Lately, when I pick up my camera, it feels foreign in my hands. This happens every once in a while. I can’t even take bad pictures when this photographic fugue state envelopes me. It’s not that I’m the world’s greatest photographer. Its a hobby and occasionally a passion. But as you age, there are fewer things that actually give you joy, likely because your ability to do things diminishes. My camera and it’s products usually give me joy.
I read with amusement various posts on photographic pages where users are lamenting and harassing those who use AI to enhance their images. The interesting thing is that they accuse the people who use AI badly and miss the photographers and editors who use it well. I use AI often, usually to remove items that I don’t think add to the shot. Sometimes I will remove people who I know would likely not give me authority to use their likeness.
To me, photography is taking the shot and editing the photo to bring out what caught my eye in the first place. Lots of purists try to set up their cameras to get the perfect shot. Good luck with that. I guess I envy those artists who can draw and paint. I like to draw and paint with the images I take. I use Adobe Lightroom almost exclusively, with an occasional stop in Photoshop.
When I can’t take pictures, I go back through shots I took years ago and work with them with the new tools and acquired skills I think I have. Sometimes, that helps. Just when I think I can take the camera out, I look outside, and the light is awful, so I turn around.
Of the almost 30,000 images I have kept, there are likely only 100 or so that I’m happy with. I post lots of images on social media, and I’m always surprised by the ones others like. Seldom are they the pictures that I really like, and that’s the rub. Who am I trying to please?