I see no… photos

Flicking through Flickr … ahhhh I get it now …

Anyway.

I was … ummm … browsing Flickr last night and it struck me that I’m just not generally of a mind to take photos. I’m still very much a “go and take photos” type of photographer, rather than a “quick, take a snapshot” type of photographer. Now I’ll admit that, in the grand scheme of things, this isn’t really that big a deal but, as we all know, it’s the minor things that tend to piss us off and this, currently, is one of mine.

Before I continue I’ll point out that, as I type, my camera sits in the bag at my feet. It’s been there for the past couple of weeks (in the bag, not at my feet).

The lack of photos is not for the want of subjects either, for a start the building I work in has an art deco frontage and a modern glass, copper and metal extension, and even then I do seem to have a fairly good eye for composition (ohhh modesty, wherefore art thou?) even if my technical know-how still needs to be improved. No, I’m definitely not short of subjects.

So, I have the camera, I have the subjects. What on earth could possibly be stopping me taking more photos? Ahhh yes, of course. The idiot holding the camera of course!

Despite the fact I see many things, on a daily basis, that I think would make interesting snapshots (a shaft of light burning through the air, a discarded bike by the side of the road, the blossoming smoke rising from an industrial chimney) my camera remains unsheathed. I really, really need to get over this. But how?

I guess I just need to get over myself, get over the sense of… what? awkwardness? Not sure but I need to get my mindset sorted. Right. OK. Yes!!

In fact I’m going to take the first step right now.

There.

My camera is now on my desk.

Hey, baby steps and all that..

Comments

  1. Hi Gordon,

    I’m in the same boat. There’s tons of great opportunities for me to take photos, but I always doubt my ability, and end up thinking people will walk past a prat with a camera taking a stupid photo of a building site from the wrong angle.

    It’s as if I don’t consider what I find interesting valid. As if other people judge me based on what I choose to record in a photo.

    I think we need to tell ourselves to get over it. We’re (almost) as good as Ansel Adams!

  2. I think you are misusing the word “wherefore”. Wherefore is a synonym for “why”. In that famous Shakespearean play, Juliet is asking why Romeo is a Montague and therefore not acceptable to her family.

    Read this: http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/o-romeo-romeo-wherefore-art-thou-romeo

    I think you merely want to know where your modesty has gone, not why your modest is such.

    Mrs Horne – if you are reading this (you’d be about 70 by now, I reckon), I hope you’ll be pleased to know that at least something stuck in my head when I was in class 2H.

  3. As ever, thanks graybo, where would I be without you (and my Mother) for pointing out my lax use, and shocking abuse of, the English language.

  4. So it’s not just me then. I always feel a bit embarrassed at pulling the camera out, especially if no one else is doing likewise which when you think about it is not likely. And I know it’s a me thing but it doesn’t make it easier to get over.

    It’s one of the reasons (apart from costs and lack of skill…oh, and time) I don’t think about DSLR. if I’m ebarassed at a pocket camera what would I be like with that plus lenses and all the other stuff.

    As for your twitter which I’ll answer here as work has decided to block twitter partially again, I’ve used Joomla quite a bit and loved how easy it was to setup and then configure – lot’s and lot’s of plugins. However some of the plugin’s can be a pig to get talking to each other and I did read that Drupal’s performance is better than Joomla’s for sites with lot’s of users which may or may not apply to you.

  5. Ian – I have a compact camera and a ‘bridge’ (think small factor DSLR). It’s much easier to ‘hide’ behind the bridge camera, so a DSLR would be even better on the principle it makes you at least LOOK like you are a ‘proper’ photographer?

    Not sure why I give a shit about that though LOL

  6. I find I just don’t “think” to take the shot. Sometimes I’m so busy looking that the camera gets forgotten!

  7. I kind of get the logic…but then my friend has spent thousands on camera gear and he has the same issue. We need a photo meet for non photographers to get us all going.

    Mmmmm. Add that to the ‘yet another bad idea’ list!

  8. I know what you mean Gordon.

    I even bought a camera off eBay on a Twitter/Forum friend’s recommendation and have never used it. Plus my DSLR is gathering dust, aside from the odd silly photo indoors 🙂

    Hopefully I’ll remember to take my camera when I’m in Cambridge next month and actually use the silly thing 😀

  9. The other arguement however… when I see someone taking a picture in the street, I am always fascinated as to what they are taking a picture of and how that picure would turn out. I admire people (like my brother) taking unusual randoms shots during their day. Gordon definately got the skill for this in our family!

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