Wednesday, April 17, 2013

My relationship with a camera

I'm going to a few hen parties this summer and have had to dig out the old photos and get scanning - a process that feels far too slow nowadays, surely there's an easier way?

It's reminded me how much I love my camera. I genuinely love taking photos, I don't claim to be a professional in any way, it's really just about capturing the moment and making sure you take the time to look back on the photos and remember.

I have boxes of photos so over the summer I'm going to spend serious time scanning, printing and hopefully (when I have my own house) displaying them for all to see. I also have about 16,000 photos on my computer, that I need to showcase. I'm really proud of some of my photos and want to look at them - to remember the people in them and just smile when I see them.

I started taking photos when I got my first camera at school. And I was always the one in my friendship group who had a camera - as  result there's loads of photos of them, and not a huge amount of me. I really thought it was my job to document what was going on - they're fairly crap, dark photos but they're better than nothing. I always had it with me to capture that embarrassing moment, which obviously my two friends are going to love at their hen parties (sorry girls!).

I bought my first digital SLR (my Canon 350D) when I was at university and gradually got used to it. I was stuck on auto for a long time, but gradually started reading up on it and turning the dial to the other functions!

I've upgraded my camera twice and now use a 60D. This is a great little camera and I'm now looking at spending money on lenses rather than the body, and build a stock of decent lenses. I can genuinely look at my photos and see progression over the last few years, and I have some photos I'm incredibly proud of!

Last year I photographed a wedding that made me realise I never want to do it for a living. I enjoyed it on the day, but I did it as a favour and it was bloody hard work. I was a guest at the wedding and didn't feel it - in fact, I'm really gutted that there isn't a single photo of me and my boyfriend from the day. It makes me sad - I've always been so keen to capture the moment, but I'm not in it! Actually, some of the photos are the best I've taken, and I've even done some editing (never done before!) and learned something new.

At the end of that day, when my arm ached and I could no longer lift the camera, I put it back in it's bag and have really struggled to take it out again. I'm not feeling inspired (probably helped by the iphone camera, which I use more and more) but from today... I'm getting out more. I'm picking up that bloody camera and using it.

And then I'll bore you senseless with photos of trees or the view from the hill by my house!





No comments:

Post a Comment