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Discussion Board -> Photography -> What does your camera mean to you?
What does your camera mean to you?
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Um, I use it to take pictures of places I like, so it's special.
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The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was, is lost, for none now live who remember it. -Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring
There is so much to see in this world. And if we can see with our literal eyes, and capture with the eye of our camera...we have two things to cherish, then when others see what we saw, it is like the icing on the cake. We see, we share, and others feel it too. As an artist of canvas paintings and writing poetry, the colours I see are the most awesome inspiration for all the rest of the things. To see the smile on the faces of other makes me feel the deepest sense of satisfaction. To hear their words of wonder and see the gleam on their faces as they enjoy what they see, just as I saw it too. And I love the moment I see something to take a photo of...the total connection I have with that moment...no one else has it, it's totally mine...to cherish...forever...I guess thats what having a camera is all about to me. Its like taking along a very cherished thing everywhere I go, so when I get home I get to "see" the thing I saw all over again..It's a real passionate moment for sure....
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Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures!!
Fairly simple for me to say she is my exercise companion and breath of fresh air. I like buying presents for her and in return she gives me great memories.
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Darryl
Capture a Kodak Moment! Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
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-SilverFang-Take a look at the End of Days.
That what you ask as a writer is for a photographer to respond to you (in your media) about the very heart of ours. Could that be expressed in any form but a photograph? Perhaps.
A photo, for me, is a subset of what I see in the turnings of my day. Today, the freshly plowed field, soil dark and rich, the hill reaching the blue sky rimmed with trees in fall colours. How perfect. If I had my camera, and I didn't... I would not have taken this perfect shot as it was best shared with my daughter and I as we drove.
In a day filled with such beauty many such shots are recorded by our eyes, in our heads and on our hearts. Seen long in advance of the camera .. a subset of which, at best, actually hearing the shutter's click.
At other times the camera provides a means of capturing same in a from that will outlast our memory and can conveyed a moment, silently, in the hope that the feeling passes to anothers eyes - and deeper. When it does, it's right.
Is it a relationship with the camera? No. It is a relationship with the viewer. An outpouring, a gift ...whether the viewer is known or imagined. To join in the moment. When it does, it's right.
Such moments are liquid to me, filling in all kinds of forms, soaking deeply into all kinds of matters ... *click*
Rob
(Shhh)
A photo, for me, is a subset of what I see in the turnings of my day. Today, the freshly plowed field, soil dark and rich, the hill reaching the blue sky rimmed with trees in fall colours. How perfect. If I had my camera, and I didn't... I would not have taken this perfect shot as it was best shared with my daughter and I as we drove.
In a day filled with such beauty many such shots are recorded by our eyes, in our heads and on our hearts. Seen long in advance of the camera .. a subset of which, at best, actually hearing the shutter's click.
At other times the camera provides a means of capturing same in a from that will outlast our memory and can conveyed a moment, silently, in the hope that the feeling passes to anothers eyes - and deeper. When it does, it's right.
Is it a relationship with the camera? No. It is a relationship with the viewer. An outpouring, a gift ...whether the viewer is known or imagined. To join in the moment. When it does, it's right.
Such moments are liquid to me, filling in all kinds of forms, soaking deeply into all kinds of matters ... *click*
Rob
(Shhh)
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You're invited to tour my gallery •••
º¹º¹ºº¹¹º¹¹º¹ºººº¹¹º¹ºººº¹¹º¹ººº
I suppose i would say it is my minds way of putting the art i can't draw with my hand into a solid form. I find using my camera allows me to feel productive looking around at the wonderfullness of our world.
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"A piece of toast with butter always lands butter side down, and a cat always lands on its feet. What happens if a piece of toast is tied butter side down to the back of falling cat? Does it hover above the ground in perpetual indecision?"
Since I am fairly new to photography, my camera and I are still making friends.. I never go anywhere without it.. If by any chance I have forgotten to strap it on before I leave the house, I find I feel undressed and lost and must go back and get it... I think the greatest thing it gives me, are visual memories of special places.. Oh yes, fun, such fun..
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One bead at a time
These are really great insights.. thanks everyone. Anyone else reading feel free to add; I was just taking a moment to thank!
