When I started photography about 40 years ago my main interest was in black and white landscape using roll film cameras generally taking 6cm x 9cm negatives on 120 roll film and doing my own developing and printing. My hero at that time was Ansel Adams. I did do some street photography occasionally using my Mamiya Press camera with it's interchangeable lenses and film backs until I bought a much loved secondhand Leica M3.
When I was encouraged back into the hobby in 2001 it was as a result of being invited to sit in on a nature photography course held at the field centre where I volunteer my time on the attached nature reserve. It was the first year that the lecturer introduced digital techniques into the course and I was hooked. I used a borrowed 2Mp Nikon 800 camera and couldn't believe the results obtained from this little plastic box.
I still keep in touch with that lecturer and indeed will hopefully be going out in the field on the annual course which starts this weekend. My photography has been almost exclusively nature subject based since then although I really must give landscape photography another go with the aim of producing black and white pictures again. Sadly this country has become much more crowded in the intervening years and I imagine that it will be more difficult to find locations unspoilt by the presence of people.
Since I have neither family or pets those subjects are not open to me.
I have been a bird watcher for 50 years but feel no urge to photograph them (maybe that will change), my quarry is more usually insects in the form of butterflies, moths and dragonflies in the main. In looking for this miniature world within a world I am "forced" (in a very pleasant sense) to look closely for the often ignored world close to my feet and in so doing I become absorbed, the passage of time becomes meaningless and any other concerns in my life are forgotten about. In photographing these subjects my lifelong interest in the natural world has widened considerably and I might now be tempted to refer to myself as a naturalist rather than an ornithologist, although photography is probably still in second place, but only just and who knows, it might move into first place in the near future.

Barrie

I will confess, I do get GAS! but I can't afford to, so I am fairly good at containing myself. As for why I take pictures, I think the story of why I changed to mu43 says it all! :)

One day (15 months ago) came along my wonderful son, and only then did I realize what a pain it truly was to carry my D70s, 18-200mm lens, flash and filters (still for sale fyi ;) ), so I changed it all for a mu43 (EPL1) so i could get most of the versatility I had but the portability. I am torn and sad that I must sell my camera that I loved using so much, but whenever I think "oh why", I just smile and think of all the snapshots and video clips I will be able to take. I will always enjoy composing shots for expressive purposes, but nothing will ever beat getting a picture of my son's expression when he makes a new discovery, even if no one but his parents and grandparents will ever care to see that picture.


Wide angle lenses are great for this. As long as you keep people in the dark of just how wide wide lenses can get, you can easily get them in the last quarter or even third of the frame without them knowing ;) I wouldn't do this to just anyone, but sometimes you can sneak a shot by, and usually if they don't expect it they turn out goo enough for them to want to keep it!

cheers!

J.

With an active extended family within a mile of my home, granddaughters are a primary subject. My wife and I travel at least once a year, so supplying landscape, architecture, and snapshot images for my wife's scrapbooks is next on the list.

I enjoy the thrill of seeing images that I made.

I like m4/3 because the equipment is good enough to help me create images that require little post processing. I do NOT make or particularly like heavily post-processed, composite, better-than-the-real-thing images.

My photography comes and goes. For some weeks I take many shots each week. Then for some weeks I seldom pick up the camera. Then I see it on the shelf and long for the thrill of seeing images that I made.

Don,

You, my friend, are a photographer and a poet (and of course a musician).

Best regards,

Antonio

I just started getting into photography about a year ago (out of boredom, really). I sometimes struggle with the same question, though. Why should I take a photo of a daisy? There are a billion photos of daisies and most of them will be better than mine. Why should take a photo of a sunset? To show people what a sunset look like.....we all know what sunsets look like. So, I will continue to ask "why photograph things", but as long as I get joy from pressing the shutter or processing the image in Photoshop or sharing with strangers on flickr or here at mu43.....I'll keep doing it. It seems like I'll be doing it for many years before I have an answer.

Luke,
Photography is not just about making memories for others. It's also about proving to others that we existed. How many trillions of tourist stand in front of The Liberty Bell, London Bridge etc? They do so because it proves they were there in that moment of time. It proves that they existed.
As photographers, we are in the process of recording our own proof of existence.
So never think that what you do with a camera is not worthy. Never discount the very importance of your own daisy......it proves to others that you were here and cared enough to make an image.

In the end my friend, memories are all that will remain, and the photos we make to support those memories.
shooter

__________________
"If you don't stand for something,
You'll fall for anything."

http://www.streetshooter.us

~ Shooter's Flickr photostream

Yeah, it is about capturing a moment/memory you can share with others (at any other time/location), enabling to tell your view/story of life. And just like writing a book, photography gives you the oppertunity to add a personal aspect (even if you are not on the photo yourself). Therefore I see this hobby also a pure art shape, with the challenge to draw attention even of people that don't know you nor are actually interessed in in daisy or London.

The fun aspect of this hobby to my is that it is very easy to get started with early results, you can easily bring it with you and you can continue learning with others for ever!!!

__________________
Joep

PS: Try to catch a laugh every day

Joep,
You are always in the photograph. It would not exist without you. What you see, what you feel, what you try to express is easily read in the image.
Don

__________________
"If you don't stand for something,
You'll fall for anything."

http://www.streetshooter.us

~ Shooter's Flickr photostream

Why do I take photos? I can't paint or draw for toffee, but I love a creative still image, this combined with being a raging tech-head who loves gadgets, photography is a natural choice for me.

For me it's partly about memories, partly an expression of who I am. It takes on a spiritual dimension for me.

In photographing the natural world I share this moto with the great Colin Prior: Take only pictures, Leave only footprints.

__________________
Take only pictures, leave only footprints.
(Colin Prior)
--------------------------------------------------------------
PEN E-P1, Zuiko 17/2.8, FL14 flash

The bottom line is I take photographs because I like to.

I enjoy the process, I enjoy getting out and go places I haven't been to before (I am principally a landscaper) and at times I would have never (or rarely) ventured out to before (pre-dawn, dawn and the seaside in foul weather) and I enjoy the mechanics of photography.

Last of all, I enjoy my interaction with other photographers.

Sometimes I even enjoy the photos that I make.