Why Take Pictures?

[brewmaster15]

I recently started going through literally thousands and thousands of Slides and 35 mm negatives from my early days in photography. It'll take me years probably at the rate I am going. I will eventually rescan them all and post some here.


Back then I royally stunk at photography, I've come a long way and have along way to go but heres the thing. Back when I started I wasn't a photographer. I was Bird watcher and biologist that was just trying to document what I saw. Publishing was never a thought, and except for my family, I was the only one that would see these. My gear was a manual camera (k1000, and P3) and some really cheapo lens. Photography for me wasn't about chasing the best picture,or producing a technique perfect image. It was to document. Little did I know I was actually making a memory. Much like why most people start taking pictures. Sure we wanted them good, but they were to help us document moments in life. The babies first days, family functions, special occassions. etc. It was also FUN! There was often disappointment as there was no view screen or delete button and you had to wait days to weeks to even know if you did it well. But that was also the driving point to get better. . I remember sitting there looking at slides one by with a jewelers Loop and light table and having a huge pile of garbage slides and a handful of keepers. But I was proud of those keepers! I also remember driving to a location and loading my pockets with rolls of film.... hiking a trail and finding something to take a picture of. .. and then reaching into my pocket to reload the camera and shoot more. It was almost a religious feeling, this whole process.. But again, I was not a photographer, I was a biologist so I did spend far more time documenting things I saw. not taking anything creative.


Fast forward 25 years and I take pictures still, but mostly digital. Its fun but not the same. I neglected my slide and film collections for years as they sat in archival boxes and sheets. Last I looked at them was about 10 years ago, when I bought a cheap scanner and tried scanning a bunch of them. It was labor intensive and the files were huge back then.. 25 mb tiff files 10 years ago when hard drives and processors were primitive! I would scan a few and burn to to a CDR... The results were disappointing.. they really lost alot of detail.

I eventually got tired and stopped.

These are some of the ones I did... Again understand when you see them that they aren't perfect, and they represent many images lost for these decent ones, but they are precious memories more important to me than many of the best pictures I take today. One look and I am back at a cliff face in Quebec with an old friend I haven't seen in decades and we are taking pictures of gannets as we discuss the breeding colony's size and how they raise their chicks and remember their nests. Or I am back in a deserted lot in Florida taking pictures of a pair of burrowing owls after having spent hours looking for nest.


Taking pictures is not about perfect images, its about catching a moment in time and cherishing it. .. at least that what I think. Its always good to try and take a better picture, especially if your goal is to be a pro, or semi pro. But do not avoid taking pictures because you think you can't take good ones... Relax, your mind will smooth out the rough edges when you look at that picture years from now .

thanks,
al


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[brewmaster15]

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[brewmaster15]

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[mee]

I am similar to you, but I suspect a generation or two younger, and just a biologist at heart, not in profession. Your pics look great, and either your framing then, or re-framing now is very nice. For me sometimes my earlier videos or pictures that I was proud of can have a more pure feel to them than the ones I take now trying to be professional. Sorta been trying to get back to that, forgetting the rules and just getting lost in the moment.

[brewmaster15]

I am similar to you, but I suspect a generation or two younger, and just a biologist at heart, not in profession. Your pics look great, and either your framing then, or re-framing now is very nice. Thanks Mee! :)





For me sometimes my earlier videos or pictures that I was proud of can have a more pure feel to them than the ones I take now trying to be professional. Sorta been trying to get back to that, forgetting the rules and just getting lost in the moment. Thats exactly how I feel too!

[brewmaster15]

I'll add 2 more for now. These were really terrible shots at the time. One of problems with film is you can't easily change its sensitivity. If you have a roll of 100 speed ( 100 ISO in digital camera speak) you are out of luck if the lighting outside is dim. These two pictures were originally color, but came out real bad so I tried them as Black and white . which improved them a bit. Low light, too fast film, camera shake, rain ... they were just not ideal

I'm sharing them to show you that you don't need to take awesome pics all the time... Sometimes just Okay pics are good also.

