Many years ago I decided that I would do photography as a hobby and not as my profession because I found that the business of photography took the fun out of it for me. So, I did photography just because I loved doing it and because I loved being out in nature. I still do.
This resonates in so many ways. Between social media and hustle culture, most people forget they can just enjoy things purely for enjoying them. Why does everything have to have a purpose? For me, personally, photography is very much a mental health thing. After several major health issues and social crises, I'm thankful for every second I can spend outside even if it's limited in various ways. I like noticing tiny details that everyone else walks past, and bringing the camera is both a welcome excuse to focus on those hidden gems and a way to remember and cheer myself up whenever I'm stuck inside for one reason or another again. So yeah, definitely with you on the places less popular with photographers - my current favourite is just hanging out at the downtown duck pond for an hour on my way to work.
Great words my friend. I just want to be the same guy that was taught by 2 sisters in their 60s when I was about 11 years old. I would mow their lawn and then they would invite me in for some milk and Lorna Doon cookies. They always had their national Audubon bird book and binoculars at the table. They taught me birds and habits of each bird. So that's who I want to be thankful for the sisters that lived across from me and helped start my love for wildlife. I will continue what they showed me by sharing and teaching friends and my daughter. I shoot all wildlife but I will be remembered one day for my love of predator birds. I simply just want to share my love of these amazing and skilled hunters of the sky.
Each photograph I take is a memory of the moment of my adventure. I save each photo in a favorite folder on my phone, I also share to instagram. I spend a lot of time in nursing homes with my job as a hospice chaplain. I have found showing my photographs to people brighten their day. some of them are unable to leave the facility. I am currently thinking of getting some books made with my photos to share them with people in nursing homes or there like, assisted living homes. great topic and great Talk!
It is fine to watch and learn from other photographers and copy techniques, but photographers try to mimic exactly other photographers. No matter how hard people try, you will never be able to. Every photographer has there own style and look no matter how hard you try it’s just how it is. Embrace it, and stop worrying about other photographers. Just go with it and you’ll enjoy it that much more. Style and feeling of photographs change over time. Mine changes all the time. Photography has a way of showing visually the mood of the photographer. Just get out and shoot for you and stop thinking about what others think and comparing yourself to other photographers it’ll be more enjoyable.
Let every nature photographs inspire us humans to respect, protect and conserve nature. I agreee 100% with what you have said. Niching down is completely impossible because of the reason why we love photographs. Those visual elements and the story combines to make a compelling photo that we love. And these are seen in every genre. We may lean to a particular genre because of the purpose we feel that has to be accomplished.
My son (4y) recently started to enjoy photography more and more. We are already planning our first little „adventure“ and I am trying to show him the peacefulness of just being outside and connected to nature.
I have always loved taking pictures while hiking and and backpacking now that I am older of my dogs, butterflies, flowers. I lost my husband ànd retired. I bought a Canon T7 and a small assortment of lens to learn with. One of my favorites my Sigma 150-600mm . I énjoy going to the National Wildlife Visitors Center in the middle of the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge. With my mobility issues I am able to get to the lake and manage the trails to the lake, meadow area - my favorites.
REally great advice and like your 3 questions. I am thankful for the opportunities I have had as an amateur wildlife photographer. I have learned to be more appreciative of my wildlife subjects and stopped trying to get that 'perfect shot.' For me it is much more important to be present in the experience of witnessing wildlife and Nature. One quote that has stuck with me from well-known birder Ken Kaufman when asked about his favourite bird and I'm paraphrasing, but he answered "The one I'm looking at." Love that idea and I try to live by that when taking photos of wildlife and Nature.
I love that you like the less popular locations. I have been doing all most all my work at tiny potholes alongside the road on my way to and from work, less than an hour a day with my camera. People keep telling me that they can't believe the amount of wildlife that I am seeing and capturing. They are driving right by it every day! Crazy! Photography is my new lease on life. I was the same as them just blindly driving by and seeing nothing. Feel like a kid again. Everyday a different adventure.
