I'm fortunate enough to work in Manhattan and primarily shoot street photography. So it's easy to walk out and just go. I find ways to shoot at least twice a week. I'm not shooting professionally anymore, but get the occasional gig here and there. The problem is finding time to do anything with all the files after the fact.
KarmaKramer wrote:
If the FBI questioned me about my general photo-taking then I would probably go stretches without doing it too.
It's not as scary and they were friendly with me just asked to see the photos and gave me pointers of what not to shoot and they were on their way that was nearly 5 years ago. Lebanon is very sectarian and so I have to play it smart when it comes to take photos even of simple things like a dam.
I shoot photos almost every day, but I rarely "go out to shoot." I am generally taking pictures of ordinary things in my daily life. I do sometimes take a camera when I walk my dog along the harbor. And of course I take a camera when I travel. But I generally prefer images of ordinary life. Some of my favorite pictures were taken while sitting in my car waiting for 30 minutes to pass until the parking spot I was in became legal.
Well entering my 7th week of lockdown in Shanghai - not enough !
Usually however between assignments/trips for new project-based subject matter for my books/zines I'll always have a camera on me. Often it doesn't come out of the bag but it's always there.
I plan two x 1 month+ trips a year aside my overseas trips with my wife/family however that's been tough to complete over the past 2 years with my last major trip (to Tibetan Sichuan) aborted after 2 weeks due a covid outbreak in the region making it impossible to continue.
Not often. Every few months I try to start over and make plans to shoot actively, then life happens and photography as a hobby is just not high enough on the list to take priority over other things.
At least 3 times a week I head to the city center to do some street photography. Often enough I didn't make any keepers but that's OK, I like to be outside, do a bike ride to the city center and walk around.
Since my wife and I started birding I shoot at least 3 or 4 times a week (interrupted a bit this year, due to a knee replacement). Initially, it was to help with ID'ing birds, with an occasional high quality shot. Now, it is with the idea of finding interesting photo ops, such as birds fighting, feeding or other activities. Taking the time to find the photo ops has helped both of us to really enjoy nature even more than we did before.
Plus, the hiking and camping gives me the opportunity to photograph waterfalls, other landscape and occasional astrophotography.
As someone else stated, the problem is finding time to review, post-process and print the photos. And, finding room for the prints!!
Before birding, my photography was very erratic. Mainly, vacation trips, occasionally hiking, some car road racing, never anything regular.
Taking pictures has been what I'd rather be doing since I was a kid. Since the late 1980s when I became self employed so I could spend more time taking pictures, I spent a little over 3 months per year away from home shooting natural landscapes and wildlife intensively. The time was spent in chunks between two and five weeks long arranged when it was appropriate for different subjects. By "shooting intensively" I mean out before sunrise, spending all day scouting for photos, and trying to capture them at the optimal times, often failing and trying again. At home between those photo trips I almost never touched a camera, which sometimes could mean 4 or more months without capturing a single photo. For some reason that never bothered me a bit, and I don't expect it to change.
I retired when the pandemic happened and began going through a massive backlog of images that had only received a cursory glance, or in some cases that I never looked at before. There are well over 100,000 of these on film and digital media. During the first year of the pandemic I captured exactly one image. During the second year after being fully vaccinated I spent a week in April taking pictures. Last February I spent three weeks. It'll take another month or two so to finish my backlog of images on film. I'm only scanning a few percent of the best images and throwing away the film after scanning, which hurts a little. We have a long distance move coming up and I'm not moving several large cabinets full of film.
As it turns out I took a lot more pictures before I retired than since. I hope to take another photo trip or two in the US, probably followed by a long dry spell during our move, and then make up for some lost time after we're settled in. Taking pictures is still what I'd rather be doing.
In my twenties, I became fascinated with photography, specifically with B&W landscape. Shortly, it turned into a profession and my opportunities to go out shooting shrank to maybe 3 times a year. That continued for 46 years. Now that I am 76 and retired, I have the time and go out 3-4 times a week, mostly at sunset, but also at dawn if I can get it together. My subjects are tumble-down old barns, worn-out gateposts and other rural themes, all in B&W. I wish my post processing skills were much better but hopefully I still have some time left to improve.
As an average I'd have to say at least weekly. Over Easter weekend I done all 4 sunrises - That's not to say they were all successful mind you......
I went out last night overnight & into this morning. Cygnus image, Milky Way arch panoramic image (fingers crossed) & straight Milky way core followed by some car sleep & a bluebell woodland sunrise. Woodland will give me at least 4 images plus maybe some fillers to make the set plus the 3 night sky images.
Oh, plus all the stuff I've not finished & uploaded yet...
For me it can be weeks without taking photos. I work mon-fri mostly at home and my wife works Saturday so I entertain our 9 year old daughter. The lack of time is a major barrier, I’ve tried local spots but the suburbs are not always the most photogenic. I plan to start visiting the office more which is in London and although I can’t carry my usual kit I might pack an rx100 into my laptop bag so I can go out before/after work. I don’t know about others but when the light or conditions are right and I’m stuck with no photo time I defo get grumpy
kimknapp wrote:
Since my wife and I started birding I shoot at least 3 or 4 times a week (interrupted a bit this year, due to a knee replacement). Initially, it was to help with ID'ing birds, with an occasional high quality shot. Now, it is with the idea of finding interesting photo ops, such as birds fighting, feeding or other activities. Taking the time to find the photo ops has helped both of us to really enjoy nature even more than we did before.
Plus, the hiking and camping gives me the opportunity to photograph waterfalls, other landscape and occasional astrophotography.
As someone else stated, the problem is finding time to review, post-process and print the photos. And, finding room for the prints!!
Before birding, my photography was very erratic. Mainly, vacation trips, occasionally hiking, some car road racing, never anything regular....Show more →
Hey Kim - instead of prints try books. I'm about 80% into my second book (travel photography from 6 Asian countries), that I'll put up on Kickstarter, but I've also got some Zines planned on specialist projects from around the city (in lockdown for the past 7 weeks but hopefully I'll still get 2-3 of my 7 projects finished this year and the rest next).
I've also just started a magazine for people photographing China (you can find this on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/kaleidoscope_shanghai/ ). 16 expats & locals living in Shanghai. The first edition is out !
Whilst I still make prints (for clients and occasionally a new one for my home) the books are really fun to make and easier to distribute to family, friends and buyers. I've found this revitalising !
Frogfish wrote:
Hey Kim - instead of prints try books. I'm about 80% into my second book (travel photography from 6 Asian countries), that I'll put up on Kickstarter, but I've also got some Zines planned on specialist projects from around the city (in lockdown for the past 7 weeks but hopefully I'll still get 2-3 of my 7 projects finished this year and the rest next).
I've also just started a magazine for people photographing China (you can find this on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/kaleidoscope_shanghai/ ). 16 expats & locals living in Shanghai. The first edition is out !
Whilst I still make prints (for clients and occasionally a new one for my home) the books are really fun to make and easier to distribute to family, friends and buyers. I've found this revitalising !...Show more →
Kevin - the Instagram images are special. Very nice!
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