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~"In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths" (Prov. 3:6).~
Cameras refresh my memory of the beauty of this earth. When I see a photo of a place where I have been and that photo does not look like how I remembered the place, it makes me want to go back there and re visit it through the different "eyes" of the lense. Cameras take me to places and show me sites that in my entire lifetime I may not ever really see myself.
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Kimberly Bramlett
"The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest pleasure in using it." Johann Wolfgang von Goetche
I love hearing all these thoughts too! I was thinking how taking photos is kind of like "eavesdropping" in a lovely way...we get to use our camera, our friend, our toy ....to "steal" a moment of something we cherish....and are able to share it with others...and maybe make that day for them a bit more enjoyable...this question of yours has made me appreciate my camera even more!...and yes, Ann..I dont go anywhere without mine either, and I do feel like something is missing...although sometimes I "test" myself and see if I can do it!! So when I come home and realize I made it thru a day without my camera in my purse(the camera is small)..then it gives me a renewed appreciation for it. This is such a interesting question you have posed...thanx for that!
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Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures!!
Cameras make me invincible! They make all the stupid things I do seem palatable to the general public.
Example--- Bystander #1: "Why is that guy sprawled out in the middle of the sidewalk?"
Bystander #2: "He's got a camera."
Bystander #1: "Oh, of course...makes perfect sense now."
Or you can replace the words after "Why is that guy..." with just about any idiotic thing you might see me doing in public.
A camera is freedom.
Example--- Bystander #1: "Why is that guy sprawled out in the middle of the sidewalk?"
Bystander #2: "He's got a camera."
Bystander #1: "Oh, of course...makes perfect sense now."
Or you can replace the words after "Why is that guy..." with just about any idiotic thing you might see me doing in public.
A camera is freedom.
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They'll never see,
I'll never be,
I'll struggle on and on to feed this hunger
Burning deep inside of me.
My camera means the following to me:
1 - it provides a mental switch in my head.
If the switch is ON my mind is operating in the highest gear. Then I am sorting out, and try to to solve, everyday technical problems at my work. My job is to create some order in of a world of chaos by a applying logic, rationality and theory. I am payed well for it and it's been said that I am quite good at it. But it sucks up a lot of energy, and that energy is flowing in the opposit direction of where I need it.
So the switch has to go OFF everyday for a couple of hours to allow for a recharge of the grey matter. Now, what is a better way to shift your mind into low gear than spending some time on photography. Because if you do it right, you must be able to observe every little detail in your environment and become one with the outside world. It takes concentration and a relaxed state of mind.
And somehow I can now switch the grey matter relatively easy from ON to OFF state.
2 - It teaches me to become a better observer and interpreter of what's going on in the world. You start to look differently to all kinds of thing. You start to understand and "read" and appreciate the available light and wheater conditions. You start noticing details in flowers you never realised were there. When you take photographs of animals as well as people you start to analyse and better understand their behaviour and roll model they play in this world of mixed up emotions.
3 - Photography made me appreciate my own country much better. When I was a young boy I thought that Holland must be about the most boring countrry in the world. Flat, green and humid. But then I started to explore the world by traveling everywhere I could go. It was great to see all those different cultures and landscapes, but the more I saw of the world, the more I started to understand that Holland was not so bad at all. I just needed to learn to start looking at my surroundings in a new and different way. And the more I do, the more I respect that place below the sea. And I try to show it's beauty in my photographs and share them with you. And you know what is the strangest thing? The more experienced and older I become, the more easier I find it to make a nice photograph of virtually any given object! In the beginning I really needed a brainstorm to think of anything remotely interesting for posting. Now that I have learned to put my mind in the right condition, and my camera in the right position, it all comes naturally to me.
It also makes me realise far better what is really important in this world and what we are living for. And how foolishly we, as member of the human race, are treating good old earth.
4 - My camera releases my physical pain and pshycological stress.
I have had a herniated disc in my back due to some over enthusiatic sport excersising. This bone twister has given me an everlasting pain in my leg. I am not handicapped by it anymore, but that annoying feeling rushes in like a tidal wave every now and then.