Nicely stated. My photography philosophy (is that even a thing?) is similar to yours. I believe if a photographer captures those things they love, their photography will reflect that emotional attachment to the subject. l like to be creative but not in the way many may think. I try to find unique angles and ways to present the beauty of those things in the natural world that surround us and most of us walk right by without giving a moment's notice. The intricate details of a wildflower, the pollen sacks on a bee, a deer hidden in the brush, a tiny tree frog hiding on a leaf or an insect seeking refuge under a flower petal after a rain shower. About half of my photography is macro and/or close focus. It offers me the opportunity to share a view of common flowers, weeds, insects, fungi, etc that just cannot be seen while standing up walking through the woods. If I could state a purpose for my photography it would be "awareness building." I want people who look at my work to realize there is beauty all around them where ever they look, a city park, a local flower garden, their own back yards. One does not need to travel thousands of miles to an exotic location to witness unspeakable beauty. Usually it is not more than 10 feet from where the person is standing. OK, long way around this. I like how you present your thoughts and your photography Kevin. Next time we're in your area, hopefully we can get together and say hi.
Your videos are so down to earth, thank you. I tell my friends that going out and connecting with nature, observing and photographing wildlife, is my therapy. I always come home feeling calm and peaceful. Please keep your videos coming!
Thank you for the kind words, Lynne. I'll keep goofing off in the field and having coffee photography talks for as long as people still want to watch. I enjoy making making them when I have time, and more importantly, I enjoy encouraging people to get out there with a camera. Some folks have moose or bear, I have waterfowl. I'll even shoot squirrel 🐿️ 📸 Happy shooting.
I go out and photograph mainly for the pleasure of being out in the wild and the thrill when I get what I consider a great photograph. I am appreciative if people admire my images on social media, would be stoaked if I won a contest (have only just started entering) - and would be pleased if I earned some money from my photos - but I do it mainly for the pleasure and not rewards from others. When I go out wildlife photographing, I can feel the stresses of everyday life drain away and I can relax and enjoy the moment.
This is great!!!! I’m so crazy doing my artistic kind of thing!!!!! I go downtown to do some street photography and end up taking images of pigeons and squirrels!!! I go to the lake and hike around the trails and take images of people enjoying their time out in nature!!!! I call myself a photographer and yes I do get paid for some of my work and some I don’t!!!!! I do wish I got paid more and for some strange reason, a lot of people think that because they can get a phone and take pictures they are pro’s and I should give my art away!!!! This is just scratching the surface of what we need!!! Give us some more information like this!!!!! This is just what I needed today!!!!
Excellent points! This definately struck a cord and reminded me as to why I enjoy the many facets of photography. The photo's for me are only a snippet of the story and experience.
Maby Ansel Adams said/answered it all (hope I remember to quote correctly) “The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it”
Great topic Kevin. I couldn't agree more. I renewed my love of photography when I retired to be my wife's full time caregiver. I do it for me. It is my outlet and helps me find my sanity which allows me to be a better husband to my wife. Blessed to live in Idaho with lots of beautiful scenery and wildlife. Some days it just doesn't click. One of my favorite shots was of some cows in a foggy sunrise down by the Boise River. It won't win any awards, but it brought me a lot of joy. I was drawing blanks on my target subjects, but stumble on the cows. It just clicked. Blessings to you Brother.
I treat photography almost like a diary. My camera goes everywhere and is a recording of my day, regardless of the weather and the circumstances. It might be a trip out to a nature reserve or just a walk around my very small garden. My aim is to make the best of what is presented to me on the day. I call myself a "happy snapper", I have no intention of selling my photographs or entering competitions as this would take the fun out of it. For me it's the thrill of the chase, being with nature and if I get a good photo so much the better. Thanks for your excellent video.
