My main hobby is photography. Since my early teens I have been interested in taking pictures. I’ve been using 35mm film for about fifty years.
These days it is a different ball game, many people use digital cameras. Whether a basic compact,which can be reasonably inexpensive, or various Digital Single Lens Reflexes (DSLR), the price of which vary enormously. Some photographers wear their cameras as jewellery, as if to say “look what I can afford”.
It doesn’t matter what sort of camera you have, so long as it has a reasonable lens. Most photographs aren’t governed by the price tag of the camera. It is the ability of the person using it that counts. As in many hobbies, practice will improve your skill.
Different people use their cameras for different reasons. I take pictures for my own pleasure! To see a good picture gives me pleasure, whether it’s one of my own or someone else’s. For many years I’ve been a member of a camera club, sometimes entering competitions. Each photographer has their own favourite type of picture.
Recently, I’ve been looking through some pictures from several years ago. There didn’t seem to be any pictures from my early years in photography. I’m rather sad that I seem to have lost most of my memories that I had photographed.
One big advantage of digital cameras is that any pictures that you don’t want, you can delete. However, if they are special there are several ways that they can be saved. The memory cards in digital cameras are, in some ways better than negatives – you can store them on a computer, or a disc. If on a disc, you can list what’s on the disc and put it somewhere safe.
Take pictures of family, favourite pets, special days out at favourite places. Take care of your pictures. You could regret that you can’t remember. With a picture, memories will come flooding back.
This article was written by Martyn White using our Community Reporters website at www.communityreporters.sllife.leeds11.com
