a hobby...

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back alley

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even though i have thousands tied up in gear and countless hours dedicated to it...photography is only my hobby.
with some luck and a good accountant i might be able to convince myself that i have earned as much over the years as i have spent over the years.

i can't say that i ever really wanted to or have ever thought of myself as an artist but sometimes i sneak a thought in that maybe if i really tried i might someday be one.

i can't say that i ever thought seriously about working for a news paper but i have shot for a couple of art's rags that got me into some funky situations and hanging out with real actors and artists and musicians.

and studio work was not for me but i did have a small studio once and there were those summers of wedding work.

at 56 i still wonder about being 'discovered', maybe the internet will be the vehicle that will spring my 'work' to the masses.

any of this sound familiar?

joe
 
Yes and no.

Experience-wise it's familiar,

but I'm doing it simply because I like it, with no delusions of being discovered. That's a young man's game and it requires shovelling something smelly. IMO
 
Perhaps you don't need to be discovered. With your own talent and a nifty web site you can present your work as it best pleases you. Perfect a means of making prints and offer your work to browsers. Yes, I guess to sell some thing someone has to discover it, but with a portfolio on the web, you can always confidently offer the address to others and by word of mouth, starting with your own, who knows what may happen.
 
FrankS said:
...with no delusions of being discovered. That's a young man's game....
Click to expand...


Damn... I kinda like being deluded, it's better than the reality.

Having taken photo's of Rich yesterday, and looking through this past year, I could never take a photo again, and know that I've taken better photo's than I ever thought I would.

I can't say that I'll ever be happy though. I'd die happy that I've taken all these photo's and enjoyed the rush of seeing the images...


...but I won't be happy until I've shown everyone, and photographed everyone. 🙄
 
Joe

I can fix this for both you and Ash

Joe to add 'be happy' and 'I've no sold or bought a camera all day, I've not got BASS' to mission statement.

Ash to add 'be happy'

Noel
 
Frank S: [...and it requires shovelling something smelly. IMO]

Perfect!

I do this as a hobby and as a way to deal with a difficult personal situation (I have a daughter born without part of her brain and some other problems).

I've only posted a few pictures in the gallery (and they are really bad scans at that) because I felt guilty that I didn't have anything up for you all to see. Otherwise, I'm concentrating on printing photos in my home darkroom for purely personal pleasure and display.

Hobby's should not be something you try to justify financially. I'm lucky that my wife thinks it is worth it and bought my Leica for me without questioning the cost.

Life is short, enjoy it while you have it.

Cheers,
Alex
 
It's a hobby for me. Like cooking, it requires enough focus to keep my mind away from work, which I like way to much to consider doing something else.

Roland.
 
Waiting for the world to discover you as an artist is a mistake...you must discover yourself as an artist. For most people, that's harder than it sounds.
 
Joe, do what you do, do what you can. Be who you are and make sure everything you do comes from your heart. Be happy with that. As time goes on, it all eventually falls into place. Time is the great leveler.
 
I'm with Alex & Roland. Its just a hobby and so I make pictures I like and if other people like them that's OK but really I don't mind one way or the other.

What I absolutely wouldn't like is someone offering me money to do a shoot. That would take all the fun out of it.
 
I take photos because I can't draw of paint worth a da**

And I'm with Peter and Roland... I do this to get my mind off work and other concerns. I like how, when I go out to shoot, that is the only thing on my mind. Money would change the equation. I still like it when other people like my photos, and I make prints for my friends, but I just give them away.
 
I'm lucky that my work pays better than I deserve and it's often fun (though always stressful). Photography and cycling are my two hobbies and I do both because they keep my mind focused and my stress levels down. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to do either for a living, but the more I read about what photographers and cyclists do moment-to-moment, day-to-day the more I think I'd rather keep it to a hobby.

In my limited experience doing anything for money changes your viewpoint on it, whether you want it to or not. Not everyone likes the new viewpoint.
 
ywenz said:
I enjoy this guy's work a lot..

http://seanflaniganphotography.com/
Click to expand...

Very nice stuff. I just got married in the fall and had a reportage style photographer do the wedding. My wife and I were both thrilled with the results and what was especially interesting was that while the main photographer used a Canon DSLR kit, her assistant was using a pair of M6s with 50 and 28 'crons and shot everything on Delta 400. It was amazing how easy it was to pick out the digital B&W from the D400 shots, even on the proof sheets. Both were great though.

I did one wedding and, for me, that was enough. Too much stress 😉

Edit: Oh, and the Leica shooter actually used a flash on some shots. And believe it or not, it worked!
 
I took up photography as a hobby ... it helps fight the stress of work and daily life, gets me out for a good walk, requires fun toys, and allows me to express what limited artistic ability I might have.
I made money with photography at one time ... but then it became work, not a hobby and I dropped it completely for nearly a decade before returning with the strict rule that it be for my enjoyment.
Occasionally people want to buy prints ... they either get a "no" or I'll give them one.

Peter
 
It's a hobby in the sense that I don't make money out of it (and never want to, either), but it's more a compulsion to take pictures. I have no idea where it came from, I don't question it, I just give in to it.

Ian
 
I get the odd paying gig and enjoy the challenge of having to produce - keeps me sharp, and the external validation is a rewarding, though secondary, motivator.

I do what I like to do. I do it because I like to do it.
 
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