The newness of things

Like any new hobby or interest someone begins, my life became consumed with all things photography. When getting into a new interest there is always this feeling of being behind and trying to catch up to everyone else. Whether it be watching hours of videos on the subject or buying new gear that you are not even sure on how to use yet, your overwhelming excitement is a blinder to clarity. This can lead to trouble later down the line when the excitement has worn off and you're either no longer interested or realized you never really needed all the things you bought to enjoy it to begin with.

While I never lost interest in photography, I did experience a sort of reluctance to go out and take photos because I had become exhausted with my photography process. The digital camera I had, while it was a good camera, was bulky and uncomfortable to carry around. In addition to the camera's physical burden, the photos taken with it required being edited afterward to get the most out of them. Editing photos is a part of photography that I've never really enjoyed; for me it just feels like work. These factors became even more troublesome when traveling, as the camera was not easy to pack, and I did not want to waste time editing the photos instead of being able to go and see or do things.

Keeping it simple

I noticed I had been neglecting photography which started to bother me, but I also knew I didn't want to continue to have to lug around my digital camera. I was on a trip in Europe and had packed both my digital camera and film camera. The pictures I had taken in the past with my film camera came out beautiful and it was the colors and grainy look I had always tried to replicate in my digital photos. The only reason I still preferred to use my digital camera was because I was scared of the film getting ruined and I end up with zero photos. A few days into the trip and after carrying around both cameras everywhere we went I made a decision. I had been taking more photos with my film camera and had pretty much only carried my digital camera because I felt guilty not bringing it. The reality was I enjoyed taking pictures with my film camera for more than I did with my digital camera.

Taking picture with my film camera felt more personal. I was taking for less pictures due to the limited amount of film, but the pictures I did take were for more calculated and thought out. The quality of the pictures I had taken with my film camera were levels above what I had taken on digital. Part of the reason for this is that when I had my digital camera I would just take pictures of everything, It didn't matter what I actually thought about it or if it was of interest to me. The film camera forced me to slow down and actually observe the environment around me.

Allowing creativity to flow

I think one of the most important parts of being a creative is being able to figure out what best allows you to streamline your creativity. This will be different for everyone, but being able to recognize what prevents you from being creative and what allows you to tap into those skills is what will help you evolve as an artist. For me I recognized that minimizing my creative process allows me to tap into my full potential and enjoy creating art. Ive noticed that if there are too many steps or check boxes for a project or creative process I will mostly likely take longer to get around to doing it or even completely neglect it. Being able to pick up a camera and just go out and shoot with out having to worry about editing photos after or get tired of lugging around a bulky camera made me a better photographer.