Now, the mind is a very versatile thing, but like a camera it has one (very nice) limitation: I can only focus on one thing at the time. So if my mind is focused on photographing it has no attention for that alarm bell ringing in my legs. And thus the pain is gone!
Same rule apllies to the pshycological stress: focus on something else and then the stress evaporates..stress, what's that?
Well I can think of more, but I guess my writing must ave relaxed your state of mind to the point of falling a sleep by now, so I volunteeringly give up now. Who's next? I kind of like this topic!
And as my predecessor wrote (quote) "A camera is freedom" I would like to add "A camera provides a window to freedom".
1 - it provides a mental switch in my head.
If the switch is ON my mind is operating in the highest gear. Then I am sorting out, and try to to solve, everyday technical problems at my work. My job is to create some order in of a world of chaos by a applying logic, rationality and theory. I am payed well for it and it's been said that I am quite good at it. But it sucks up a lot of energy, and that energy is flowing in the opposit direction of where I need it.
So the switch has to go OFF everyday for a couple of hours to allow for a recharge of the grey matter. Now, what is a better way to shift your mind into low gear than spending some time on photography. Because if you do it right, you must be able to observe every little detail in your environment and become one with the outside world. It takes concentration and a relaxed state of mind.
And somehow I can now switch the grey matter relatively easy from ON to OFF state.
2 - It teaches me to become a better observer and interpreter of what's going on in the world. You start to look differently to all kinds of thing. You start to understand and "read" and appreciate the available light and wheater conditions. You start noticing details in flowers you never realised were there. When you take photographs of animals as well as people you start to analyse and better understand their behaviour and roll model they play in this world of mixed up emotions.
3 - Photography made me appreciate my own country much better. When I was a young boy I thought that Holland must be about the most boring countrry in the world. Flat, green and humid. But then I started to explore the world by traveling everywhere I could go. It was great to see all those different cultures and landscapes, but the more I saw of the world, the more I started to understand that Holland was not so bad at all. I just needed to learn to start looking at my surroundings in a new and different way. And the more I do, the more I respect that place below the sea. And I try to show it's beauty in my photographs and share them with you. And you know what is the strangest thing? The more experienced and older I become, the more easier I find it to make a nice photograph of virtually any given object! In the beginning I really needed a brainstorm to think of anything remotely interesting for posting. Now that I have learned to put my mind in the right condition, and my camera in the right position, it all comes naturally to me.
It also makes me realise far better what is really important in this world and what we are living for. And how foolishly we, as member of the human race, are treating good old earth.
4 - My camera releases my physical pain and pshycological stress.
I have had a herniated disc in my back due to some over enthusiatic sport excersising. This bone twister has given me an everlasting pain in my leg. I am not handicapped by it anymore, but that annoying feeling rushes in like a tidal wave every now and then.
Now, the mind is a very versatile thing, but like a camera it has one (very nice) limitation: I can only focus on one thing at the time. So if my mind is focused on photographing it has no attention for that alarm bell ringing in my legs. And thus the pain is gone!
Same rule apllies to the pshycological stress: focus on something else and then the stress evaporates..stress, what's that?
Well I can think of more, but I guess my writing must ave relaxed your state of mind to the point of falling a sleep by now, so I volunteeringly give up now. Who's next? I kind of like this topic!
And as my predecessor wrote (quote) "A camera is freedom" I would like to add "A camera provides a window to freedom".
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If you can't find the words, you may as well shoot it...
Paul yur comment reminds me of how I feel about my canvas paintings...when I paint..every single anything is completely GONE from my mind. I drift with the colours, I feel them, I play with them, I breathe them...and I am THERE..in the painting in every way..and there is nothing that interferes....its such a great "time away", photography is great,but it doesnt do that total thing to me the way painting does. Once I lift that brush and stroke those colours the way I see them and feel them....its like I cant be touched by anything except that beauty of that moment...I've gone photography for about 25 yrs and the painting only for the past 3 yrs...and it is my treasure for sure!..So I guess we can be thankful for whatever "takes us away" for a little while to be that free spirit....
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Never stop doing the thing you love...
