Almost every photographer's interests are manifold. I was 77 years old when I wrote this article. Since I was 17 years old, photography has become an important factor in my life. I've never been a professional photographer, although for a few years I was a semi professional photographer, covering high school sports events for the weekly newspaper at night and on weekends. However, I started working in the photographic equipment industry at the age of 23, and finally retired completely at the age of 73. I work in a photography equipment manufacturer and distributor, mainly professional photography products.
Love of photography process is more important than result
In my 60s, I bought a small digital camera with a zoom lens and started photographing again. Soon I was not satisfied with the quality of the camera, so I bought a Sony APS-C non reflective camera, and quickly expanded my interest. I've rediscovered my interest in scenery and tourism photography. My travel photos are mainly landscapes, including mountains and forests, oceans, deserts - these are all subjects of interest to me - but city themes are not so important.
I also have to admit that I have a long-term obsession with the technical aspects of photography, especially the lens. A few years ago, I had a lot of exposure to lens products in my work and learned a lot about them. Although I am not a lens designer, I did learn about the characteristics and shortcomings of various lenses and how to optimize performance. The development of photo imaging technology continues to attract me.
A few years ago, I found an interesting quirk in my photography. Watching and photographing in the viewfinder is often more important to me than the result; it is still the case today. In the era of film, people take film, then send it to a printing shop and wait a week for the results to be seen. Obviously, today's digital photography allows us to see photos instantly. But I usually don't copy the photos to my computer until a few weeks later, which is almost as long as it takes to take film.
Love of photography process is more important than result
The discovery made me more interested in the process itself than in what kind of photos I got. In this regard, over the past few years, I have been trying to understand my personal spiritual journey, including abandoning most of what I learned in growing up, and seeking a new understanding of my existence and its meaning. For example, if photographing is really a recognition of creation, then naturally, we should try our best to make the photo as good as possible within the limits of this situation. But didn't we do it all the time? If we don't, it would be a sad comment on ourselves.
If we admit that taking pictures is an important and meaningful thing, shouldn't we use the best equipment we can afford? Within a reasonable range, I think the answer must be yes. But wait! For example, if we shoot a daylight scene, we certainly don't need an F / 1.2 lens, and a smaller aperture can do it. At f / 8, most zoom lenses are almost as good as the best large aperture fixed focus lenses.
Love of photography process is more important than result
The photos are taken and downloaded to the computer. What do you do after that? Today, most photographers go into post-processing to beautify their photos. This brings us to an important difference. Personally, I usually just want to see what "errors" I can clear, such as removing dust spots, leveling the horizon, changing the obvious exposure settings, correcting the color temperature, and so on. I can also use other programs to sharpen images and eliminate noise. But I refuse to do more. If this photo really affirms the beauty of creation, then in my opinion, anything that changes this picture is denying the beauty of creation.
Love of photography process is more important than result
Ansel Adams's work is a good example. His famous photos are representative, but we are very clear that he is a darkroom master who uses his skills to make the images he sees and takes vividly and vividly. Nevertheless, his approach was clearly to be faithful to what he saw. Under normal circumstances, thousands of photos of the Grand Canyon are taken every day. However, few people realize how much different the pictures taken in the last second can mean to the pictures taken in the previous second?
Do we have to create landscapes? In my opinion, not at all. After all, we are part of the creation, not incompatible with it. Farms, roads, poles, people... Can all be elegant elements of landscape photos.