Why do you take photographs?

Why not? :naughty:
 
Personally, to record memories, to share what I like with friends who can't be present.

Professionally, at the moment it's investigating how digital imaging systems handle scenes beyond their abilities - so lots of out of gamut, speculate and extreme contrast.
 
I think the closest I've come to understanding why I like photography is encapsulated by something Garry Winogrand said: "I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed".

I want to capture things that catch my eye, but I also want those images to look like a photograph of the subject. That resulting picture might not look exactly the same as it did to my eye in reality.

That probably makes no sense whatsoever. :)
 
It gives me something to do. I get a buzz from taking the photos, another buzz when editing and a Brucie bonus if others like my photograph. It’s a social event as I like to meet up with other photographers.
 
It gives me something to do. I get a buzz from taking the photos, another buzz when editing and a Brucie bonus if others like my photograph. It’s a social event as I like to meet up with other photographers.

All of the above and my main aim is to enter the best of them in Club, National and International competitions.

Dave
 
Because I love creating things.
Also because I like to capture places I've been to keep as nice memories - and to share with people. Now it's also a challenge to learn new camera skills and improve to take better photos.
 
My interest in taking photos is to remember places /people and pets from the past. Being technically correct to me is not that important.
 
Mainly for memories. I love looking back at photos, jogging my memory of places and experiences and people and seeing how things change over time.

This, and as my Arthritis steals independence, it's one of the few things I can still enjoy.DSC07136 (2).JPG
 
To me it's a bit like somebody metal detecting. The vast majority is unproductive but somewhere between now and when I turn my toes up there's that 1 photo. I will know it when I've taken it.
 
Its a way to capture experiences, sights and feelings and the ability to share moments with those who were not there or remember moments with those who were there.
Its a way of learning to see things differently eg. sometimes a small tight/close up 'part' shot is better than a literal full shot.
Its the challenge, using an artistic eye and understanding of technology to capture moments in interesting or factual ways and rising to the challenge of squeezing the technology available to achieve the best shots that I can.

George.
 
It tells us where we have been, what we have done and what we saw.
Running as slideshows on our computers is a lovely reminder as we get older and older and older:confused:;)
But where it was...we don't know!:oops: :$
 
I started taking snaps just to record where I'd been. Then I realised I found something I really enjoy doing, and soon found instead of taking snaps of where I'd been, I went places to take images, and it spiralled from then on.

Still love it now, the challenge, the chase for perfect conditions, but mainly still just being in these amazing places the UK and mainly the Highlands has to offer before even getting the camera out.
 
An excellent question and one I often ponder.

It all started for me when my Brother in Law loaned me his new camera (bear with me, it's relevant) just for the day. It was a Fuji compact. I took some pics of my then dog and I still have those pics of my dog and his memory recorded forever. Not long after I bought myself a Canon compact ( a Poweshot A40 ), all 2 megapixels of it but it was the bees back then. I didn't have a clue then about DSLRs but later on, I did feel I wanted a 'better' camera, so I got a Fuji S7000 bridge camera. I still have the Canon and the Fuji.

2005, enter DSLR for me, a 350D.

This is when I really got the bug and by 2010, I was using a Prosumer level camera, a 40D. I was a member of a camera club and I started to put some thought into my images for competition entry. This was my main focus (no pun intended), it was a challenge but it also helped me improve my photography, as on the whole, judges provide useful crit and this is where the improvement can lie. So the challenge of club competition photography, as well as learning not only from the competitions but other member's experiences too was one of the reasons I took photos back then.

Nowadays, I still take photographs for competitions but not first and foremost anymore. Now I love the new challenges, seeking out wildlife or chasing the light in remote places, being out there is a form of relaxation now and that is now as important to me as attempting to take decent images. I love discovering new areas and narrowing it down to particular compositions. I've taken the popular shots of The Buachaille for example but looking for new images in such places gives me a lot of satisfaction, another good reason to take pictures.

It's a constant learning circle and I now feel I have got to a stage where my better images can be on our walls as framed prints. A few have made it to other walls. ;) (y)

I enjoy sharing my images here too, good and bad and taking part in the forums, gaining help and advice and helping too when I can.

Also, I have made some good friends just by taking pictures, which is always going to be a good thing. :)
 
I started going for longer and longer walks after I gave up smoking, mostly to try and shift the podge that I’d put on from the munchies quitting smoking gave me. I also find being in the hills, by a lake, etc brings a nice sense of peace and quiet that my life otherwise lacks. Pretty quickly I decided to try and record the places I’d been and a camera was bought - so similar to others reasons I guess. I just try and photograph what nature puts infront of me, I don’t have the creative eye that others have, I just want a reminder of the time the picture was made.
 
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