05/24/2026
I have been struggling with my photography 'thought process' as I get older and have been contemplating maybe making some changes. When I travel anywhere , either alone of with my wife, I usually have my DSLR hanging of my side ready for action! (IPhone is always available too)
I have had conversations in the past with friends and acquaintances where they suggest that I might be missing the experience by always looking through the lens and not just stepping back and actually looking at the places we go. And I do have to admit that there are times where I have been done that.
But then I see all types of people just doing the 'point and shoot' method or others with their phone constantly on video mode just scanning the entire area. To me that seems like someone that is just there and not really experiencing their environment. I am very selective on what I do capture with my camera. Maybe that comes from the days when I was getting started on the Canon 35mm film camera that my grandma gave me. You didn't have unlimited abilities to take pictures. I even had 2 camera bodies so I could do color on one and black and white on the other.
But then I remember that I consider myself more of an artistic person, not sure if people that know me would see that. I believe that I can, and do see things differently than most. (I will show an example of this at the end.) I am very patient and will wait a long time to get the photo I want. I will also take my photos and edit them to get them ready for printing and displaying. I can look at a situation or a location and see how the photo will turn out after editing before anything has actually been done. I love landscapes, nature and architecture, each area takes a different skill set to capture the best photo. I am not a professional photographer, nor do I ever claim to be one, but I think I do have some great skills and abilities to capture the photo I want.
So will I continue to do the same thing? Yes, I do take my time and I do enjoy every location and get the best of every situation. And then I will have some excellent photos to help remember each vacation spot we have been to. And those photos will help jog my memory and let me experience everything again
So as promised, here is an example of what I am trying to explain. The first photo is a straight capture of an architectural element from a restaurant area in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The second is a version of what I see when looking at the same thing. With just a few setting changes to the camera, and then some small editing changes, the end result looks completely different.
