What draws you to photography

Question: What draws you to photography
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

The moment the print fades into being in the developer bath!. That experience still gets me every time!.

I love that experience!.!.!. For what draws me to take the pictures!.!.!.!? Oh, that's a toughie!. It really changes on a case by case basis!. Sometimes it's how the light falls on something, the shadows thrown about!. Sometimes it's the almost geometric patterns shown!. Sometimes it's something I see every day for years, and then from the blue BAM! Inspiration!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I love taking landscape photos!. That's what draws me in!. also, what really got me interested in real photography was when I learned how to use manual film cameras, about a year ago!. I've always liked taking pictures, ever since I was a little kid, but I was never seriously interested in photography until recently!. I've always had a fascination with old mechanical cameras, and I had a collection of antique 35mm cameras and 8mm movie cameras!. I just didn't know how to use them!. A little over a year ago, I finally decided that I wanted to try putting film in one of my 35mm rangefinder cameras!. But I had no clue how to use it, because until then I had mostly used digital or point and shoot disposable cameras!. I had never used a manual camera before!. So I did as much research as I could and asked other people for advice, and just tried to learn as much as I could!. I looked up the "Sunny 16" rule to figure out how to set the shutter speed and aperture to get the right exposure!. Then I just went out and took pictures of subjects that I thought would be interesting!. I was especially interested in landscape pictures!.

Well, not only did I figure out how to use manual cameras!.!.!.but I also discovered that with a manual film camera, I had a LOT more control!. It was like a whole new world was open for me!. Instead of just taking snapshots with my digital camera, I had complete control!. I could try techniques with selective focus, or do long exposures!. I took pictures indoors with NO flash, or at street scenes at night, with only the light from lamp posts!. I even tried some astrophotography!. I was able to get a picture of the Moon and Jupiter with my telescope and a long exposure!.

Now about 90 percent of the pictures I take are with film!. I even got a few 120 size (medium format) film cameras!. I develop my own black and white film, and make prints on an enlarger in my darkroom in the garage!. I've come a LONG way since I first got into this a year ago!

I love actually being outside and taking landscape pictures!. There's just something so relaxing and almost hypnotic about really taking your time to frame the picture right and seeing the photograph you want to create!. Then my favorite part is laying in bed and looking at the pictures I've developed!. It draws you in!.!.!.I can see so much detail, and I love looking at the mountains and into the horizon and imagining what's farther ahead!. I see things that I didn't even know where there when I took the picture!. I feel like I'm standing there again!.

I guess I sort of have my own style and philosopy about my photography too!. I try to capture things in such a way that even if you're in the middle of a suburb or city, you can still get a small glimpse of a more natural landscape!. I love how timeless and ambiguous real black and white photos are too!.!.!.the picture looks like it could have been taken yesterday, or maybe 50 years ago!. I took a picture of an old ranch house that's near the mountains where I live!. It's at the north end of the city in an area that's still kind of isolated and undeveloped!. If I didn't tell you that I took the picture 3 weeks ago, you'd swear that it was taken in the 1930s!

http://i45!.photobucket!.com/albums/f86/ga!.!.!.

(the mark is from my scanner)

Here's another B&W picture!. This was in the mountains, with my Yashica A camera and Kodak Plus-X film:

http://i45!.photobucket!.com/albums/f86/ga!.!.!.

Photography is kind of a new hobby for me, but I'm really growing to love it!.

By the way, I have a website with some of my photos if you want to check it out!. They are mostly landscape pictures:

http://www!.geocities!.com/gatewaycityca/P!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

When I take snapshots of events or even of when I'm just hanging out with friends, it's a way to capture a memory, for preserving these moments forever, to share and to have!.

When it comes to fine art photography, or my attempt at that, it's a way of showing and explaining the way I see things!. Um - my point of view on life, I suppose!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I'm too impatient to be a good draughtsman, and not talented enough to be a painter, so if I want to make images it's got to be photography!.Www@QuestionHome@Com