[pentaxfall]

Why do you think anyone else wants to see your photos?

None of my friends nor my family members care about the pictures that t take. In past 25years, I might have gotten may be 10 comments. So photography is purely for myself.
In my case it shows how self-centered I am because on many occasions I give higher priority to my photography than other needs of friend/family member.

Where does your joy come from?

Just the process of photography is stimulating. Photography is a moderately complex activity, and that complexity becomes a driver. For me learning panoramic photography, learning software tools has been stimulating.

I make no money from it (and in fact have 'lost' thousands),

Photography is an expensive hobby. As a working professional I know that companies release product for them to stay in business. That means we do not have to buy every product that they release. One has to draw a line at some place. My suggestion is develop some other hobby that is less expensive, something like painting. I like painting because it is not expensive, takes more time to do, and no post processing headache.

[csa]

I guess the bottom underlying and harsh question I really want to ask is... Why do you think anyone else wants to see your photos?

I don't do photography with the idea anyone else may/may not want to see my photos. Rather, I enjoy taking them, and enjoying them myself. If someone else appreciates them, that's a bonus, but not a "have to"; in order for me to continue enjoying photography.

[limestonecowboy]

I tke photo's for work as a record of civil engineering projects and I take photo's of my dogs, landscapes, macro shots of things growing on old dead trees, birds on bushes, on rivers & in flight, interesting rocks (i'm a geologist), buildings, waterfalls, frost on windows,

My name is Nick, and I take photographs ! :-)

[HippyHippo]

"Only photograph what you love" (Tim Walker)

I spent years taking photographs of other people at their weddings. Whilst I did - still do - enjoy it, I found that it is actualy something else in photography that gives meaning.

Photography is a language, like any other art form. If you go inside yourself and find out what it is that you really want to say it is hugely rewarding to learn how to then express that in photographs. Your authentic self has a voice. It doesn't matter if anyone else likes it or not (no, it really doesn't matter, I'm not saying that as a mental shield in case nobody buys it!). It opens a door to understanding yourself better. It is empowering to dare to say it in an image.

Good luck in your photographic journey.

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Last edited by HippyHippo; 02-09-2018 at 03:44 PM.

[robgski]

Photography is my attempt to capture what I see in a way that I have the same emotional response to the photo as I did in the moment I captured it. Sometimes, others feel the same way when they see my photos, and that is a human moment of shared experience.

The challenge of doing that has caused me to try to master my cameras, lenses, compositon, lighting, etc. Getting it right is the best reward, but I do learn from my mistakes as well.

I cannot draw or paint well, photography allows me to be visually creative. I often experiment with camera settings, objects, lights, angles, long exposures, ultra fast exposures, all to answer the question, "What if I tried it like this?" Photography allows us to capture what we see unconsciously, allows us to look and a scene and analyze what made the scene or object so compelling in the first place, and ask the what if question again.

I have competed in contests, and won. I have been employed as a photographer on rare occasions,too. both are fulfilling in their own way. Most importantly, I have always been the guy with a camera at hand, and as years go by, my friends and family have appreciated being avble to revisit those shared moments captured on film.

[Roadboat24]

Just needed somewhere to spend my vast fortune

[stevebrot]

Why?

In a single simple term, "creative outlet".

I have never sold a thing, though I do share on Flickr, Facebook, and here on Pentax Forums. In the interest of paying for the privilege, a few sales would be nice, but not essential.

Steve

(...am not envying my daughter when I pass...thousands of photos to wade through hoping to find a few keepers...)

[stevebrot]

In a single simple term, "creative outlet".

OK...I confess, I also like the technical aspect, the craft, and working with good tools.


Steve

[brightseal]

The act of creativity in itself is spiritual, anything after that is inconsequential.

[bigted]

Why do you pick up your camera and shoot? When I do photography, I do it because I enjoy it. I say when I do it because I have been hit with a depressive funk so deep that I wondered if I would ever take another shot. Thankfully I'm slowly getting back in to doing it again. Depression is such a demon and it sucks the life right out of you to the point that nothing seems interesting.