Capture memories that you might forget.
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-SilverFang-Take a look at the Day of Worship (Revised)!
To me my camera allows me to take my mind off of everything and focus on something. It feels almost like an escape from the real world for me to see the everything in a unique way. It may seem strange but if I tend focus on moments or images around me and view them as something more than what they really are it tends to make me want to capture that essence of it wether someone else sees that essence or not. Plus im not good or interested at any other type of art.
Riley
Riley
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well my camera was what i did to reward myself for finishing highschool... so it will always symbolize a new step in life to me... and it is always my excuse to get away from it all, leave everthing behind and dissappear for a few hours
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I want something good to die for
To make it beautiful to live.
D70s w/18-70, 70-300
The camera is the photographer's window to the world as well as the mirror to his soul. It allows the world to see exactly what I see, where I've been, and what was important to me while I was there.
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"The sky is not the limit . . . the ground is."
Every time I use my camera, it reminds me of how poor I am; if I wasn't, I wouldn't be shooting with it. :-)
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-A closed mouth gathers no feet-
Images, Money, fun , money, work, money, art , money. Thats about it.
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Art is the perception of the creator. Meaning is the perception of the viewer. acceptance is the perception of society.
As a professional photographer my camera is nothing more that a tool. Just as a carpenter has tools I have mine. Mine my be more expensive but it is still a tool. I have damaged many of them ,some beyond repair. But I have returned with the image that I wanted. I always get a kick out of how people will take care of their cameras, yet give it to a total stranger to have them take their picture with it. I am wondering how many have turned around with a smile only to discover that the stranger and camera are both gone!
Photography is not the camera. The camera only records the photography that we have created. Simply by pointing the lens in the direction that we wish to capture an image to more complex issues like contrast indexes of scene brightness ranges. How about composition? Think about this. A Photographer is the biggest introvert in the world. We look at the world through a small hole called a viewfinder. We live in that little hole and we make everything as happy or sad or horrible or happy as we seem fit to do on a particular day. We live each day for a chance to escape our world and climb back into our viewfinder. Some of us have been lucky enough to record our world well enough to have others like what we saw and present. We are the lucky ones.
With due respect to Crazyivan I am using his words because he has hit the nail on the head, "The camera is the photographer's window to the world as well as the mirror to his soul." Thank you Ivan I do not believe that you are a bit Crazy, only profound. Excuse me as I have an appointment with an image that is in my mind as well as in my viewfinder.
fotobob
Photography is not the camera. The camera only records the photography that we have created. Simply by pointing the lens in the direction that we wish to capture an image to more complex issues like contrast indexes of scene brightness ranges. How about composition? Think about this. A Photographer is the biggest introvert in the world. We look at the world through a small hole called a viewfinder. We live in that little hole and we make everything as happy or sad or horrible or happy as we seem fit to do on a particular day. We live each day for a chance to escape our world and climb back into our viewfinder. Some of us have been lucky enough to record our world well enough to have others like what we saw and present. We are the lucky ones.
With due respect to Crazyivan I am using his words because he has hit the nail on the head, "The camera is the photographer's window to the world as well as the mirror to his soul." Thank you Ivan I do not believe that you are a bit Crazy, only profound. Excuse me as I have an appointment with an image that is in my mind as well as in my viewfinder.
fotobob
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Annie and I invite you to visit
our website.
Photography is not a trade - it is an art. It is more that an art.
It is a solar phenomenon,
where the artist collaborates with the sun.
