Hal81
Loc: Bucks County, Pa.
After being a Wedding photographer for over thirty years on the weekends and a quality control manager in the aero space industry I retired back in 93. Never again to make a dime with my photography. I still do a lot of photography for churches, our historical society but mostly for my own enjoyment. I do send a photo to our local news paper and the TV station and have been used by both. I do not ask or accept any thing in return. I don't need the money or do I want to deal with the IRS. I started taken photos for money when I was only fourteen. I never leave home without my camera.
I shot long before there was social networking and wasn't able to share my photos. I would continue to shoot if I couldn't share.
Behavior hasn't changed for millenium, but the number of people you have access to has. 20,000 years ago a caveman showed another member of his tribe his latest cave drawing and asked how he liked it. Today we can ask the same question about our latest digitial pic to people we have never met or have, all over the world, on this forum and other social media.
rehess wrote:
Did we become social creatures when the USGovernment developed the Internet? Why should my behavior change because of it?
hollyhock wrote:
If you could not share the images you have taken, would you continue to shoot?
If 'yes', would you take fewer pictures or find photography a bit less interesting?
It would not change a thing, sharing is just a part /or add-on of it, so to me it would not make any bit of a difference!
Would continue shooting and, if in the right milieu, would shoot as much or more. Things have been a bit underwhelming since returning to a semi-rural suburban setting from Ljubljana, a mere seven minute walk from the community to the heart of the city. While using photos as background and illustrative points in Powerpoint presentations is a primary use I also use my photos as a focus for contemplation and prayer. Sometimes it is one photo while at others it is watching the images of a slide show flash on the computer screen. Periodically I take a "hermit" day, not leaving the room, checking the internet, reading the paper, or watching TV. Much of the time is spent contemplating a number of photos that are important even though some are less than technically great. Now that I am back in the U.S. and the desktop is up and running it will be easier to do so than on the laptop. Next time I make a hermit day will borrow the powerpoint projector and project the photos on to the blank white wall space over the desk and sit back in the easy chair facing the wall.
I can only appreciate my own photos in context, thus the context I generally attach when I post something here. Where? Why? Who? What? When? And, most critically, the emotion it evokes. I sometimes wonder about the use of photos as a memory aid in patients with early cognitive impairment secondary to Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia, specifically photos the patient has taken as opposed to random photos of the Grand Canyon that the patient had no hand in creating. Following major surgery six year ago I played games with myself of identifying as much as I could about a photo as it passed on the screen saver. No problems remembering. No cognitive damage. Happy patient.
Unknown photographer shot these pictures from 20,000 B.C.
Bobspez wrote:
Behavior hasn't changed for millenium, but the number of people you have access to has. 20,000 years ago a caveman showed another member of his tribe his latest cave drawing and asked how he liked it. Today we can ask the same question about our latest digitial pic to people we have never met or have, all over the world, on this forum and other social media.
I shoot to get attention and praise from others.
gary northrop wrote:
I shoot to get attention and praise from others.
Then why have you never posted any here? Are we not worthy?
I shoot for me. Never beyond that. That's all there is too it. Takes my mind away from other things. Gives me a hope I will get what I think is a great picture. If I get one I like, I look at it as a "little piece of art" in and of itself. Not something created by me. Someday when I move on from life, someone may find my 1000's of pictures and maybe say WoW, he loved photography. I love the feel of a camera. I am addicted to looking through the viewfinder. I love when the picture has unique quality to it and becomes a feeling. 51 years of shooting and counting.
hollyhock wrote:
If you could not share the images you have taken, would you continue to shoot?
If 'yes', would you take fewer pictures or find photography a bit less interesting?
I shoot for my own enjoyment. I am a harsh critic of my own work, so when I get a winner, it makes me very happy. >Alan
Unless we are taking and sharing photos with friends and family, it is my attitude that very, very few people have an interest in my photos. Family pictures may be treasured for a few generations. Our landscapes, birds, bugs and flowers mean nothing to others and are discarded as we die or get too old to care.
I make photo books of family vacations and occasions to preserve the photos for others to view. It is my estimate that I otherwise share less than 5 - 10% with others. I personally enjoy rummaging through my hard drives and seeing my masterpieces from time to time.
I would continue to photograph. I am my primary audience if other find it interesting or enjoy my image. Well that is icing on the cake.
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