I started out on my photography journey in 1972 in Germany. I bought a fairly high end Nikon body and a couple of not so high end lenses, which actually from my perspective now, is all backwards. I shot film for b&w prints and developed them in the bathroom. The times were exciting for this novice photographer. Life moves on and when my first son was born, I switched to film that produced color slides. But I was still traveling and taking a lot of pictures.

The really busy years began when I left Germany to attend graduate school. Between parenting a young child and working on an advanced degree, my time was pretty much all taken up, and then some. That was when I became an “event” photographer. You know, the camera only comes out for some kind of family event, like a birthday or maybe a vacation.

If length of time counts toward expertise in the category of only using your camera for a special occasion, you could say I was truly an expert. That particular run ended the day my youngest child graduated from high school. I tried unsuccessfully to capture the moment she got her diploma. Not only did I not get the picture, I did not even see the event. That was the day I put the camera down and did not pick one up again until I retired in 2009.

My current photography phase is very different. I resist taking pictures of family events, which is in many ways truly unfortunate. There is not much chance I will take what I call a “Forever Picture”, but I do not want to experience family life through the lens of a camera. Thank heavens for mobile phones and Chat Books that do such a splendid job documenting family life without being so invasive of a photographer’s time and attention. Now most of my photography is street photography, with some general photography mixed in. But, do you know, I still have to fight against relegating myself to “event” photography.

It is easiest for me to do street photography when I am traveling. I travel a fair amount, but we are talking weeks, not months, that I take pictures in a year. Photography is a serious hobby for me. I want to be a serious photographer. I think if I lived in NYC, taking pictures all of the time would be fairly straightforward. Maybe if I lived in downtown Nashville it would be easy. But I live in a retirement community in Mount Juliet, TN and I have to work to take even one picture every day.

Do I think it makes a difference to be a frequent photographer? Yes, indeed, I do. As I have read more about photography, the one thing that is emphasized over and over is that being a good photographer takes lots of practice. To that end, I make myself go out at least once a week to shoot street photography with my Olympus. Whenever I am out walking, really anywhere, I have my iPhone out. I am taking pictures of people, or bushes or signs without looking at the screen. I will train until the day I understand the relationship between where I hold the phone camera and what picture it will take when it is held in that position. I do not plan to make my iPhone my main camera, but I am learning to judge distances.

On another front, even when I do not have a camera, I am looking for pictures to take. I am particularly interested these days in abstract street photography and also in finding humorous moments on the street. Both of these branches of street photography require a keen eye. Surely it will help to practice my “spotting” skills.

I may always be an event photographer. I am just trying to make every day an event.

Exercise

Do you wait for events to bring out your camera? What kind of events are they? Do you want to take photographs more frequently? Can you add more events?

Dedicated to Street

I Am a Recovering "Event" Photographer