deLamartine 1855
Thank you Quiet, for tipping me off about this discussion and for starting this thread...very interesting to read everyone's thoughts and feelings here...as for me, well, like yourself, my first love was, and probably still is, words and writing...I have always been attracted to 'the turn of a phrase' and as a typical Scorpio, cool on the surface while deeply intense as well, writing provides the channel for those burning, buried emotions...but the writing is a fickle friend...highly demanding at times, immensely satisfying at other times, while other times still, it will shamefully abandon me for long periods at a stretch...the camera, on the other hand, is also an intimate friend, but more faithful and giving, and unlike writing that compels me to pour out my soul, the camera is another means to drink IN the beauty and life I see around me...it soothes, satisfies, and sometimes presents wonderful unexpected gifts...between us words are not necessary...together we quietly understand that old adage that 'a picture is worth a thousand words'...the camera demands nothing from me but asks only that I allow it to fulfill its' purpose...sometimes I am amazed at its' capabilities and humbled by my lack of knowledge...for me, as only a hobbyist in photography, it is always a pleasureable relationship, as it has rewarded my unskilled eye many times over and when the results were poor, it was always the fault of the hands that held it, never the camera...it is also my little time-machine...taking me back to sights and feelings the memory can't be relied on to recall and hopefully transporting the same to those in the future who view my photos...like fotobob said, it is a tool but like Crazyivan also said, it is a window, a window to me and my world.
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If you want a place in the sun, prepare to put up with a few blisters.
I sometimes think if I had to choose which of the creative things I love, which one would I choose. Fotobob is right about a camera being a tool. Then again, so is a pen or pencil, or the computer when we write. I love to do my canvas paintings, so the brush and the paints are my tools. I think if I HAD to choose only one? it would probably be my painting...because I truly get a chance to choose the colours...dip the brush in and then totally create what I feel like creating. They have depth and all sorts of things that photos have..but yet I think I get a chance to "do" more...its more like when people desing the fractals in here..they "do" more also...Being able to combine colours is just magical. On the other hand what would any of us do without being able to write words. They truly say it all also...and a camera is such a great "toy"...so I think I am just happy that I dont have to choose....there is something to be said for being able to do anything creative, whatever tool we use...it is still such a wonderful feeling of freedom!!
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Never stop doing the thing you love...
I have a bit of a love-hate, passive-aggressive kinda thing going on right now. Love for the reasons everyone has said, love for being able to take my time, relax, and line up just the right shot of something, say, standing ankle-deep in a stream hunched over a tripod. Hate for having to watch all those once-in-a-lifetime things through a little box over my eye. I have no sense for the power of Old Faithful because I was too preoccupied trying to get a "good shot" rather than just taking in the moment.
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I sure understand what you mean with that Xentrik....I hate "having to" feel that too. I've always just "shot" the pic...but then recently I am seeing that I need to take more time and truly try to make it a good shot...but dont feel too bad..just learn to enjoy the moment...and never mind the rest...shoot as many as you need to but dont let it drag you down..but I sure do relate!!
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Never stop doing the thing you love...
My camera has given me the opportunity to frame the world I live in. Previously, before camera that is, I viewed our world as 'stuff'. I saw trees, I saw flowers, I saw people and I saw lot's of 'things', but I never really viewed them. My eyes were too busy darting to the next block while my body was in the first block of life. I am reminded of the saying "stop to smell the roses'. I stopped to smell them while I was looking at the next rose bed 2 towns over!! I was always in a 'fast forward' mode. Having a camera has changed me as a person. I now view flowers, bees, birds, rain , cats, kids, windows, hills and all other things as objects of beauty. How they are displayed is left to me. My husband pointed out to me that I was starting to say "wouldn't that make a beautiful image" or, "I would like to photograph that if there were not so many wires visible'. I am very aware of my surroundings. I cannot drive anywhere without thinking of scenes I pass as potential pictures. I frame everything in the eye of my spirit before I ever raise the camera. I have slowed down and when I stop to smell the roses, I take many pictures of them also. I have an appreciation for life and living and everything in between that I never had before. I look for opportunities to go somewhere to shoot some images. As I grow older, many of my images are the film in my brain. When I see them, I can remember what it was like the day we went to the beach. I remember how the air smelled, how the sun felt on my face and how the breeze gently blew thru my hair. I can remember laughing with my husband and maybe even remember what we were laughing about. Sometimes we will even photograph our food when it is a pleasant presentation. Then I can remember what it tasted like!
