Through a lens, photography changes not only how we see the world, but how the world sees itself.
The other day my wife and I were discussing the feasibility of keeping bees in our back yard. Consensus was, I think, that it would be a really fun hobby and that we should do that. Also, maybe chickens.
So, yesterday, I bought a camera.
I used to do some hobby photography. I took classes. Then digital cameras came along. Digital was wonderful, but technology evolved so quickly that I couldn’t possibly justify buying decent equipment. So, that hobby got sidelined.
But I always liked photography. It has all of the artistic design elements of drawing, but involves progressively cooler (and more expensive) toys. It changes how we see and interact with our subjects.
Well, digital camera technology has stabilized enough for me now. Really, it’s been stable enough for a while. I bought a Nikon D3300, which is a low end DSLR. It’s perfect for my needs, and it’ll let me mess around with different lenses.
These aren’t great pictures, but they’re representative of where I am with the craft. There are a lot of buttons on my fancy new camera and I’m still learning what they all do. Anyway, if you wait until you’re good at something before sharing it with others, you will turn yourself into a quivering, nervous wreck.
I’m going to keep practicing and when I get that apiary I am going to show you SO many pictures of bees.