Steve M.
Veteran
I have been looking for a good SLR w/ a sharp 50mm lens and started a couple of threads on the search. A few people made the comments that what I was doing was obsessive. To which I reply, guilty as charged! I totally agree.
And so, what's the problem?
Back when I was painting and printing I soon noticed something that was impossible to ignore. The artists that did the best work were usually the ones w/, well, issues. They weren't particularly happy individuals, and certainly weren't analytical about their decisions. In the creative game I think being obsessive, one minded, and unwilling (or uncaring) about how others want things done are positive attributes. Notice I said in the creative game. Unhealthy? Oh well. That isn't the concern. Getting a strong image is the ONLY concern, and it happens how it happens.
I do a heck of a lot of testing lenses/formats/cameras against each other because I want the best image that I can get. It's extremely time consuming, can be expensive, and truly dominates my daily life. Often I'm up late at night fussing over an image or researching a particular bit of gear. When I get up I start right back where I stopped the night before. When I was painting I would go to sleep w/ the paints and canvas right by the bed and go right back to work in the morning as soon as I woke up.
Wouldn't have it any other way. That's what's required from me to get the images that I want. And the target is always shifting, always moving. Maybe sometimes I want the best shot in a 6x6 format, maybe it's 35mm, maybe it's a portrait. To me, a bit of madness is what makes the creative process work. Self destructiveness too (all art is destructive and that's OK). But it has to be tempered w/ discipline or you either die, go totally broke, and or nuts. Discipline/experience comes from doing what you're not supposed to do, and assuming you get through that, you know how far to go next time. So I accept and embrace all this craziness. The calm, well heeled yuppie type w/ the latest and greatest technological do dad that they can afford is the same as the Sunday Painter in my world. Oooh, I can't get away from that type fast enough. They're poison to creativity.
So, is photography an obsession to anyone else? Is it taking over your life to the exclusion of other things? Do you think you should reel it in, or step even further into it?
And so, what's the problem?
Back when I was painting and printing I soon noticed something that was impossible to ignore. The artists that did the best work were usually the ones w/, well, issues. They weren't particularly happy individuals, and certainly weren't analytical about their decisions. In the creative game I think being obsessive, one minded, and unwilling (or uncaring) about how others want things done are positive attributes. Notice I said in the creative game. Unhealthy? Oh well. That isn't the concern. Getting a strong image is the ONLY concern, and it happens how it happens.
I do a heck of a lot of testing lenses/formats/cameras against each other because I want the best image that I can get. It's extremely time consuming, can be expensive, and truly dominates my daily life. Often I'm up late at night fussing over an image or researching a particular bit of gear. When I get up I start right back where I stopped the night before. When I was painting I would go to sleep w/ the paints and canvas right by the bed and go right back to work in the morning as soon as I woke up.
Wouldn't have it any other way. That's what's required from me to get the images that I want. And the target is always shifting, always moving. Maybe sometimes I want the best shot in a 6x6 format, maybe it's 35mm, maybe it's a portrait. To me, a bit of madness is what makes the creative process work. Self destructiveness too (all art is destructive and that's OK). But it has to be tempered w/ discipline or you either die, go totally broke, and or nuts. Discipline/experience comes from doing what you're not supposed to do, and assuming you get through that, you know how far to go next time. So I accept and embrace all this craziness. The calm, well heeled yuppie type w/ the latest and greatest technological do dad that they can afford is the same as the Sunday Painter in my world. Oooh, I can't get away from that type fast enough. They're poison to creativity.
So, is photography an obsession to anyone else? Is it taking over your life to the exclusion of other things? Do you think you should reel it in, or step even further into it?