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[rickztahone]

Very wonderful shots you got here Al. I hope I can look back on my pics and have a nostalgic moment as well. Luckily (or maybe not?), all of them are digital for me. However, I love collecting old family photos that my father or other family members may have that were taken with film.

I really love that hawk shot. What was going on in that scene?

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Ricardo! Btw..you are the first person to ask me that on the hawk. Pretty unique perspective huh?:)Flew right by me and looked back at me....or was I in a glider flying next to it.:)

Truth is was just out of college and helping out at a bird banding station. That red tailed hawk had just been banded and was about to be released..it spread its wings and I angled the camera to make it look like flying. There was no time for anything else as we couldnt stress it out.
Al

[Jack L]

Did you walk up on that snake?

[rickztahone]

Thanks Ricardo! Btw..you are the first person to ask me that on the hawk. Pretty unique perspective huh?:)Flew right by me and looked back at me....or was I in a glider flying next to it.:)

Truth is was just out of college and helping out at a bird banding station. That red tailed hawk had just been banded and was about to be released..it spread its wings and I angled the camera to make it look like flying. There was no time for anything else as we couldnt stress it out.
Al

That is pretty cool! Once, whilst at the zoo, there was a bird show going on. Their main attraction was this huge bird (can't honestly remember what it was, but am guessing some kind of eagle), and as it came down from a cliff face (yeah, it was really far away), it started gliding down and down, as soon as it got close enough I snapped a whole bunch of pictures. I had to crop in very tight to make it seem like this was done out in nature and not show the strap that they have on their feet. It worked really well actually. Till this day, I am not sure where that shot is at :(

[brewmaster15]

Did you walk up on that snake?

I was looking for that snake.:) and any others I could find. I really wanted to find a coral snake and an Indigo Snake, but we didn't. It was a life find for me, I watched it for hours... I hoped it would come towards us a bit but it was overcast and kind of cool...it didn't move. I was in Fakahatchie Strand State Preserve in Florida with a group of my fellow Biology Students. My buddy and I organized the trip..we literally went all over the place in 10 days, mostly state parks, but that location is a royal gem. Its undeveloped. No real tourists except nut cases like us that like to go looking for all manner of critters.

al

[brewmaster15]

Very wonderful shots you got here Al. I hope I can look back on my pics and have a nostalgic moment as well. Luckily (or maybe not?), all of them are digital for me. However, I love collecting old family photos that my father or other family members may have that were taken with film.

I really love that hawk shot. What was going on in that scene?

Ricardo,
I have a few old pictures as well.. This was a picture of an old picture I took for my relatives , it was a restoration of the only picture of my grandmothers wedding in Italy. I made some canvas prints as well .. It was a pretty messed up image. Brought alot of smiles to my mom, and uncles.

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Theres magic in an old photo, even if it isn't in the best of shape.:)


al

[Jack L]

Is it a cotton mouth?

Looks a bit like one.

I literally was pursued by them a couple times, would have been happy to watch at a distance :)

[brewmaster15]

Is it a cotton mouth?

Looks a bit like one.

I literally was pursued by them a couple times, would have been happy to watch at a distance :)



It was an eastern Diamondback rattler. ...Crotalus adamanteus


On the Cottonmouths... yes, they can be aggressive and chase you..I have been reminded who owns the swamp before as well!

al

[Jack L]

Dang it. That was my first thought but I didn't think there were that far south. Cool pics though. Tech certainly has made photography more accessible

[Len]

All really nice shots Al. I especially like the boats in the fog.

[brewmaster15]

All really nice shots Al. I especially like the boats in the fog.

Thanks Len.. Those gannets were from Quebec , Bonaventure Island. You really should visit there if you can...Its amazing, The whole Gaspe Penisula is. Its been too long since I have been back there.. but one of these summers. I would love to see what my images would be like now.

Read up on it here..
http://www.apogeephoto.com/aug2006/llrue_gannet.shtml

al

[Len]

Looks to be about an 8 hour journey from here. I can see working it into a camping trip and doing one of the boat tours.

[brewmaster15]

Looks to be about an 8 hour journey from here. I can see working it into a camping trip and doing one of the boat tours.



