The Motivation and the Deviation
I started taking photographs because I love viewing things from a different perspective and to express what’s going on in my mind. Since I started, my emotions and my feelings have driven my photographs. My imagination is triggered by whatever I am feeling. From there, I transfer what I envision in my mind into photographs. Until I am able to transfer whatever I imagine into a photograph, I do not stop taking pictures. Such feelings are the driving forces for my passion of photography.
Lately, however, I have sort of deviated away from my original motivation. Upon reading a couple of my blog posts before this, one will notice that I have shifted from the art of photography to the more technical side. This is a hole that I have found myself in before. I found myself blaming my equipment for the quality of my photographs. Such thinking is somewhat justified. However, such thinking is still an incorrect way of viewing the art. As in my previous post, it is the photographer and not the camera that makes the shots.
I initially bought my 18-200mm VR lens to provide me with more flexibility and to help me take photos will less difficulty. As I said before, the equipment provides a great deal of convenience to the photographer and should not be viewed as the provider of vision and imagination. I took photos to take advantage of the new features. I was very happy with the new amount of flexibility and photo opportunities that I have gained with this new piece of equipment. In the midst of my excitement, I found myself worrying a lot about the technical details like the focal length, the vibration reduction, the aperture size, the shutter speed, etc, etc, etc… I paid so much attention to the new piece of equipment that I did not pay much attention to what was seen through the lens. My shots were cliche’s and I didn’t feel the same tingle in my shutter finger and the excitement that I used to feel after every shot. I’m talking about the feeling inside telling me that “I like that shot”.
I think it’s good that I catch myself in such a state before I fall into it any further. The next time I go out with my camera and my new lens, I will go out with a different mind - such a mind that will move me and trigger my imagination like before. The functions of my camera and the photography techniques I learned will be kept in my mind’s utility storage and will come up more as an instinct than a main thought. My eyes will wander and my mind will be open to imagine and create.
I am a hobby photographer. An amateur? Yes, but I hope to get to the point where the technical details are just an aside and the main focus of every shutter click is the image created from my mind and the expression of who I am. I take photographs because I feel complete, I feel alive, and I feel confirmed by photography. I am motivated and driven by my passion for the art, and not the numbers, statistics, money, or the equipment that, unfortunately, are more important to other people.