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05-29-2023, 05:32 PM - 4 Likes   #31
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As others have said, most of us take photos because we enjoy the process, rather that any need to reinvent the wheel.

Anyway, no one, ever, has taken the *exact* same photo as you. It might be the same thing from the same perspective, but there is a multitude of other factors at play, with infinite permutations. Looking up other people's photographs of places I have been is fine, but it's not the same as looking at *my* photos. The fact that those photos may also include people I care about (most of whom have not had famous photos of themselves) can be the icing on the cake.

We're all different, but I would happily ditch the smokes, the fishing rod and the massive flashlight to make room for a decent camera


Last edited by Sandy Hancock; 05-30-2023 at 03:52 AM.
05-29-2023, 06:18 PM   #32
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Another aspect for me is, each time, to try to get to the essence of what it is. That helps to keep me going.
05-29-2023, 06:22 PM - 2 Likes   #33
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sandy Hancock Quote
As others have said, most of us take photos because we enjoy the process, rather that any need to reinvent the wheel.
I do photography because I like being where nice pictures are and while I can see, I have the drawing and painting ability of a newborn kitten.
If I get pictures out of it that I like, that's a bonus. If I get pictures out of it that other people like, I'm OK with that too, but it's not my motivator.
05-29-2023, 06:26 PM - 17 Likes   #34
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Case in point: this is a pretty standard view in one of the most photographed cities in the world, but for *me* it takes me back to that morning when my wife and I walked half way across Rome, virtually alone, during an idyllic sunrise, to get to a memorable tour of the Vatican before it opened to the general public.

Someone else's photo, no matter how much technically better it might be than mine, can not do that for me.



05-30-2023, 12:29 AM   #35
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QuoteOriginally posted by Michael Piziak Quote
I'm a Scientist by training. I have a Science Naturalist page with 161 followers right now at: www.piziak.com

Years ago I had my camera backpack with me on my motorcycle and took a lot of great pics I have on Flickr (at Michael Piziak | Flickr).

One thins is, as being a Naturalist and going into the woods all the time, you'd think I'd want the camera with me always like before. Actually, I already have so muich stuff to pack that it just becomes an added burden: Extra clothes and raincoats for changing conditions, drinks, tobacco (yep that or vape), police sized Maglite, mp3 player, fishing pole, the list goes on. And I'm riding a street and trail Yamaha.

If you visit my Science Naturalists page you'll see how I operate (again at piziak.com).

I observe then explain what I observed most of the time. I've found that nearly anything I can observe has already had a picture taken of it. Like people going to reproduce an Ansel Adams photograph. I just google something like "water turtle" and click images and there's a free picture of the same, type, and size of huge turtle I almost caught twice on the fishing pole.

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm not even talking about using a cell phone to take pics. It just seems like all the photos of the world and Universe have already been taken by someone else.

If I come across anything simply far out amazing that no one has ever seen before, I'll regret this decision then, but probnably won't convince me to take camera along.


Michael Piziak, B.S., MA. +30
No.

It's like writing on a woodworking forum or a writing forum or a forum dedicated to ikebana why you don't pursue woodworking, or why you don't write, or artfully arrange flowers anymore.

Everyone else is busy pursuing what is meaningful to them - you're contemplating pursuing... nothing. It's an existential question that may be answered in many different ways, and it seems rather pointless.
05-30-2023, 03:10 AM - 5 Likes   #36
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Two thoughts come to mind.

You don't enjoy photography, so adding a camera is not worth the added weight and complication. As a hobby, photography is about the enjoyment of the process and getting a result, not just about getting a picture of the subject.

Perhaps you need a smaller, lighter dedicated camera that restricts you less?
05-30-2023, 07:18 AM - 3 Likes   #37
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There are twelve musical notes in Western music, and yet people keep creating and making music despite their all having been used before.


