What hobby do you pair with photography?

Hmm. Hobby ... Never really liked the word, I just do things I enjoy doing, not really thinking of the activities as a hobby. Things that I do that include the use of photography:
  • I work on the restoration of my classic Italian car.
  • I study and occasionally work on/fix watches and clockwork mechanisms.
  • I ride my bicycle, and develop its configuration.
  • I write short articles and instructional materials for a host of different subjects.
  • I travel and document the people and places I visit.
  • I make custom cards and takeaways for events and occasions.
And so forth ... 🙂

G
 
In addition to photography, writing fiction reading nonfiction and fiction, as well as hiking, travel, and gaming. The latter is probably the least synchronous with photography. I've seen people's work where they capture great screenshots from video games, but I've always had zero interest in doing that.

Writing has taken a backseat for a long time, unfortunately, as I have always considered writing and not photography as the hobby I might make money off of someday. Photography offers such an easier (and often bite-sized) outlet for creativity, I almost think it detracts from what I want to do... though I can't stop doing it.
 
I used to say that collecting red wine was a hobby as well as my camera collection. What I discovered was a wine collection can rapidly disappear every time a bottle is opened, whereas my cameras sat forever. Now, I still do have more red wine than I can drink in the next five years.... but again, what enjoyment!
 
My Photography Blog: I never thought of it as a hobby, it seems more like work. I should say “unpaid work” because I don’t make any money from it. However, it’s a great motivator to get out and take pictures that can be strung together into some kind of comprehensive story.

All the best,
Mike
 
I write fiction. I've written three novel length works and four novella length. I haven't published any of them, I'll never make a dime from them, but they're enjoyable for me to create.
I also write software as a hobby (after a career as a software engineer). I recently finished porting a barcode encode/decode library from Java to Rust. It took me about 8 months and was fairly rewarding. (library)
 
I only started bothering with cameras after I received a cheap zoom telescope for Christmas. It was a Tasco 16-50x which was practically useless past 45x and not great between 41-45x. I set it up and looked at a few stars and the moon and thought "What now?" as I began to get the feeling that I wanted to "Do" something apart from just looking. A short while later I found out that there were adapters to mount cameras onto telescopes, so plans (which I couldn't afford to carry out) began to form in my two braincells. I started looking for cameras with "B" as a speed setting to be used on a 20" Newtonian reflector which I believed I would never buy due to lack of money, place to put it and due to not having an out of town location.
 
Which hobby of mine do I pair with photography? Camera collecting.

It didn't start that way. Photography was my first hobby, with a simple 127-format camera and then later an 8mm ciné camera which I saved money for when I was 12. I didn't start to buy more cameras until my career was at its peak and didn't start to buy a lot until the late 1990's when people were switching to digital.

My second hobby is language and linguistics. I'm Hungarian; everyone on my father's side is Hungarian. Oddly, my mother's side is Syrian. So I experienced both languages. However, I learned Russian as a teenager and later became a translator. My first job was translating Russian scientific and military documents. From this, I became fascinated with languages and linguistics. I learned Norwegian and lived in Norway for a while in the 1980's.

But translating does not pay well generally. So I became interested in programming computers after being accepted to a Computer Science program at USC in Los Angeles. We learned FORTRAN and I knew this is where my career would be. Over 40 years I wrote embedded firmware (assembly language being my favorite). I wrote firmware for HP calculators, for Tek logic analyzers, for WiFi chips, for Intel power management ASIC's, and for battery management systems for electric vehicles (I'm astonished at the number of EV owners who apparently think the charging process somehow doesn't require a power station somewhere).

My fourth hobby is shooting, typically long-distance competition from 1000 yards to a mile. I do local range shooting as well, and I also do reloading of many calibers. The craft and rich heritage is fascinating along with many truly nice and wonderful people.

Ham radio. I studied electronics as a kid; I wanted to build a TV camera, not realizing I didn't know enough to know I didn't know enough. I learned Morse code and got a US General Class license. I have a 40 meter QRP ( low power) transciever. It puts out only 4 watts and is CW (Morse Code only - no voice). From Washington state my first contacts were to Alaska and central California. I have old Yaesu handhelds for VHF/UHF and I have a 1970's Kenwood hybrid transciever (tubes + transistors) that is good for 100 W on the HF bands. I've talked around the world with that. I don't do much with this hobby these days.

Mechanical watches, mechanical calculators. I like mechanical things.