My camera is my timeless recorder that keeps track of where I have been and who I was with and what I have done, day after day after day. My only regret is that I didn't realize what I was missing until about 3 years ago. Many of my memories are very foggy now because I didn't have a timeless recorder. I was too busy being too busy.:(
I like my new life with a camera. I don't take it everywhere, but I know that I take it everywhere it is suppossed to be. I am not a slave to my camera & therefore, my camera is a good, faithful friend to me. Thank you :~)
My camera is my timeless recorder that keeps track of where I have been and who I was with and what I have done, day after day after day. My only regret is that I didn't realize what I was missing until about 3 years ago. Many of my memories are very foggy now because I didn't have a timeless recorder. I was too busy being too busy.:(
I like my new life with a camera. I don't take it everywhere, but I know that I take it everywhere it is suppossed to be. I am not a slave to my camera & therefore, my camera is a good, faithful friend to me. Thank you :~)
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~ Mimi~
A few years back I made a promise to stop throwing away the things I wrote. All my life I'd disposed of them because of what they revealed about me. Somehow I believed it would give the reader some kind of power over me. A irrational fear?? Yeah. But not any worse than people where were afraid to have their photos taken long ago for fear their souls were taken. :-)
fotobob's comment about the camera being a tool was interesting. While the pen used to be my tool, I suppose the keyboard is more so now. And when I get REALLY writing, my eyes close and words stream right out of me through my hands, and through the keyboard. The keyboard is nothing more than the tool I tickle when I'm channeling the words.
But your camera has settings and attachments and tricks to it, things to tweak and gauge. And your choices affect your finished product. So I had imagined there must be a relationship that forms between you and it, even though it is an inanimate object.
For some of you, or maybe all, it would seem so - although depending on your reasons for photographing (work vs. pleasure), you had it in varying degrees.
PS> And now that I have a few pieces around that I wrote, I agree re the time-machine concept. Though my stuff is only a few years old now!
fotobob's comment about the camera being a tool was interesting. While the pen used to be my tool, I suppose the keyboard is more so now. And when I get REALLY writing, my eyes close and words stream right out of me through my hands, and through the keyboard. The keyboard is nothing more than the tool I tickle when I'm channeling the words.
But your camera has settings and attachments and tricks to it, things to tweak and gauge. And your choices affect your finished product. So I had imagined there must be a relationship that forms between you and it, even though it is an inanimate object.
For some of you, or maybe all, it would seem so - although depending on your reasons for photographing (work vs. pleasure), you had it in varying degrees.
PS> And now that I have a few pieces around that I wrote, I agree re the time-machine concept. Though my stuff is only a few years old now!
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~"In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths" (Prov. 3:6).~
i kinda agree with both sides, a camera can be just a tool, yet there has to be some 'relationship' just like you have a relationship with any tool. a camera may be more complex, but i know from woodworking, you get to know your tools as well as you get to know your camera, probably better, because a relationship with a camera is kinda one sided, (unless you have some weird complex) you are always in control of a camera, whereas other tools other professions use can be alot more potent, and have an attitude to go with it.
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"(unless you have some weird complex) you are always in control of a camera"
I'm sure there's a movie about that somewhere :-)
I'm sure there's a movie about that somewhere :-)
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~"In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths" (Prov. 3:6).~
A camera makes one stop and really look at their surroundings then figuring the best way to record life the way they see it, at least for me.
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I'm sure there's a movie about that somewhere :-)
"One hour photo" with Robin Williams???
"One hour photo" with Robin Williams???
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-Everyone is entitled to my opinion-
Visit the new improved rescope.com.au
You dont need to know how to draw to make art. Photogrophy is also an art and unlike a drawing, a photograph is a perfect impression of something beautiful that you saw and a camera is what makes that happen. It more effectively shows other people the beauty of what you saw.....Its amazing to see the looks on peoples' faces when the see your photographs....and thats why cameras are so special, "they help make art".....
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A camera is such a useful thing to own, you can record memories and look back at them, you don't have to be a professional to take a good photo cause it can be totally accidental, photos can comfort you when your in pain. They can remind you of good times and make you laugh. For me taking photos is a great thing, i love seeing my own work developed in the dark room, knowing its something i achieved on my own and if it looks good thats even better. Its a magical process in which you decide what to take a photo of, Photography is great the 2nd best joy after music.
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Whats this?
