Finding Time For Photography
Updated: Jun 11, 2021
As easy as taking a picture has become with today's technology, allowing ourselves the time for photography might be a commodity harder to come by than ever.
I will expand on this idea. A mobile phone with a capable camera sits in our pocket. We take it out, snap a picture that gets instant uploaded on social media. Feedback follows shortly and our audience fuels that external validation meter that we became so dependent on.
How can we than justify photography? Time consuming, resource demanding, slow processing workflow that requires us to think creative and relies on what we feel and why we feel it, rather than instant feeding what we think others like to see from us. It all ends up on social media anyways!?
Well, at least the end result ends up on social media. Not the time, energy, work and emotion we resource in creating our photos. No, ... that is only for us to appreciate. And that, is what I believe makes photography worth it!
Lately, time availability became extremely unpredictable. Fluctuating work volumes, travel restrictions and the uncertainty of life as we learnt to expect it bites of chunks of energy and focus. And somehow, hope always seems to break through and light our way. This morning walk reminded me of that!
Enjoy Photography for the Process
Finding time for the things we enjoy is often regarded as luxury rather than a useful habit of recollection and well-being.
I found that it is actually the anxiety of achievement that oft times defers me from offering time for photography. So I decided to share a few thoughts on how we can break routines and find motivation to enjoy photography for the process rather than for the results:
Nature will instinctively draw us out of the comfort areas we created for ourselves. A walk in the park, a drive outside the crowded city, a flight to a land far away. Ideas of escaping daily noise and rediscovering meaningful and rewarding experiences.
Photography can help us understand why we enjoy certain environments and become emotionally attached to them.
Photography allows our senses to relax and instinctively look for beauty within moments.
Most of all, it rewards us with memories of what we felt while creating the photos.
Create Photos that Reflect our Experiences
As we learn photography, and begin feeling comfortable with the workflow we established, it is important to maintain focus on why we enjoy doing it.
Having this understanding will allow us to create photos that reflect our experience of a given moment in time.
This concept brings about some questions though. How can we understand the value of a photo solely through the prism of our connection with it? How does it aid with our native impulse of group acceptability? As far as I am aware of, we can't and ... it doesn't.
So how can we can avoid including these two notions into the why of taking photos?
As certain subjects might not necessarily be unique in photography, the approach of puzzling together a composition that reflects our experience of the moment will in itself bring authenticity to our photos. And that ,I strongly believe, helps build an expressive bond that over time becomes invaluable and immeasurable in any amount of social media likes.
It was a cold, damp late summer day I went for a drive to visit a dear friend. My mind was unsettled and burdened with concern pilled up from the routine. I was searching for clarity in my thoughts.
So I allowed myself a break, and stopped on the road a couple of times to take photos of the mist clearing away above the treeline. First location was windy, and the ripples on the water surface were as cold an unsettling as my feelings. Second location was secluded and calm. The reflections on the water surface ... fascinating, the moist cold air ... refreshing, the smell of pine nearby ... soothing. This was a day worth remembering!
Going Forward
I hope this blog post offered you useful insight into finding motivation to allow ourselves the time for photography.
As a useful exercise, I encourage you to review your photo collection, and identify the ones that you have a strong attachment to. Write down the reasons you believe compose that attachment, and look for any recurrent patterns that might create (for example a state of well-being when photographing certain landscapes, or certain subjects, certain times of day, seasons, weather conditions, etc).
Thank you for reading, and please do feel free to leave a comment or contact me for questions, feedback, ideas and requests: https://www.andreitanasephotography.com/contact
If you believe this blog is useful for others, please share the link alongside your recommendation to them!
Sincerely,
Andrei