I love the diary theory. I been thinking of documenting my life here on YT more with my camera and thoughts and experiences. Life is too short to be stuck one niche unless it's paying your bills. Which honestly robs the joy out of it. I'm going to be more experimental on the channel and be more open to different things. You're right it's the thrill of the chase and the emotions and story behind the photo. Too many photographers lose focus of why we shoot. I know I did for a time. Thank you for your thoughts.
I'm thankful for your posts. Many of the people I followed were good it started to become all about gear. I'm not a consumer because my income will not let me which is good because I have to be content with what have and use everyday. The best gear is what you have and use. To answer your three questions I'm a photographer because I like the art with the eye and not the brush. I take pictures if everything trying to find the beauty and taking pictures. Thank you for asking good questions. Gear it important but what you experience with it is more important. I'm not trying to impress anyone with my work I'm mostly the only one who sees it so its me that has to like what I do. I don't much work for others anymore its just for me because I like photography.
Yeah, but let’s call a spade a spade…that missed opportunity may just have resulted in a lousy photograph…and it happens to all of us some of the time If we’re out there enough. I just got back from a pretty special wildlife photo trip and I certainly missed a few opportunities here and there but I also got some enormously satisfying shots. Very good video. Thanks.
I think every photographer can benefit from grabbing a cheap camera plus old vintage lens, and developing a technique to take great photos on that gear. The lack of sharpness and features teaches us how important style and techniques are. Limiting what you have, forces us to become more creative.
You speak a lot of sense my friend. For me, this week has been tough and escaping outside with my camera and being part of nature has been restorative for me. From a kid in London east end I discovered nature and was fascinated by it. Unable to draw what I could see I saved for my first camera and photography became my way of recording what I saw for me. I now share my images on a my website gallery but the mechanics of the internet means the images are rarely seen but do I care? Not really because deep down the images were for me and I get joy looking through them and remembering those moments. Loving the feel of your refined channel, it’s somehow more real well done. It would be nice for us like minded photographers to connect and share our images in a positive way - no prizes just sharing the love of what we do. Stay safe and keep finding the miracle of nature.
Your questions, perfect, your comments about today's cameras and immediate gratification superb... Before anyone says, "Okay Boomer", I am not, what ever comes after that generation is what I am tagged with... Taking photos and having to wait a day, a week and/or many weeks to get them developed and then see if any of them are any good, was the film speed correct, was the shutter speed correct, was anything in focus? All were done manually, and the leap to all digital has been confounding with all the menus and tech available. Having said all that, it is still one of the best hobbies or professions, so long as you enjoy it. Great video.
Kevin, always great to see your videos. Although, in full disclosure, I didn't make it through the whole recording of your live stream. Hope you doing well and keep up what you're doing here. I'm still trying to figure out if/when I'll be able to get back out to make another video. Life just keeps getting in the way.
100% the truth, my images are my experiences and the memories I created also the friendships I have found. Even if Ai gets better human emotion will always be wanted most will get sick of Ai and want that human emotion.
Thank you for the video. I'm purely a hobbyist photographer shooting landscape, street-life and wildlife. I shoot everyday for pleasure. No competition, just love it. However, few of the photos that I shoot tell great real stories and that's what gives me extra satisfaction. I'm no longer after sharpness rather, I tend to lean towards the vintage film-look in my images. That's why one of my cameras is a Canon 5D Classic. which I use regularly. I love old gears. That's why my wildlife/action photography body is Canon 1D Mark IV, another gem of a camera. With this I can go head to head with R3. How? First, this gives me 30% more reach than the mirrorless sensation. Second, it's capable of capturing fast-action instantly as I see everything at the speed of light through the OVF. Third, the battery goes on and on. Never carry a spare one on any whole-day wildlife safari. Image quality? No specialist will be able to distinguish if it's not revealed. Thanks again.
hi kevin nice video how many photos can R7 Shoot in a row and how Soon it clean cache ，then the camera will working again ， I have R8 ， it will shoot around 60photos and take about 70s to store to card ， after 70s the camera will working again thank you
The buffer on the r7 in electronic shutter is around 1 second to fill the buffer 30fps and around 6 seconds to clear the buffer, so not very fast however if you feather it and do quick bursts, it's fine. If you're shooting in mechanical shutter (15fps), it's not as much of an issue.