What does my camera mean to me ... FRUSTRATION
I went from a decent 35mm Single Len Reflex that I could control in the blink of an eye ... to something I have to fiddle with for HOURS before each shot
The zeppelin hindenburg would have been rendered to ashes before I got a shot off
I went from a decent 35mm Single Len Reflex that I could control in the blink of an eye ... to something I have to fiddle with for HOURS before each shot
The zeppelin hindenburg would have been rendered to ashes before I got a shot off
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Wax on - Wax off
oi ... I should have read that bit about "(unless you have some weird complex) you are always in control of a camera"
now, when I run for President, somebody will pop up who has read this forum ... I'm doomed ... my campaign slogan was going to be .. "don't you worry about me being in control of the "button" .. I won't know how to use it anyway"
(*keith makes note to budget for a hitman during the year of campaigning dangerously*)
now, when I run for President, somebody will pop up who has read this forum ... I'm doomed ... my campaign slogan was going to be .. "don't you worry about me being in control of the "button" .. I won't know how to use it anyway"
(*keith makes note to budget for a hitman during the year of campaigning dangerously*)
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Wax on - Wax off
It's ok, Keith. These days, weird complexes are IN. People won't trust you if you act normal, anyway. :-)
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~"In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths" (Prov. 3:6).~
I have really enjoyed reading all this, and while I did not feel immediately compelled or prepared to answer this question, reading all of your wonderful insights has put me in a much better position to do so. I think my camera means a few different things to me. For at least two of those things, I couldn't have said it any better than those who arrived to meet the task earlier: Milo_Anderson and SageIdiot. I'll leave it to you to re-read what they had to say. To sum it up, a camera makes me feel productive when all I'm doing is enjoying the beauty around me, and it gives me the license to do any strange thing I want at any time (incidentally, the more large and expensive-looking the camera, the more ridiculous stunts you can pull as long as you're carrying it... and I hope to eventually be able to afford the license to do very ridiculous things).
I really aim to do two things with my camera. Sometimes I’m trying to create a beautiful image where I don’t expect others would see beauty if they were to just look at the scene in real life. More often though, I’m just trying to do my best to capture some piece of whatever tremendously beautiful thing I may be looking at; trying to come as close to re-creating that beauty as possible. This just goes to my general belief that anything worth enjoying is better if you can share it with someone else. With my camera I only try to capture as much of what I was enjoying as I can so that I will have the best chance of being able to share it with someone else. I think trying to create beauty is the area where I stand to improve the most over the course of my life, but trying to capture beauty that anyone can plainly see is easier and more enjoyable for me most of the time at least for now.
Before I found Caedes I never took a picture to try to capture the beauty in something, I never owned a camera that meant anything to me at all. Just one day spent on Caedes inspired me to sink a few hundred dollars into a camera and get out there to take pictures the day the package arrived. Just like Mimi, and I'm sure many others, starting to take pictures of the world around me changed the way I go through life. Yes, occasionally I'll see desktop icons neatly arranged along the side of a scenic road, and yes shrinks get paid hundreds of dollars an hour to listen to people who see desktop icons neatly arranged along the side of scenic roads. But more importantly I now see the beauty around me that completely escaped me before.
What if I only see it through my camera though? The danger in doing that is something that Xentrik pointed out very well. One day I realized that I was missing the enjoyment of a sunset because I was so wrapped up in taking pictures of it. That was the end of that. From then on I knew that I needed to spend at least as much time enjoying a scene as I did trying to take a picture of it, and if that meant I missed the picture then so be it. I owe a lot to Caedes and my camera for changing the way I see the world, but not so much that I’m willing to miss the new world that I finally see.
Any time I discover something worthwhile or do something I’m proud of, the first thing I want to do is share it with everyone I can. I don’t want to share something I created because I want credit for creating it, but if it’s something I appreciate then I appreciate it more when others do as well, even if they don’t know it was my creation (or if I have no hand in its creation at all). When it comes to photography I am already humbled by nature’s presence and never happy to take full credit for a photo when I feel so much like a by-stander. Knowing that there are other people all over the world right now who may be enjoying one of my attempts to capture some beauty that I saw is a great feeling.
