Comments on: Why You Should Stop Being A Photographer

By: Paulo Rodrigues

Paulo Rodrigues — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:44:10 +0000

It all started for me because I liked taking photos underwater, I had always had waterproof cameras because I had a bad habit of spilling stuff on them and its was only natural that I would take them with me when I went scuba diving.

One year I decided I would take my open water course and I wanted to take better pictures, so I bought an Olympus C5050z with an underwater housing. It was the first camera I owned that wasn’t a point and shoot. So me and my new camera went on the open water course and I burst my eardrum on the emergency ascent.

It turned out I had a problem with my ear that meant I would never be able to dive again. I was gutted, but I had this great little camera, so I learn’t how to use it and since then I haven’t looked back.

By: Matthew G. Monroe

Matthew G. Monroe — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:29:17 +0000

What got me into photography? When I discovered that by having a camera in hand — and also by being able to converse relatively coherently with folks — that people would allow me nearly full access into their homes, businesses, places of worship, private estates, huts, farms, and (most interestingly) their private lives — well — I became hooked. And I was hooked at an early age.

What photography has taught me — aside from the obvious techie stuff like framing and lighting — is that people enjoy showing other people the things in their lives that they’re proud of (i.e.: those homes, businesses, vineyards, and huts that I’d mentioned earlier). Most importantly, people especially enjoy showing these things (that is, the things that they’re proud of) to people who have a genuine interest. Let me repeat: a GENUINE interest.

BTW, Zeke — you wanted to become a painter? I initially wanted to become a cartoonist. In High School, I had a running series in one of my math classes (that I’d draw up on the black board) called “Star Trig.” It was a really, really awful takeoff of Star Trek. The other kids seemed to like it. The teacher absolutely hated it, and eventually banned me from doing it because “it was too distracting and took away from classroom learning…”

Matt

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:28:42 +0000

Nice

I read this article yesterday:

http://blog.epicedits.com/2009/05/18/why-are-we-so-compelled/

I thought of it when I read your article today.

I used to draw and paint. Like you, when I took my first photography class, I was hooked. When I bought my first SLR camera, I found that I could get much closer to the image that was in my minds eye (which is not necessarily reality either) with a camera than I could drawing or painting.

By: martin kimeldorf

martin kimeldorf — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:26:34 +0000

I never use the word photographer….because I’ll never understand all the stuff.
And like you I started in art….so about half of my stuff is heavily transformed in photoshop etc, no longer a photograph.

I say I DO photo-art.
I say I am retired and do what I want.

I think when I first took a photograph I thought it was magic.
I could do what I wanted back then…except for homework.

So I guess I’ve come full circle.

(IN a parallel thought, I never called myself a writer…even after having 4 books published. But by the 7 or 8th title I decided I could say I was a writer…by then it didn’t matter much anymore)

By: cjphotography

cjphotography — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:00:09 +0000

I fell in love with photography in year 11 in highschool, when I discovered Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills. I adored the idea of being able to change who you are (or at least, who you appear to be) through what you allow the lens to capture.
I spent months pouring myself into a project of my own film stills, and pretty much haven’t put the camera down since! I think at that age, when you are trying so desperately to discover who you am (and I’m still trying!) the idea of being able to transform yourself so radically was wonderful!

By: Håkan Dahlström

Håkan Dahlström — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:16:41 +0000

I picked up my first camera after being inspired by my grandfather who has taken pictures since ages ago. He was not a professional but a kind of semi-pro. When I got my first camera, a Canon FT QL, I was hooked. Went to study photographer and ended up as a sports photographer. For abut ten years ago I quit being a photographer and became an IT professional. I never regret that but in recent years I’ve become a serious hobby photographer. Photography is very close to my heart and has always been. I simply love pictures. My pictures and your pictures.

Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dahlstroms/

A few of my grandfathers photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dahlstroms/sets/72157594357369411/