Behind the Lens

I love taking photos. Particularly of wildlife and things in motion. Romanticising water is one of my favourites. I always aim to capture the reality and beauty of my subject, even if the beauty isn’t always immediately obvious. I use Photoshop sparingly – mostly to make composite images, rather than touching up originals. I like to make my camera do the work, so don’t get me started on the use of Photoshop on “celebrities” in magazines.

But I’d begun to wonder if I was missing something by looking through the 1cm square viewfinder. The bigger picture. Was my obsession to memorise the moment, to capture it in pristine pixels overriding the sheer joy of the moment?

I think it was.

So I’m finding a balance. I always have a camera with me, but I aim to reside in the present and enjoy it for what it is. And hope that my memory might do those fine, beautiful snapshots justice in my later years. If it doesn’t, at least I know I fully enjoyed that time.

Then I got to thinking about the importance of sharing photos. It’s amazing that someone in Russia who might never leave their country can experience the Grand Canyon via someone else’s images. Vicarious vision. It’s important.

But is it showing off too? On our Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, do we only tend to share the really good stuff to make people think our life is amazing? Not deliberately deceiving people, but maybe convincing ourselves too. Who wants to see pictures of our bed hair, or smell-o-vision of our morning breath? Who wants to look back on a year of posts to find all we did was moan and panic and stress?

I was just thinking, so I shared 😉

What’s your motivation when you take your photos?