Whats the problem with tack sharp images? Are you using focus and sharp interchangeably ? Unless you're going for intentional blur why wouldn't you go for tack sharp focus? I do like how you encourage everyone to enjoy and grow their skills, just want to clarify what you mean by tack sharp.
Hey Vince, nothing wrong with having sharp images, it's the push on RU-vid and social media for needing razor sharp tack sharp images that I'm bitter against LMAO 🤣 anyways have a good day bro. Happy shooting 📸
Honestly I don't ask myself any of those questions. They don't have to be asked and/or answered. Self discovery or who a person is... will come out in your photography. It has in mine, anyway. No comparisons, no traps, no "I gotta be like__________."
First of all, you're kind of lucky that I even watched your video at all. Okay, not that I'm some special guy. Hear me out. I am so sick of almost every photography RU-vid channel posting a video claiming that I absolutely have to watch the video, but without telling me a damn thing about what's going to be in the video. I don't need yet another supposedly important message about the same five tips that every other photography RU-vidr is spewing this week. And, how do I know that this particular video is going to be any more interesting or beneficial to me than any of the thousand other recombinations of all the same tips? In a way, your thumbnail and title is violating the very spirit of this video. You are doing what everybody else is doing hoping for a unique result. I almost just skipped the video. How many other people are going to be skipping this video for the same reason? Second, you make very good points. In fact, I've been arguing many of these points for quite some time. However, one point I do not agree with is the drive to find one's own special niche AND STICK TO IT. Now, I am not arguing for jumping on bandwagons. Hell, I just wrote a long comment on somebody else's video about the evils of bandwagons. No. What I mean is, is that a person doesn't have to have their "one niche to rule them all." I don't need to find the one big thing that sets me apart from everyone else. I can have a thousand big things, or little things that set me apart. I can explore a dozen dead-end creative alleys in a day if I want to. Sure, if I want to market myself, unfortunately, it is beneficial to market oneself as "The person who does Thing X," because customers can be narrow-minded like that. I have sat through lectures for artists telling them that if they want to be successful they have to narrow their niche down to some very very very specific thing and then get very very good and inventive within that very specific thing. But, oh my god! How boring is that? Rather, I would advocate for enjoying the journey down each and every one of those dead end alleys. You never know what metaphorical creative doorways you may find at the ends of some of those alleys. And there is no reason why you can't backtrack and find yet another metaphorical creative doorway tomorrow.
Thank you for your response, Grant. I agree with most of what you said as well. The "niche" down on a certain subject over and over was to get familiar and intimate with a place or thing for a while. Not stay there. Although nothing wrong with any direction a photographer takes as photography is personal. I get what you mean though. I too am tired of the same old shit on most channels. I've been guilty of this myself and working to better myself. Your opinion matters and I'm thankful you responded. I'm with you I'd much rather shoot boring things and find joy out there. Anyways, take care, and happy shooting 📸🏕️
@@KevinNordstrom You know..... I would definitely watch more of a channel that focused more on "just having fun" and "enjoying the activity itself" instead of all the channels constantly lecturing me on striving to be a "more successful" photographer. So, you've got my vote. I don't go camping to "be the most successful camper." I don't ride my bike to "train for the next race." I don't eat pizza to be able to claim I ate it at the fanciest place. AND, I don't do photography for anyone other than myself. I just like doing them for the enjoyment of each one.
While I think there's something to take away from every channel, you gotta realize tutorials and gear reviews get the most views. Which is why they do it. Which is also why I'll never be a big channel, as I don't want to be a gear focused channel LMAO. I'm happy just staying in my lane and doing me. Folks can watch my content or not. I don't post to get 200k subscribers as my end goal. I post to encourage folks to pick up their camera and go shoot and to share a tip or two while out in the field or over coffee. There's a channel for everyone out there that connects to them.
