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09/22/2006 03:40:13 AM · #1 |
Does photography limits human sensory perceptions (or even generalâawarenessâ)?
The reason why Iâm asking this question is because I have noticed that when I have camera in hand, all Iâm doing is âanalyzingâ the surroundings, frame-by-frame, for (photographic) subjects. Even when Iâm on âvacationâ at scenic location, Iâm âbusyâ analyzing the scene (for my dear camera).
To capture those age lines on old face, I miss out âbeingâ with the person I see as good photographic subject. In search for that perfect frame to capture the scene, I miss out on âbeingâ with the nature and miss out the warmth of fading evening light and caress of the gentle breeze (maybe because I cannot capture it in camera). This raises the question in my mind â am I âbeingâ a âbeingâ or simply being my camera? Am I really experiencing life (nature, surrounding and company) or merely analyzing it? Am I limiting my senses to just visual feed?
I practically cancelled my program to visit one of the beautiful new temples in my city when I came to know that camera is not allowed inside the temple. With not being able to capture the beauty with my camera, there was no point going to such place (or so I thought). And that made me thinking on this subject.
Am I the only one???? or...???
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09/22/2006 03:59:29 AM · #2 |
if you like to analyze things (which you seem to!) then you will.
Yeah, I do it but it's just another way of looking at people or scenes. I find it more beautiful. How can you miss out on it when you're taking it all in? :0)
In other words- it's not limiting to me, it's inspirational!
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09/22/2006 04:22:45 AM · #3 |
I find that I tend to do that a lot when I'm travelling to new places - analyze for a good "subject". However, on familiar environments, I tend to only take a photo when I find something worth remembering or framing. I think it's a norm for us hobbyist photographers? :p
Message edited by author 2006-09-22 04:23:02. |
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09/22/2006 04:26:16 AM · #4 |
I have cancelled trips because I couldn't get the right camera gear.
For me, photography IS about sharing. It's meaningless to me because I don't care about me. Low self esteem you know...
it's a scary way to live when you are lonely...
I have to work hard at doing things just for me.
When I do though, it is a reward in itself. |
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09/22/2006 11:20:08 AM · #5 |
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09/22/2006 11:23:39 AM · #6 |
Yup. I now take 80% less photos than a year ago and am ALWAYS looking for a cool shot. We are cursed. For me,I think its some sort of hunter instinct and I'm always scanning for the right capture. It must be some primal thought like "Must bring photos home to feed photographers .... grunt". ;-)
Message edited by author 2006-09-22 11:31:26. |
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09/22/2006 11:26:15 AM · #7 |
| yup , have the same problems, whenever i am looking around i see frames and pictures, and when i see a nice shot and i don't have my camera i get pissed cause i missed on a nice shot |
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09/22/2006 11:26:21 AM · #8 |
.
Look at it this way...
You can fully experience the environment and when you return home, have nothing left but your recollection, which will fade or fail over time.
Or, you can semi-experience the environment, and when you return home, have explicit detail on the event or place that you can share with the world forever.
Just my $0.02 worth.
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09/22/2006 11:56:15 AM · #9 |
There are a lot of places that pictures just don't do justice. Sure you can capture a memory but the experience of being there is much more important.
... and you can usually buy postcards to help with the memory part. ;o) |
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09/22/2006 11:59:25 AM · #10 |
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Originally posted by cpanaioti:
... and you can usually buy postcards to help with the memory part. ;o) |
Not until I can buy postcards at the gift shop that feature my family members. |
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09/22/2006 12:31:19 PM · #11 |
I tend to do a lot of analyzing when I'm out and about. This can also make you see things you haven't seen before, and actually experience it on a different level. This way of seeing differently is much like lucid dreaming.
OTOH, there have been times (such as lunchtime), when I'm out somewhere where I could be enjoying nature, and instead I'm rushing through looking for a particular thing to shoot. |
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09/22/2006 12:38:40 PM · #12 |
Photography, as with all the arts, is a profound way to experience life. However, creation is generally a lonely act. There are other realms of experience, social, emotional, spiritual, that require the shutting off of this type of focused creativity. These must not be forgotten. It helps if you get married and share your camera with your spouse! :)
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09/22/2006 12:42:21 PM · #13 |
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Originally posted by posthumous:
It helps if . . . share your camera with your spouse! :) |
What? Make her get her own! |
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09/22/2006 01:22:30 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by lesgainous:
.
Originally posted by cpanaioti:
... and you can usually buy postcards to help with the memory part. ;o) |
Not until I can buy postcards at the gift shop that feature my family members. |
Why would you want people blocking the wonderful architecture or nature you are shooting? When I'm out being a tourist I don't want any d&^* tourists in my shots. :D |
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09/22/2006 02:08:42 PM · #15 |
When I'm in such a place, I usually have my camera but I don't take the lenscap off or turn it on right away. Instead, I sit down (if possible) and study the scene for a few minutes, allowing ALL of my senses (well, except taste) to take it all in... hearing the birds chirping or water flowing over the rocks, smelling the fresh mountain air, feeling the breeze at my back, all the while studying the light and how it's effecting the scene. Then I set up my tripod and camera, compose/set exposure and settings, then using the remote, patiently watch the scene with my own eyes and snap a shot whenever the clouds and light are just right or a bird is on a certain branch, etc.