14 + hours for me... but next to the Everglades in Fl...Its my favorite area. Just beautiful!

-al

[rickztahone]

Ricardo,
I have a few old pictures as well.. This was a picture of an old picture I took for my relatives , it was a restoration of the only picture of my grandmothers wedding in Italy. I made some canvas prints as well .. It was a pretty messed up image. Brought alot of smiles to my mom, and uncles.

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Theres magic in an old photo, even if it isn't in the best of shape.:)


al

What a true statement. You've inspired me to take more day to day shots like I used to. I actually started earlier today with my son in the living room :)

[SMB2]

Al, great stuff. Man I love the Gannet images. I could spend a lot of time with a colony like that!
I think taking photos is a process that develops with time behind a camera. So many people get hung up on the technology that they forget to simply look. I had a pro tell me once that when he is home, he sits with the camera in his hand, eyes closed and works all the controls. He wants to never think about mechanics while he is in the field. The more time you spend with the camera the more it becomes an extension of what you see. And the more you look, the more you see.
I will never be a pro, but I sure love the process of seeing and creating an image, trying to tell a story and maybe having a few other people enjoy what I have seen. This was really true with my underwater work because so few people get to see those sights. Land is a bit more of a struggle! In the end though, I do it just for me because it gets me outdoors experiencing nature.

I have to say I have learned so much more about photography with the digital age. The instant feedback is a great teacher. Finally to complete the process, I am learning how to make a decent print and mat it. The print is the ultimate endpoint for me and it is a new challenge.
I don't think I have your resolve to go through tens of thousands of slides that I have sitting in binders, some from places I will never get to again, but some of the shots should be brought back to life for my grown kids because they will never go through them!

[Keith Perkins]

All really nice shots Al. I especially like the boats in the fog.

That one really caught my eye too.

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Stan,
My pictures with digital are better in many ways than my old slides and film. That instant feedback is definitely helpful. Its also helpful when you arent limited to 36 shots a roll. Now with digital you can take hundreds faster and cherry pic the few you like.Its really helped many I think get acceptible pictures right off the Bat. I think the biggest benefits though has been on the post processing side. Its possible now to make pictures that were good into great ones.Even bad pictures can be improved greatly with lightroom,darktable,gimp etc. Post processing with film was also done to a degree but much less so. Digital files are just easier to manipulate.


Still, I will not ever part with my film cameras...Im like that. I enjoy traditions and using old things ( hence my love for legacy manual lenses).. I don't know how many images I will go through as its time consuming but I am trying . My kids are into photography now and may go through my pictures one day...I hope. But I want to not only share the image, I want to share the memory...maybe turn it into a journal or book for them. Itd be really cool if they one day visited some of the places I shot at.:) one can hope.

Al



Another reason to take Pictures... Family time. We have alot of fun taking Pics! Kids took these of each other.


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[nc0gnet0]

Burrowing Owls?

[brewmaster15]

Burrowing Owls?

Yep... they actually live in holes in the ground. They are pretty good diggers but often use other animal burrows like gopher tortoises. Besides being burrow dwellers they are easy to see in the daytime. One of my favorite birds.

[nc0gnet0]

Never seen one, although owls are my favorite bird. Had a chance to see a pair of snowy owls once.

[brewmaster15]

I have tried for years to photo snowies...but they are sporadic here in CT...and Ive never been able to make it to any sites whereone had been and was still there.

[Second Hand Pat]

Al, I think it is awesome your kids share your passion with the camera. Nothing better then a family hobby to be shared and cherished. Hopefully one day your kids will drive into your past slides and pictures but placing the material into albums with your notes makes for meaningful family treasures and legacy.
Pat

[mee]

I came up on a rattler when I was like 3 or 4 camping with my family. I was out in front, and didn't see it till I was right up on it. Luckily it was eating a mouse. It's weird, cause I was so young, that I didn't recognize it as a snake, but blurted out "Look at that big poisonous worm!". I was always fascinated that my instincts told me that thing is poisonous even at such a young age.