My mom often asks why I take so many photographs, or why I never go anywhere without dragging a camera, even if it’s just the HP R967, with me. I don’t have a witty retort, or even a philosophical one, except that I want to live in the special moments of life, but I want to capture them, too. You never know when the perfect shot is going to come up, or the right moment to capture forever will appear.
For the longest time I had no idea what I could pinpoint as a hobby, besides the old fail safe, reading, and possibly blogging. Now, after looking at the 4,200+ photos on Flickr, knowing that the number is just a drop in the bucket of the total amount of photos I have taken since my first digital camera, which Dan gave to me as a Christmas present in 2003, and seeing that my Nikon D40x, which I’ve had for about six months, is at 7000 photos after rolling over 10,000 already, I know: photography. I love photography.
I love capturing a photo at just the right time, at just the right angle, with just the right pose and lighting. I love the random shots. I love the spontaneous shots.
I love looking at certain photos and being instantly transported back to that moment in time, and being able to recall every single detail about that event, no matter how mundane.
This photo is a great example. A simple, quick shot of Ryan when he was five months old, gnawing on his arm and gazing up at me. I took the photo as-is, with the only adjustment being changing the photo to all sepia tones.
I remember taking that shot. I remember it being around 3:30 in the afternoon. Alyssa was napping, and Dan had left for work. We had just put up the Christmas tree — it was behind the recliner I was sitting in. I was watching Judge Judy, and had just finished nursing Ryan and brought him up to lay on his belly for burping, and for a change of scenery. He looked up at me, and I grabbed the camera from the windowsill and took the shot. Perfect. I captured not only his expression, his large eyes, his sweet face, but I captured every essence of that moment on December 19th, 2006.
Now that I’ve hit the nail on the head in terms of my primary hobby, I’m going to try and pay tribute to my secondary hobby, blogging, by doing my best to blog every single day of May. 
dont tell ME. i am making a business out of it. photography is my life. congrats on the nikon btw
Jenn, you take the best photographs. I’m at such a loss for things to shoot. I used to take like 20 photos a day of baby D, but lately I haven’t even picked up the camera. Now that he’s more mobile he’s moving too much for me to get a good clear shot and most of the time all I seem to get is the back of his head! :D
It’s useless to explain the tagging along of a camera to someone without the passion/obsession for capturing real life. Like you, I always carry mine with me (even though the new DSLR is *bulky*) and snap away. On average, I come back home with a memory card with 1000+ pictures on it to play with and choose from. Anything and everything gets photographed, because you never know when that moment comes when you go “GOD, I wish I had my camera with me”. You can’t have life and those moments back.
For example, my sisters frowned upon me tagging my camera along to the hospital when my mother was hospitalized. Every time I went, the camera went, hidden in my purse (as photography in hospitals is forbidden), and now, after my mother’s passing (the last shots are of her 12 hours before she died) the shots I took of my mother over the three months of hospitalization are very important to everyone, as they help remember those three months better.
Don’t let anyone nag you into leaving your camera at home. Ever. Because like I said, you can’t turn back time and get back the moments you couldn’t capture without the camera.
I like to take pictures, sometimes. I’m just not any good at framing something. Life just isn’t full of those picture-worthy moments to my eyes so why bother?