Cars. I've had a few European cars that are true exotics. Manual transmission, of course. Absolutely not interested at all in these sports cars any more. Trying to sell the last one. What I want now is: manual transmission, 4x4, separate low range gearshift, high clearance. I don't want the console of my car to look like an iphone.

Music. I started with tenor sax, played a bit of clarinet. Now I play mostly my keyboard and my father's violin. When he was a little kid, my father's parents bought him a German violin and he learned to play that. He did well. I inherited it; it's at least 120 years old, and now I am trying to learn to play the violin. It's hard. Need to practice 40 hours per day to make progress.

Books. I love books; my house is filled with books and bookshelves. I have no electronic books and don't want one. My aunt wrote an (unpublished) book of our family history - escaping Communist Hungary and coming to the US. She has a great writing style; I'm trying to continue the book from where she left off.

Hiking. There's a mountain in California I need to get to the top of. Originally, I wanted to climb it because I knew a photo from the top would be amazing. I tried long ago and got spooked. It seemed a bit treacherous although it's not a technical climb that requires equipment. Decades ago I got to the top of the first of four peaks before the summit peak. I made a photo, thinking I'd return in two weeks to get to the summit. Then I got spooked thinking about it. Over the decades that photo has haunted me; reminded me that I never completed the climb. Last year I went back, now being much much older, and I thought it couldn't be anything to worry about. I was wrong: it actually is treacherous. It'd be easy to slip and break a bone or two. Still, I made it to peak 3. This year I'm going back. Maybe peak 4 and the summit. I plan to go back every year, just because I like the place.

Too many hobbies; I am an old cat.
 
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I don't know how I missed this thread. It is a nice place and I love everyone's past time hobbies. It is important to do anything that you passion. It gives more essences in life to have more drives.
I do few more things other than photography.
I just got initiated to calligraphy and lettering. So as a result I am interested in learning old letterforms and knowing about older writing instruments. So I became a collector of those instruments pen holders and nibs. I have a collection of vintage and antiques pens and overtime I gain a good knowledge of classic pen nibs and holders. Now I have also many projects for refurbishing some older pens.
So importantly I am trying to improve my penmanship and it is amazingly getting better. I love old Spencerian scripts and that is my next goal.
 
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agentlossing said:
...and gaming. The latter is probably the least synchronous with photography. I've seen people's work where they capture great screenshots from video games, but I've always had zero interest in doing that.
Click to expand...
Well, here's a rabbit hole for you: designing game "maps" and making photos of them.

At work, during the Enlightened Days when we weren't afraid of layoffs, our firmware team at one site would play lunchtime and evening games with another team at a different site. Quake2, Counterstrike, capture-the-flag... those days. We loved the classic maps: Dust, Italy, etc. I still have the layout of dozens of maps in my head.

One guy on our team bought the Qoole editor we could use to create maps. I made a few and submitted them. Great fun to build them. Would stay at work till 3am because it was so much fun, so creative. Even more fun to see people around the world playing them, enjoying them, and making screenshots.
 
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Pál_K said:
Which hobby of mine do I pair with photography? Camera collecting.

It didn't start that way. Photography was my first hobby, with a simple 127-format camera and then later an 8mm ciné camera which I saved money for when I was 12. I didn't start to buy more cameras until my career was at its peak and didn't start to buy a lot until the late 1990's when people were switching to digital.

My second hobby is language and linguistics. I'm Hungarian; everyone on my father's side is Hungarian. Oddly, my mother's side is Syrian. So I experienced both languages. However, I learned Russian as a teenager and later became a translator. My first job was translating Russian scientific and military documents. From this, I became fascinated with languages and linguistics. I learned Norwegian and lived in Norway for a while in the 1980's.

But translating does not pay well generally. So I became interested in programming computers after being accepted to a Computer Science program at USC in Los Angeles. We learned FORTRAN and I knew this is where my career would be. Over 40 years I wrote embedded firmware (assembly language being my favorite). I wrote firmware for HP calculators, for Tek logic analyzers, for WiFi chips, for Intel power management ASIC's, and for battery management systems for electric vehicles (I'm astonished at the number of EV owners who apparently think the charging process somehow doesn't require a power station somewhere).

My fourth hobby is shooting, typically long-distance competition from 1000 yards to a mile. I do local range shooting as well, and I also do reloading of many calibers. The craft and rich heritage is fascinating along with many truly nice and wonderful people.