Last edited by EssJayEff; 05-31-2023 at 05:40 AM. Reason: clarity
05-30-2023, 07:34 AM - 2 Likes   #38
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QuoteOriginally posted by EssJayEff Quote
There are twelve musical notes in Western music, and yet people keep creating making music despite their all having been used before.
Well there ARE 10 octaves of those 12 notes within hearing...so that gets you to 120!!!
05-30-2023, 07:43 AM - 1 Like   #39
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QuoteOriginally posted by jgnfld Quote
Well there ARE 10 octaves of those 12 notes within hearing...so that gets you to 120!!!
Actually, that gets you to only 120
A triple factorial 120!!! gives you something much larger...


05-30-2023, 08:55 AM - 1 Like   #40
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I went through a "Why bother?" phase a number of years ago. My thing was similar, but different. I had been working on commercials for several years and I got to a point in my photography where I felt like everything needed to have an end purpose. Otherwise, "Why bother?" Why take a photo of a bird or lake or street scene if there was no real use for that pic? I had to convince myself that my pics didn't have to have a commercial reason for being taken. If my pics' purpose was simply to make me happy, that was enough. As others have said, it wasn't the picture itself that was so important. It was the act of creating them that made them worth doing. Since you're taking pics for your website, I think it adds something when it's a pic that you've taken, rather than one you've found online. It's more personal.
05-30-2023, 09:03 AM - 1 Like   #41
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I am not much of a landscape photographer but I get by.

This picture was taken on a business trip. It is not meant to record anything except that I was traveling on this country road and took the time to stop for a few pictures. If I had been there earlier I could have gotten a better picture, As it is, I think I used the available light and scenery to create something reasonably unique. That is good enough for me.



Anybody could have taken this one, but most people would probably not spot the opportunity. It is in the middle of a popular wildlife park. I happened to have my trusty Pentax K3 with Sigma 70-300mm to captured the scene with. A cell phone picture would have had a very different perspective.

05-30-2023, 09:54 AM   #42
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QuoteOriginally posted by Michael Piziak Quote
...It just seems like all the photos of the world and Universe have already been taken by someone else...
I walk the dog every day along the same few trails and manage to find enough variability in the scenery and the seasons to post something unique enough in my daily contributions to the forum that others notice. Forget about duplicating someone else's work, I can't seem to duplicate my own! I went through a burn-out phase several years ago, too, and sold off the Nikon gear I had at the time because of it. But something reawakened and this time around I've enjoyed the process without purpose which has lasted several years.
05-31-2023, 02:23 AM - 5 Likes   #43
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I always take a camera with me everywhere I go even if it's sometimes only my phone, although I usually try to take something slightly more capable.
Speaking to the naturalist side of things, I'm an avid user of iNaturalist, and while I know I can take better images with my DSLR, I was getting frustrated with often having the wrong lens on when I wanted to document an organism, and by the time I had the right one on, it had gone and some other organism that needed a different lens was now my best option.
My solution: I bought a P&S Olympus TG-6 waterproof camera. Built in GPS and good macro capability. Tiny sensor, so the images are not up to what I can achieve with my K-70, D-FA 100/2.8 macro and a ring flash, but it fits in my pocket, and besides I can use it underwater to photograph invertebrates and fish in streams.
I can be pretty sure I won't have photographic competition in that kind of subject matter, as probably 99% of photographers only take photos in air, as 99% of cameras are only made to do so, and a DSLR in an underwater housing is both expensive, and completely unsuited for shallow water because of too much bulk. The TG-6 has lots of flaws, and it makes me love my K-70 even more, but it does allow me to photograph things that few other people do.
Most of the photos I take with it aren't exhibition quality, but they're contributing useful knowledge about the distribution of species, and that's something I find satisfying.
I do more 'arty' photos with my K-70, and just recently I started worrying about whether I have enough life ahead of me with adequate fitness to get to some of the places I want to photograph.
Within a 60km radius of where I live are many wilderness trails and peaks that require multi-day expeditions with most of the peaks over 1000m (about 3,000ft).
Sure, other people have been to most of those places, but most hikers aren't photographers, and will record their trip, but not necessarily very artistically.
Many species tend to be seasonal like fungi and alpine flowers, and then weather can be variable, so it may take multiple trips up a mountain to fully document its biodiversity, particularly if you want really good images, and few people have that level of patience.
I only have an amateur interest in natural history, but I've spoken to professional scientists who confirm my theory that there are large areas near me that haven't had thorough biodiversity surveys done.
Many of those locations are highly photogenic landscapes too, but require good outdoors equipment and a high level of fitness and outdoor skills to be able to spend time on location doing photography.

