and took many a
great photos.

jkm757 Loc: San Diego, Ca.

So I can take pictures of naked women.

hamtrack Loc: Omaha NE

I think I began my interest in photography about the age of 8. Growing up on a farm did not inspire me to do so. It was more like having something different to focus on once in a while. I think the first camera was a Vargus that shot 120 black and white. I had to send the film by mail to an Omaha, NE lab for processing and I can remember rushing to the mail box after Herb White RFD delivered the mail, to see if the photos were back. That would have been 72 years ago. In between, somehow I ended up wrestling with the titans of finance on Wall Street and Main Street in a career that required flying more than 100,000 miles per year from coast to coast. But now I am a footnote and glad of it, and I spend countless hours with my cameras (yes that's plural) taking what I call uncomplicated photos, processing with PS (as little as possible) and just generally enjoying the world as it passes by. I refuse to get on a plane now unless it is an emergency, because I have concluded that having escaped the many close calls without injury, that the odds are now against me and I would rather pass on much later with my boots on. I love to shoot landscapes, seascapes, mountains and interesting people on the street. My wife of 60 years and I drive and shoot. We just returned from a short trip from NE to AK (11,450 miles). I got a speeding ticket issued by an Native American AK State Patrolman for driving 15 mph over the limit and by the time I engaged him in friendly conversation he reduced the ticket to 5 mpr over, and we both were laughing. I have his picture. Now how many people do you know that are 80 that were driving 80 in a 65 zone, who were arrested by an Indian in AK and laughed about it? I paid the fine, kept the ticket and it is a badge of distinction as far as I am concerned. I am no Tom Mangelsen (but I do know him personally), and never will be, but I love to take photos. What else could an Iowa farm boy wish for? Not much.

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

You know, In all the years I owned a camera I never thought of that.

marxgo Loc: Central Iowa

I might be called a picturetaker instead of a photographer, but nevermind, I love it. Probably for a lot of the reasons other people have already posted. But what comes to mind first and foremost is….it gets me out. Gives me a reason to tromp through the woods. All my (retired) friends are only interested in movies and lunch out. But my camera enjoys going with me to the woods, lakes, seeing sunsets, etc. It gives me an outlet for those are the things I am deep down interested in. Beyond that, I like the challenge of learning the technology and keeping up. Also, as I am not particularly talented but would love to be, it gives me a chance to try my hand at my creative side. I sometimes share my pictures with my friends, I sometimes make my own cards with my pictures, but mostly I just enjoy the taking of them and seeing what I accomplished (or didn’t accomplish) and knowing there is always another challenge round the corner. 

philo Loc: philo, ca

It's my way of looking at the world. Photography makes me stop and look what is around me. I'm drawn to a color an then I get to explore.
I will be going to Africa in a few months. If I couldn't bring my camera I wouldn't take the trip. Photography is the trip to me. When I get home I will spend hours and hours reliving the trip in the post work.
Do what you enjoy and try to get better!

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Why I do photography.
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-134719-1.html

bobwood Loc: Fort Dodge, Iowa

Mainly from my mother, but also inspiration from my Uncle who was a professional photographer for 45 years, most of that time in Memphis, TN. My mother makes greeting cards and she inspred me to do photography. I love it have a passion for it and it has now brought me a modest income. The overall reason, I enjoy it very much. It is my expression of art.