One final thing that my camera means to me and one more way in which it humbles me… When I use it and it does so much, and I do so little… It reminds me of human progress and how astounding it is. I barely know how this little box of electronics and optics works, yet people praise me for my wielding of it. Technology has come such a long way, and SO MANY people who are so intelligent have contributed to this simple little device that I hold in my hand. If I comment on one of your photos and in doing so I pay a compliment to the quality of your camera, it certainly isn’t to diminish your skills as a photographer. I am just in awe of some of the technology that’s out there (and perhaps a bit jealous).
I try not to take too much for granted. Take a step back to appreciate your camera and where it came from.
I really aim to do two things with my camera. Sometimes I’m trying to create a beautiful image where I don’t expect others would see beauty if they were to just look at the scene in real life. More often though, I’m just trying to do my best to capture some piece of whatever tremendously beautiful thing I may be looking at; trying to come as close to re-creating that beauty as possible. This just goes to my general belief that anything worth enjoying is better if you can share it with someone else. With my camera I only try to capture as much of what I was enjoying as I can so that I will have the best chance of being able to share it with someone else. I think trying to create beauty is the area where I stand to improve the most over the course of my life, but trying to capture beauty that anyone can plainly see is easier and more enjoyable for me most of the time at least for now.
Before I found Caedes I never took a picture to try to capture the beauty in something, I never owned a camera that meant anything to me at all. Just one day spent on Caedes inspired me to sink a few hundred dollars into a camera and get out there to take pictures the day the package arrived. Just like Mimi, and I'm sure many others, starting to take pictures of the world around me changed the way I go through life. Yes, occasionally I'll see desktop icons neatly arranged along the side of a scenic road, and yes shrinks get paid hundreds of dollars an hour to listen to people who see desktop icons neatly arranged along the side of scenic roads. But more importantly I now see the beauty around me that completely escaped me before.
What if I only see it through my camera though? The danger in doing that is something that Xentrik pointed out very well. One day I realized that I was missing the enjoyment of a sunset because I was so wrapped up in taking pictures of it. That was the end of that. From then on I knew that I needed to spend at least as much time enjoying a scene as I did trying to take a picture of it, and if that meant I missed the picture then so be it. I owe a lot to Caedes and my camera for changing the way I see the world, but not so much that I’m willing to miss the new world that I finally see.
Any time I discover something worthwhile or do something I’m proud of, the first thing I want to do is share it with everyone I can. I don’t want to share something I created because I want credit for creating it, but if it’s something I appreciate then I appreciate it more when others do as well, even if they don’t know it was my creation (or if I have no hand in its creation at all). When it comes to photography I am already humbled by nature’s presence and never happy to take full credit for a photo when I feel so much like a by-stander. Knowing that there are other people all over the world right now who may be enjoying one of my attempts to capture some beauty that I saw is a great feeling.
One final thing that my camera means to me and one more way in which it humbles me… When I use it and it does so much, and I do so little… It reminds me of human progress and how astounding it is. I barely know how this little box of electronics and optics works, yet people praise me for my wielding of it. Technology has come such a long way, and SO MANY people who are so intelligent have contributed to this simple little device that I hold in my hand. If I comment on one of your photos and in doing so I pay a compliment to the quality of your camera, it certainly isn’t to diminish your skills as a photographer. I am just in awe of some of the technology that’s out there (and perhaps a bit jealous).
I try not to take too much for granted. Take a step back to appreciate your camera and where it came from.
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Thanks for your candid sharing, Torque. It's interesting to me that buying the camera changed your perspective so much. Kinda like how being given a power to wield can suddenly really change a person. I'm not saying the camera is a power you are wielding, though. Am just saying the camera awakened a sudden artistic license that you wouldn't have woken otherwise (perhaps). But what do I know :-)
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~"In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths" (Prov. 3:6).~
So, I'm assuming you might also have a relationship with your cameras that could be described.. perhaps personified. Or just a way in which you perceive your camera, how it is part of your relationship with life, how it connects you to life.
Anyway, if you care to write it, I'd care to read it, and I bet others would too. If not.... welllll we'll just get this post erased, and forget I mentioned it :-)