This peacefulness is somtimes interrupted though by a know-it-all with a disposable camera who pops out of nowhere and says "It's not dark out, you don't need a tripod." This makes you forget the experience somewhat, but at least you have photos. :-) |
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09/22/2006 02:21:50 PM · #16 |
This is why I have different types of vacation. I'll go on a photo trip where my number one goal is to get photos. Or I'll go on a trip, leave my camera at home and just have fun.
It's actually very nice to go out and do things without a camera sometimes!
Message edited by author 2006-09-22 14:22:13.
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09/22/2006 02:31:03 PM · #17 |
For me this is often the preservation of memory, the desire to show my friends and family what I experienced in a format that goes far beyond your run of the mill vacation snapshots. I was disappointed I couldn't shoot in the Sistine Chapel, but it sure didn't stop me from going in. I just had to find a different way to convey it to my audience. Luckily, I'm also a writer. ;-)
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09/22/2006 02:39:57 PM · #18 |
| I've really got to learn to quit looking at things as "potential pictures" when driving. One of these days I'm gonna run a light, hit someone, or drive off the road. Went for a bike ride the other day and was out for quite a while but didn't get very far because I had my camera with me. I do think it does help me "see" things more, though. Things I'd never give a second glance to before, I tend to look at more closely. Pavement, for instance, can be fascinating. :-) |
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09/22/2006 02:52:32 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by Tej:
Am I the only one???? or...??? |
I honestly ask myself this question on a continual basis. There needs to be a balance, I guess. As photographers we tend to favor the "still" image I suppose (at least i do). I am one who analyses and over-analyzes ... sometimes I love this part of myself ... sometimes not. You make a great point any way you look at it ...
I am exactly the same way FYI.
Message edited by author 2006-09-22 14:54:37.
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09/22/2006 03:14:40 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by Telehubbie:
When I'm in such a place, I usually have my camera but I don't take the lenscap off or turn it on right away. |
This is how I feel when shooting landscape work in particular. It is not too uncommon for me to go hiking up on the Blue Ridge Parkway (which I'm fortunate to live right next to) and only take my camera out for one or two shots. Other times I'll go hiking up a creek and I can't get ten feet before I have to set my tripod down and get a different composition. I don't feel like I've seperated myself from the scene though just because I'm concentrating on the photo, rather I feel all the more involved. I'm trying as hard as I can to convey the beauty that is so apparent with they eyes and so hard to capture with the camera. I guess my point is that I think we do both, analyze and live the scene we are so intimately involved in. But sure, sometimes I'll just set the camera down, lay back, and enjoy the beautiful day and life I'm so lucky to live. |
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09/22/2006 03:48:09 PM · #21 |
I used to feel this sort of thing all the time when it came to HUMAN interaction; I was always expected to provide pictures, and I always felt separated from the "group" because of it. So I stopped being available for photography-of-gatherings, with rare exceptions, and that solved that.
I don't feel that way about landscape or architectural work, though; for me, being a photographer has immeasurably enhanced my experience of the natural and built environments, as heightened my awareness of my surroundings as it were. Most people, in my experience, look at things and never see them: I am devoted to the art of seeing.
Robt.
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09/22/2006 04:01:14 PM · #22 |
I have this thing that I do.
Whenever I have a camera in my hand I "turn on" my photography eyes and analyze my surroundings and compose good images in my mind and all that good stuff.
...but when I realize that there is this beautiful sunset in front of me or something of the sort...I'll just put my camera down and "turn off" my photography eyes and just enjoy life. After all...I would rather leave a place with a great experience rather than a great photograph.
I try to limit the amount of time that I really use my camera to short bursts....and I usually shoot alone because if I'm with someone I tend to completely ignore them (unless they are a model...)
Caleb
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09/22/2006 05:18:47 PM · #23 |
Put it this way, I've been to more places to photograph than I would have had I not owned a camera.
There are some nice parks in my area that I would probably have never visited, let alone known about. There are miles of beaches where I live and with a camera, I've gone to many of them. As a photographer, I seek out these new types of places.
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09/22/2006 05:35:41 PM · #24 |
Originally posted by lesgainous:
Put it this way, I've been to more places to photograph than I would have had I not owned a camera.
There are some nice parks in my area that I would probably have never visited, let alone known about. There are miles of beaches where I live and with a camera, I've gone to many of them. As a photographer, I seek out these new types of places. |
Good point. The last couple of months I've spend a lot of time walking the local forest preserves, parks, and beaches. There's a ton of stuff around here I haven't seen before. I drag the family to these places on the weekends and we get time together, exercise, and I get to shoot. |
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09/22/2006 05:44:29 PM · #25 |
I agree w/ Bear - when photographing groups/friends, I tend to miss out on the action, not just because I'm busy composing/taking pictures, but also because you assume a different status amongst the people your with when you're trying to observe them.
Not so w/ static objects and locations. For me, photography and the process of intentional perception of the environment and snapping shots is a way to experience the world that holds a significance all it's own, gives me immense personal satisfaction, and is therefor something I would never trade for. I'm especially fond of it as a hobby because it encourages you to go out, explore new places, be alone, and adopt a contemplative frame of mind. But I also agree that at times, it comes at the cost of fully 'taking in' your surroundings. I find this to be especially true while traveling.
For me, as others have posted, the trick is balance. Be consious of your tendency to slip into 'photographer' mode, and take steps to assure you're not always frantic about missing the perfect shot. Put your camera away, keep the lens cap off - or leave it at home. After all, experiencing your surroundings as a layperson could help you hone your eye for when you're 'on the job'.
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