Photography and my hobby...

Today, I have spent some time looking at photography pics and sites.

I never cease to be amazed by my friend Brandy and her success.  She's awesome, has vision and loves what she does.  I love her artwork.  And to me it is just that, ARTWORK.  Her portraits have a way of capturing the glimmer in that person or the whole family's eyes and showing you a little bit about that person with a snap of the shutter.  It's great.

She posted something today that triggers thoughts in my head (more so than usual):

Photography is not a career path. It's a business. 
And it's only for the ambitious and eager. Unless one does it for pure
passion and enjoyment. Then it's a hobby. - Robert Provencher

It's right.  But it kind of pissed me off - not her, the statement.  It gives off the impression that unless you love it THAT much, it's not photography.  I disagree.  It's a business for some.  And that's ok.  For me, when I shoot, I shoot with as much passion and enjoyment as anything.  I don't consider myself ambitious or eager with my photography because I am not wanting to make money off of it.  I have passion for seeing if I can get a shot, capture a moment - yes flowers and sunsets too, with passion and enjoyment even though they are usually deemed the "easy" shots.

I ENJOY seeing what I envision coming to life on my monitor and then one day into a print that someone else, too, will enjoy.  I don't do it to make money and I know "that's" the difference.  I am a hobbyist photographer.  I don't do it for a living.  There are many out there where a lot of what he posted on his blog about hobby vs business, snapshots, easy shots, etc., applies to them.  They didn't go to school to learn it the hard way.

Hell, I did it "the old fashioned way".  I learned on film, learned how to develop both color film and black & white film.  I learned how to do my own prints (both color and black & white) and learned how to color correct them visually, not on a pc.  I learned to love the ART of creating ART.

I agree with him that not every "Jane and Mary" stay at home mom's are as talented and committed to the art.  They can snap until their heart's desire with the 16+ GB cards and odds are, they will catch one decent (maybe 2) shot.  There are the groups that do take the time to learn what an F-stop is, how the light actually affects an exposure, about the impact of focal length and what combination determines the clarity, lighting and framing of a shot.  I won't deny that there are stereotypes that go along with it.  Hell, I fit into my own stereotypes if they try hard enough to find one.

My point is, my ego took a small hit today when I read some of Robert's stuff.  And it's supposed to be the number one rule of photography, do not compare yourself to others.  Compare yourself to your old work and scale it for improvements.  And I think that's why I haven't had any pictures to work on lately.  I've let my creativity and passion for the art go to sleep.  It needs a jump start and I need to figure out how.  Just when I think I am ready to pick up the camera again, I fall back into the rut of the "I wish I could do it that way" or "I wish I had taken that".  It's an easy trap to discourage yourself, so try to avoid it.

I'm trying to and I hope within the next couple of weeks (spring is coming and that usually helps) that I will be able to hop back on it.  I've determined that my favorite shots are either macros, or my own kids.  I have a couple of ideas brewing, so maybe I can come up with something that will remind me that, yes, I love it and passionately, along with the enjoyment of seeing it come to life.