Ham radio. I studied electronics as a kid; I wanted to build a TV camera, not realizing I didn't know enough to know I didn't know enough. I learned Morse code and got a US General Class license. I have a 40 meter QRP ( low power) transciever. It puts out only 4 watts and is CW (Morse Code only - no voice). From Washington state my first contacts were to Alaska and central California. I have old Yaesu handhelds for VHF/UHF and I have a 1970's Kenwood hybrid transciever (tubes + transistors) that is good for 100 W on the HF bands. I've talked around the world with that. I don't do much with this hobby these days.

Mechanical watches, mechanical calculators. I like mechanical things.

Cars. I've had a few European cars that are true exotics. Manual transmission, of course. Absolutely not interested at all in these sports cars any more. Trying to sell the last one. What I want now is: manual transmission, 4x4, separate low range gearshift, high clearance. I don't want the console of my car to look like an iphone.

Music. I started with tenor sax, played a bit of clarinet. Now I play mostly my keyboard and my father's violin. When he was a little kid, my father's parents bought him a German violin and he learned to play that. He did well. I inherited it; it's at least 120 years old, and now I am trying to learn to play the violin. It's hard. Need to practice 40 hours per day to make progress.

Books. I love books; my house is filled with books and bookshelves. I have no electronic books and don't want one. My aunt wrote an (unpublished) book of our family history - escaping Communist Hungary and coming to the US. She has a great writing style; I'm trying to continue the book from where she left off.

Hiking. There's a mountain in California I need to get to the top of. Originally, I wanted to climb it because I knew a photo from the top would be amazing. I tried long ago and got spooked. It seemed a bit treacherous although it's not a technical climb that requires equipment. Decades ago I got to the top of the first of four peaks before the summit peak. I made a photo, thinking I'd return in two weeks to get to the summit. Then I got spooked thinking about it. Over the decades that photo has haunted me; reminded me that I never completed the climb. Last year I went back, now being much much older, and I thought it couldn't be anything to worry about. I was wrong: it actually is treacherous. It'd be easy to slip and break a bone or two. Still, I made it to peak 3. This year I'm going back. Maybe peak 4 and the summit. I plan to go back every year, just because I like the place.

Too many hobbies; I am an old cat.
Click to expand...
I find that the main thing I've collected as I've gotten older is hobbies.
 
I am writing my memoirs so that my daughter may have an idea of what I did during my working life. I've lived and worked in different countries: in Asia; the Middle East; Western, Central, and Eastern Europe; Africa, and the Middle East. Some of the countries were at war, and some others were in an immediate post-war period. Most of my hobbies went by the wayside since I was working all the time but, now and then, I did try to revive a hobby: at one point I bought a trombone in Singapore and then had the Indonesian police knocking on my door with the message that the neighbors complained there was a ghost in their compound; at another time, I bought an alto sax in Switzerland thinking I'd stay long enough to take lessons there, only to be shipped-out to Africa. All aside, the job also allowed me to retire at a young age. Today, it's photography, posting photos online; dividing my time between Canada and Asia, and writing memoirs. Cheers, OtL
 
Out to Lunch said:
I am writing my memoirs so that my daughter may have an idea of what I did during my working life. I've lived and worked in different countries: in Asia; the Middle East; Western, Central, and Eastern Europe; Africa, and the Middle East. Some of the countries were at war, and some others were in an immediate post-war period. ...
Click to expand...
A family memoir to be treasured. I assume you will include photos.
 
Out to Lunch said:
I am writing my memoirs so that my daughter may have an idea of what I did during my working life. I've lived and worked in different countries: in Asia; the Middle East; Western, Central, and Eastern Europe; Africa, and the Middle East. Some of the countries were at war, and some others were in an immediate post-war period. Most of my hobbies went by the wayside since I was working all the time but, now and then, I did try to revive a hobby: at one point I bought a trombone in Singapore and then had the Indonesian police knocking on my door with the message that the neighbors complained there was a ghost in their compound; at another time, I bought an alto sax in Switzerland thinking I'd stay long enough to take lessons there, only to be shipped-out to Africa. All aside, the job also allowed me to retire at a young age. Today, it's photography, posting photos online; dividing my time between Canada and Asia, and writing memoirs. Cheers, OtL
Click to expand...
I have a copy of my grandfather’s memoirs. i am truly glad he wrote them.
 
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