I estimate I'll need years to get to all the locations I want to visit in my region, so I need to start planning now before age creeps up on me and I find my legs won't carry me up mountains anymore.

---------- Post added 05-31-23 at 09:27 PM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by jcdoss Quote
I walk the dog every day along the same few trails and manage to find enough variability in the scenery and the seasons
This is generally my daily routine too, and although I'm starting to think I might have exhausted the photographic possibilities, the dog actually led me to a great photo opportunity recently.

The more interesting locations have to wait for weekends when the weather and dog are cooperative.
05-31-2023, 02:46 AM - 9 Likes   #44
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I think most people who start with photography believe that either they are going to create great art or that they will document their lives for future generations. I suppose that second reason is why I see so many people facing away from beautiful vistas, holding their phones when I am looking at them.

I think most of us burn out on the whole "life journalism" thing after a while and most of us also come to the conclusion that our photos aren't ever going to approach the artistry of some of the greats of the past. I have been taking photos for 20-ish years and still enjoy it. I'll see if I can say why.

(1) It is more about the journey than the destination. Waking up early, trudging out to a vantage point and hoping that there are beautiful colors or mist or something else that makes for an interesting image is fun for me -- even if I don't return with a single quality image.

(2) It is about memory. I have five kids and I specifically try to scrapbook photo albums each year, including little memories that I journaled during the year about our lives. As they have gotten older, I think they have memorized many of these. Memory is a transient thing and photography can help us remember things that we would otherwise have forgotten.

(3) Every day is different. There is a line from a poem in the Lord of the Rings that is sung by Bilbo. It says, "In every wood, in every spring, there is a different green." So it is that each day and each light is different. Right now with wildfires in Canada, the sunsets are more dramatic, but the days are perhaps hazier on the east coast. Other differences abound and so, most of all, I am pursuing light -- seeing the richness of the colors and the beauty of the world around me and knowing that tomorrow's world will be both similar and different.

"I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see.

For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.

I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.

But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door."


This is not a poem about photography, but I almost feel that it could have been written by an old and weary photographer who is sitting by a fire, looking up at his K-1 that he no longer has energy to carry into the field and wishing, perhaps, that he could have one more go with it next spring.
05-31-2023, 06:06 AM - 1 Like   #45
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QuoteOriginally posted by Michael Piziak Quote
It just seems like all the photos of the world and Universe have already been taken by someone else.

Michael Piziak, B.S., MA. +30
Undoubtably true, but uniqueness/originality isn't the only thing of value in the world <g>
0986 DSC02315
I took this shot wandering around Segovia with my wife one fine day in 2016. Objectively, it's about as trite as one could get--I'm sure the shot has been taken thousands if not hundreds of thousands of times.
But the picture for me brings back that day--it's near perfection, my companion and the love of my life who still wanders the world with me (and has for the last 50 years, since we met in Spain as fellow students in 1972). There's a restaurant down in the lower town across the plaza where we had lunch that day in '72, so the picture is a palimpsest with the power to recall to mind and heart multiple trips and shared adventures. The shot is, I hope, sharable in the sense that it might assist others in recalling (or imagining) their own visits. To a certain extent, one mlight say that non-uniqueness is a central characteristic. General Comments – Hillfort.com
So no--we're not leaving our cameras at home more. Our gear is currently spread across our dinner table being prepared and packed for our next adventure ...
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