Keeping it fresh

Hooker Falls – Thinking about it…
On another post, Intern said:

back to … I want to learn photography .. or give it up.. My interest has really declined.

I know that from time to time an interest will wane. I used to bowl a lot. For years, I bowled so much, I mean, 100 games per week plus 5 leagues. During that time, I took a hiatus from photography. In all honesty, I can’t believe how much time I took off. Sure, I still took the requisite family photos when we went on vacation, but other than that, my cameras remained dormant for many years. I guess that I could only support one obsession at a time. Add to that a new wife and 2 kids and, well, I was very busy. One of my friends remarked about the end of my bowling career. He said it was like the scene from Forest Gump where he took off running and ran across the entire country, everyone was supporting him, etc. and then one day decided that he was tired of running and that was it! It happened to me with bowling that way. I just quit. I guess that I had a certain number of turns in my mind/body, and when I hit that number, the interest died.

Point of no return

Shortly after I dropped my bowling obsession, I picked up the camera again and started having some fun. I returned back to my 35 mm film cameras, purchased a view camera, played with that for a while, then purchased my first digital camera having a whopping 3 megapixels, that was back in 2003, I believe. It’s done nothing but escalate since then. It has turned back into a full fledged, all absorbing hobby! I take my camera nearly everywhere. I’m getting better though, notice that I said ‘nearly’. So, after a long hiatus, it’s been four strong years and slows no signs of slowing.

Success!

Regarding Intern’s statement: Getting past all of the technical details, such as how to use shutter priority, or manual, for example, allows you to be more creative with your camera. Using these modes will not make you more creative, but it will give you some idea of what you can do with them. When you get an idea, you’ll know, technically what to do. The camera will not be an obstacle. Also, you might try varying your subjects, location, time of day, whatever just to keep things fresh. If you don’t feel like shooting, don’t. Perhaps you could sit quietly and just observe with or without the camera. I like to sit an watch sometimes.

Vera & Isaura – At play

Personally, until March, I shot almost exclusively landscapes, now it’s almost exclusively people, but in reality, it’s whatever catches my eye. I have no constraints anymore. The camera has become a tool to record my life, or at least my version of it. I’ve been doing it so long that the technical aspect is second nature and I don’t even give it a thought, but it is a passion, so it’s no big deal to shoot nearly every day. My camera travels with me to and from work. There’s always something of interest because I’m interested in most things, I guess.

To help our friend out, how do you keep it fresh? Does your desire to shoot ever wane? How long did it take you to get over the technical details? Any advice?

Regarding the above pictures. This is not recommended practice! Several people die every year on these seemingly low (20 ft) waterfalls. This gentleman was fortunate in his dives. He took the plunge 3 times. I took these pictures yesterday on our day trip to Hooker Falls, which is located in Dupont State Forest in Cedar Mountain, NC, about 120 miles west of Charlotte. I plan to return in October with my friends from the Jekyll Island Workshop to catch some fall colors.