There is no simple answer to why I love photography. What can be captured in a picture goes well beyond what could ever be captured with words. While aiming through the viewfinder and searching for the perfect angle, the perfect flicker of light, and the perfect smile, grimace, scream, or flock of hair, there is a sense of calmness and peace that comes over me. It's as if nothing else exists beyond the reach of my zoom button.
The best types of photographs are those that come unrehearsed, unscheduled, and without prompting. It's the moment when my little sister leans forward in her beautiful white dress and catches the lips of her new husband for the first time as a wife. It's the moment my little girl takes the stage for her very first dance recital, only to kick her tap shoes into the stage and throws a screaming, crying fit of anxiety.
Then you have the softer moments of nature that seem to be happening just for my entertainment. For instance, the bee slipping out of a newly opened flower like a lover rushing home in the morning dew or the multitude of birds that flock to the trees in my front yard all summer long.
From rare moments of humanity to everyday encounters with the wild, everything can be captured forever by photography. Things that would otherwise go unnoticed get drawn into the light and focused on until they are seen and admired around the world.
What would otherwise happen in one moment and be gone the next is forever captured and held tight by photography! What better thing in the world is there to love?
I believe that people who love photography have a certain passion and curiosity for life. They are not content to let the smallest, most mundane things that occur in the world go unnoticed. They are excited at the mere thought of discovering the unknown and getting up close and personal with every aspect of this world.
A lot of my photography would never interest anyone else in the world, but every now and then I will take a picture that stops me cold. It tends to be the pictures that show something that occurred in the flicker of a fraction of a second that I would have never even recognized if it weren't for the magically timed flash of the camera.
In these pictures I often see a glimmer in someone's eye that tells me they are not happy or a smile so deniably gleeful and exhilarated that the happiness of that moment has touched that person forever. These tend to be raw, un-posed pictures snapped at random moments when the subjects and myself least expect anything profound to be revealed.
Right there in those moments, that is why I love photography! It's not so much in the thrill and fun of snapping the pictures but in the off guard moments when some very real, stark honest reflection of humanity comes out of my camera and is born forever into the world.
Why I Love PhotographyPhotographing red deer stags is one of those magical events in life. My good friend and I took up an opportunity recently to go and spend some time taking pictures of red deer in the wild. These deer make great subject matter for photography, but when rutting season is upon them the stags tend to take on a totally different personality.
Photography Tip - How to Photograph Large Wildlife and How Not To
With any photography mission the challenge is always going to be to get as close to the subject matter as is (A) safe and (B) possible, (obviously without allowing yourself to get into any immediate danger) in some cases this is often achieved by using a telephoto zoom lens, but as is more often the case getting closer means clearer and more detailed pictures.
Always have your camera strap round your neck, this way if you have to suddenly take flight you will stand less chance of dropping it, but be sure if you do have to run that you place one hand on the camera otherwise you stand a good chance of it bashing you in the chin or worse.
The photo opportunity was a good one for us as we had bright sunshine and a warm day so we could use an 18 to 70mm wide angle lens with the camera settings left on automatic, though on reflection I wish I had been using my 28 to 200mm lens.
If you are photographing animals, great care should be taken to know the safety levels and whether they have times of the year that they are not approachable at all.
Red Deer Stags are majestic animals and clearly have enough power and energy to take on and defeat several humans at once if they so desired. Most of the year they would be happy for you to get up real close to take some great pictures, but when rutting season arrives you should certainly keep a safe distance between you and them.
Getting as close as we did to the Stags certainly set our heart racing as they fixed their glance at us and started scuffing the ground as if to charge, then swaying their antlers side to side while stabbing the ground with them. This was slightly unnerving, but a great opportunity to capture some great red deer pictures.
On more than one occasion we found ourselves a little more than uncomfortably close and ended up walking away exceptionally fast while trying not to run until at a safe enough distance to do so.
My biggest tip for photographing these great creatures is make sure it is not the rutting season or you could certainly end up with a lot more than a few good pictures as they do not tolerate any kind of friendly attention at this time.
Try to approach from downwind where possible this often gives a little edge and could secure some red deer pictures that you might not have managed had you not have done so. Wear camouflage clothing and carry as little as is possible. Try to have a little base set-up where you can leave the bulk of your equipment and possessions.
Photography - Tips For Photographing Red Deer Stags Using a Digital Camera