What's your story?

[Marushka]

Hi, I'm Laura... and I am a photographer.

(unison: "Hi, Laura")

1) Why do I take photos?
I like telling stories, and I think the coolest thing about photography as an art form is that a viewer at any other moment in time could look at it and smile, or identify, or be interested, or be left thinking. 2 people that are separated in time or in space or that have never even met have an opportunity to share something. I am not, and will not be, a professional photographer, but i've realized that I love it, therefore I am a photographer.

2) What do I want to improve on?
I would really like to learn and improve on my technical photography skills so I can use it better as a medium for the above. I have already seen the ways that small technical improvements enhance my photos (all with grateful thank yous to the icrontic community's suggestions). I have a point and shoot camera, so the improvements that I can make are in things like composition, lighting, creativity, post-processing, and other things i haven't thought of but you guys can suggest. For the most part, if you smile when you see a picture I took, that's everything I could want.

3) Why do I post to the challenge?
Its a chance to publish creative projects that I am proud of. Its a constant reminder to keep challenging myself. I have learned more in the last week by posting my photos than I ever have. I have gotten very valuable feedback from people that take incredibly admirable photos. It's a place where I can let loose some creative energy that would otherwise sit dormant. It's an excuse to get up and do something physical and engaging and interesting at the end of the day instead of play on addictinggames.com.


How about you guys? I have seen such beautiful photos and we discuss them with each other, but I would love to get to know more about each of you and why you are doing this so I see a little deeper into the pictures you choose to share.

--Marushka

[UPSLynx]

I love photography because it gives me a chance to freeze a moment in time. No matter how rare, special, candid, humorous, questionable, or interesting the moment may be, I, as well as others, will have the ability to enjoy that moment forever. And when they take hold of that moment, I am the one that becomes the storyteller. As a photographer You present the subject, you contribute to the story.

I love to capture man made and natural beauty. Photography is one of the best mediums for doing such a thing. I like to capture scenes that have everyday mediocrity and present them in vivid, unforseen life.

[Snarkasm]

Photography for me has arisen out of my natural tendencies to observation. I push myself to see things that others don't, see other layers in things they do. There's so much beauty, simplicity, personality in everything around us - but we go around ignoring most of it, oblivious to the wonder that abounds.

What do I want to improve on? Plenty. Creativity, lighting, composition. Printing, framing, selling. Appreciation, teaching, learning. The world is always changing - why should my endeavors to capture it not always change?

Why do I post? To push myself to do something more interesting. To stretch my boundaries and push my ideas. To hopefully inspire and spread my observational theory. To, one can only hope, help contribute to the amount of beautiful imagery in the world.

I still don't know if I'm really a photographer.

[CB]

My mother is an artisan (painter, basket weaver, carpenter), and when my sisters and I were children she encouraged a lot of artistic hobbies. The thing she encouraged me in the most was photography. She taught me composition with her painter's eye, and helped me to understand the importance and appeal of unique subjects. I was shooting with a 35mm point-and-shoot. It was a very nice camera, but not much in the way of settings or lenses. My photos were all developed at Walgreens, and I learned to choose frames and cut mat board that complimented each successful photo.

When my mother would go to art shows and fairs to sell her work, she would allow me to set up a small table inside her booth at which I could sell my photographs. I almost always sold out of the things I brought, and made enough money to finance the next round of photos. I recognize now that I was only able to sell so much because I was a child, and that appealed to the people at the shows, but I did enter some photography contests, and I won some ribbons (in the 'children' category, of course).

Around the beginning of high school, I realized that I couldn't really do it anymore as a child, and to be an adult photographer, I would need much better equipment, and access to a darkroom (this was still before the wide prevalence of consumer digital photo editing), so I gave it up in favor of painting, which I enjoyed almost as much, and which was significantly cheaper.

I've got a nice camera now. It's not a superduper digital SLR, but it does allow lots of customization, and if I had some other lenses, I could fit them on there. Every time I pick up the camera, I'm reminded of my childhood experiences. I think about the box of frames and mats and awards that sits on a shelf in my closet, and my mother's painter's eye returns to me for a short time. Especially when I travel, I like to find fun subjects, and attempt interesting compositions. Betsy gets miffed sometimes that we come back from vacation with 2000 photos on my camera, and neither of us are in any of them. But, for me, photography has never been about people, and it probably never will be.

Sometimes, I think that that having a teacher who essentially taught me painting with a camera, rather than photography, is a liability, and that I should try to learn more about classic photo composition, but then I think that maybe it's that style that make me like my own photographs so much. I'm sure I have other weaknesses, but it's difficult for me to see them. I'm very much a "If I like it, then it's good" type of guy when it comes to my own visual art, which is fine, since I'm not trying to sell any of it, but I would like to develop as a photographer, and I don't feel like I'm doing that when I am my only critic. That's why I'm participating in the photo-a-day challenge, and it's also why I haven't really been critiquing other's photos.

/walloftext

[shwaip]

I think i like photography because it's 'easier' for me to take nice photos than create art of a different type. I've taken a couple classes, shot and developed black and white film on my dad's full manual camera.

I'm doing the photography challenge because I know I can take good photos, but I rarely get off my butt and use the camera and gear that I've invested in. I want to become better at framing, composition, and shooting when the camera's auto modes aren't doing exactly what I want.

In addition, I'm working on doing a better job of post-processing my images, and learning the tools that allow me to do so.