How much of your time does Photography take, Hobby or Business, how important is it to you to remain updated, how often do you travel in order to get certain photos, what's the place or thing, you would want to make a photo of most? Thanks

Photography is my hunt, more precisely the result of my hunt, my camera being my gun. It awakens all the old atavisms of the hunters we were, eons ago...

I mostly hunt insects, sometimes faces. Once I got a good shot it is my trophy...There are still a few I never caught (scorpios for ex.).

Through it I connect with the natural world, it allows me to bypass the few daily life worries and pettiness and to acceed to a world of intent and beauty...!

To me, it's a way to relax. I'm not good enough to use it to express my feelings accurately (oh those artists that create complex stories!) but I'm getting there. I'm in love with faces, the beauty of a young girl haunts me as much as that of an old woman and portraying them makes me happy. I love playing with the pics on my computer, painting them over to some kind of music and it's immensely gratifying when the person you portrayed says that you've captured a tiny bit of their soul. What about you, Riad? Opening a thread yet not answering your own question ;)

very well expressed, Olga.

You are a portrait hunter...

Photography occupies only a few hours a week for me in actually taking pictures due to my work and family commitments. However it has always been with me since I was a teenager and always will. Its importance is harder to define, however it is now a part of how I see the world. I do not travel often,but I hope to change that next year with a change of direction in regards my career, though photography will only be a hobby. The place or thing that I photograph most is everyday normal objects which I see in a different way, picking out features, patterns or textures which lie all around us. I also take pictures of some animals (in local zoos) and other genres.

Thank you.

When I was a kid I loved to play what if. What if I was so small I could fit through a keyhole? What if I was a seagull today? What if I was sitting on the axle of a car, watching the road go by underneath me? I still like to play what if. What would the world look like if I was a drill bit? What if I was sitting on an arrow as it was released from a bow? What does a vacuum gauge look like from inside the vacuum chamber?

 

Photography lets me play what if and share it with others. Comparing myself to other photographers I probably spend an inordinate amount of time for each photo I actually make because it's not exactly trivial to stick a camera in all the places my "what if" scenarios would require. But I do try.

 

This has led me in some odd directions at times. I probably do more professional photography now than I ever have in the past simply because my job needs cameras in weird places, and that's something I enjoy doing. Remaining updated for me isn't so much a matter of knowing the latest techniques or having the latest gear. It's building whatever I need to build to put the camera where it needs to go. In that sense I must remain updated or I don't get to play what if any more.

 

The great thing about what if games is that with rare exceptions they don't require travel. I can be a seagull at home just as easily as I can at the Grand Canyon or the Taj Mahal. But some photos really do need a particular subject. For those I try to plan ahead so I can take advantage of the opportunities that arise.

 

What's the one place or thing I want to make a photo of most? The next "what if". I'll find out what it is when I dream it up.

 

Tom