Saturday, January 9, 2010

Taking Photos

I have always loved taking photos.

The only problem is I would take way too many photos of absolutely nothing just to see what would happen.
I suppose this isn't a real problem as it actually turned out quite interesting a lot of the time. Although it was pretty expensive.

But then all of a sudden, people stopped using film, and I stopped taking photos. There was no reason to stop. I could have just kept on shooting with film. But I didn't...

I still have no idea why I stopped. I remember thinking I would become a professional photographer when I was a kid. I loved it so much. And then, I just stopped.

I didn't stop using my creativity. But I just let my cameras sit and collect dust.

I bought my first camera when I was about 12. I didn't want to muck around so I saved and saved, until I could afford a semi descent SLR. I had no interest in compact cameras. All you did was point and shoot. I didn't understand why you wouldn't want more control.

Everyone thought I was an idiot for spending so much on a camera. Especially because I had never really had much contact with cameras before. Besides my mums compact and using the schools cameras to make slides once or twice, with supervision of course ( I basically just pressed the shutter cable)

But my parents supported me anyway even though they thought it was a little silly. But it wasn't a random impulse. It couldn't be. It took me so long to save for it!

After about 6 months my parents realized it wasn't silly and I really did have a genuine interest in photography. They even thought that I might become a photographer. Interestingly it wasn't until a couple of years later that I got that idea.

Now I have a DSLR so it's okay for me to waste away frame after frame on nothing. But it just doesn't have the same feeling, or offer the same experience, as taking pictures without knowing how they will turn out. And no more going into the dark room to uncover what you have created.

So now I mainly use my digital camera. But I still always carry a film camera with me too. Either that same camera I saved so long for at the beginning or one of my many other cameras I have collected over the years. From SLR's to box cameras to toy cameras and instant cameras (analogue digital cameras???). I love them all. And I hope I will always be able to find the film to use them. Well at least the 120 and 35mm film ones...

I still don't own one of those auto focus compact cameras that everyone thought I should get. Maybe for my next hiking trip.

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