Why do I love photography?
Anyone who knows me can tell you - I am, photography aside, a terrible artist.
Do you know the artist Jackson Pollock? If not a quick google can tell you more, but essentially he was known for basically throwing paint at a canvas in an artful way. I tried this once, and, despite not using any brown paint, produced nothing but a big swirl of brown on the centre of the page.
What I’m trying to say is, no matter what I have tried in the past artistically, I cannot seem to get it.
Photography though, makes more sense to me. Is it because it is partly science? Using the different aspects of light hitting the sensor to produce an image? Is it because I don’t need to create the art, merely capture it, and make it look the best? Possibly.
Whatever the reason, it is a creative outlet I love to take part in. And, despite getting into the more nuanced aspect of it over the last ten years, even before this, I was always playing with cameras. I remember my parents buying me my first digital camera and getting it as a gift in a hotel in Sydney. I was 11 years old at the time. My older brother also got one, and whilst his spent that trip to Australia often in a pocket, there are various photos of me on that trip with the camera on a strap on my wrist, or held in front of my face taking images. 2/10 for skill of course, but 10/10 for enthusiasm.
Loch Arkaig Bridge
I think the thing I love most about photography, particualrly landscape photography but its true of all photography, is the way it makes you look at the world diffferently.
Take this photo above for instance. It was raining, it was grey and overcast, and I was walking across this bridge as part of a shoot with some kayakers paddling the river beneath. This was not the primary focus of my day by a long shot. But, my camera in hand, I couldn’t help but appreciate the leading line of the bridge, and the colours of the autumn trees on the other side. I actually stopped for a moment just to appreciate the view. Something photography is wonderful for is giving you an appreciation that, no matter the weather, no matter the day, there is beauty all around us, at all times. There are some fantastic street photographers highlighting the beauty in what would otherwise seem mundane days in your local town. Wedding photography seems obvious as a place to capture beautiful images (and don’t get me wrong, it is), but what about those other moments you might not immediately think about? Everyone knows that the couple is going to look amazing. But what about the quiet moments, the ones where it isn’t about anyone or anything (bear with me here, I know there are some important people at a wedding!), but rather about the beauty of simply being part of a beautiful world?
A wedding venue in a quieter moment
Sometimes photography is what gives you those moments to enjoy the beauty in things you might otherwise miss. For me, it is my way of reminding myself to slow down and see everything as it is, amid an otherwise very rushed and digital world.
He says, whilst typing a blog on a computer…..
A long exposure image - long exposures are the perfect way to slow down!