What do you do with your pictures? An extremely small percentage are made into 8x10s, framed and then given o two organizations I support as silent auction fund raisers. Thirteen of my best wildlife shots are made into family calendars that I give to my parents as a Christmas gift. It is the highlight of Christmas for them so I am kinda committed to making one every year. I enter a small number into a local photo competition, some years I win something, some I don't. Last December I came first, for the first time, in the nature category and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pleased with that result. For the most part no one sees what I've taken and I'm OK with that.

Where does your joy come from? Seeing what I've captured, the story it tells.

Why do you think anyone else wants to see your photos? Honestly I don't. In fact it amazes me when people do say nice things about them.

Here's the winner from December:


Depression is an awful feeling. It is hard for folks who've never had to deal with it, to understand how it sucks the joy right out of everything. In doing that, it makes you question why where you ever interested in the hobby in the first place. I lost the desire for photography so much that I stopped visiting the forums and checking the threads I used to participate in regularly. I stopped paying for Flickr Pro and stopped the automatic payment to the Forums (sorry Adam, but I will keep up the annual donation). At the time I couldn't see the point in paying for something I wasn't participating in. My black cloud is lifting, but it's a slow process. At least I can see some improvement.

Stevi

[rr1736]

First Photography is about learning and I have a lot to learn. Photography is about communication, vision, relaxation, joy and sadness. I am not an artistic person but I can appreciate the creative process in others . I enjoy the well crafted image and the image that is just well timed both have a place in my world.

I take family images to share with my friend and family they seem to enjoy them. I take urban landscape and share them with my friends and family but they are for my enjoyment.

Photography has so many different types and elements it is constantly giving me more things to learn it is a smorgasbord for me to choose from every day. But the bottom line is it is fun and I enjoy it and have done so ever since I received an instamatic 104 camera in the 60's

[redrockcoulee]

If you enjoy it, the question is why not? People do enjoy seeing my images however I certainly do not make them available enough. I enjoy photography more than I do cycling and now kayaking and yet I do both of those for myself as well.

I must admit I am shooting less, even though i am now retired. I think I am being much more selective if when, where and what I am shooting. I have 40 years of negs and thousands of digital images to still work through so I don't need another image if a deserted farmhouse, unless ....

Just enjoy that you can create images and that you are pleasing yourself.

[RookieGuy]

I failed art class in middle and high school. Finally a teacher gave me a B because he finally understood that using the ruler to make a wavy line was the best I could do and he rewarded effort rather than output. My creativity lies in cooking.

Photography, that's a very technical art (everything except what to point the foolish thing at) and for someone who literally can't draw a strait line with a ruler, I can still exercise creativity. So I take pictures for the same reason RookieGirl paints.

It's also effective therapy, for me anyways. Looking for, then capturing, the things I find beauty around me means I have to see the beauty around me.

Why do I think people would want to see what I take pics of? Well, the only people pictures I take are family. Those I usually just touch up and email to them. Anything else? That's for me. I show them to family sometimes, but I take those for me.

Yeah, it costs money. In theory I could get good and sell photographs. But then I would have to take pictures for other people. The thought of shooting a wedding is my own personal hell. The thought of dealing with clients is the opposite of why I do what I do.

But all this is just me. I try not to speak for others.

[Sandy Hancock]

stevebrot has basically encapsulated my feelings.

I have a very technical and demanding day job, and having a creative outlet means a lot to me. I seem to make enough decent images that people appreciate, and I enjoy that. The process is enjoyable, and the results are tangible. Although I have never made a dime doing it, it has given me free pit access to hundreds of live music gigs I would otherwise have missed.

I like the gear. Precision and functionality are cool. Lenses are pretty.

[Snafu711]

I am a person which likes to discover the world, be it on a stroll through my neighborhood or during a vacation to faraway places.

Photography is part of this discovery in two ways: first it makes me perceive the world more intensively, more focused. Second it gives me a way to capture moments and places the way I see them - and also provides me with pictures that my imperfect memory to recall these moments later.

My satisfaction in photographing is to strive to become better. And to be happy when managing to take an exceptionally good picture or learn a new technique. If I had the skill to paint, sketch or write books the approach would be the same, just the tool would be different.