It’s so easy to get lost in all the talks of HDR, long exposure, f2.8, 500mm zoom, VR, body motor, desat, post-processing, vignettes, sharpness, purple fringing, Crumpler, Think Tank, softbox, strobes, and all other photography shit that we forget what photography used to mean to us. It’s not about whether you’ve got the most kick-ass gear; you may have a Mark IV but if you don’t know shit about basic composition then you’re nothing but the countless posers walking around malls and public places with SLRs hanging from their necks. It’s also not about whether you’ve got awesome post-processing skills; you may master the ins and outs of Photoshop, Lightroom, Gimp, Picasa, iPhoto, or hell, even MS Paint, but if your photo doesn’t have any emotion oozing out of it, it’s practically useless (although, let’s admit it, a good post-processing can turn a blah photo into an almost eye-popping one). And it’s definitely not about your friends having cameras so you should get one too.

I have been taking photos since 2008 but I’m not claiming to be a pro or anything. I know I’ve got a lot more to learn before even claiming that I’m a proficient photo-hobbyist. And yeah, during the last two years, I’ve been swallowed in this never-ending and expensive hobby and okay, I’ve sort of improved, technically, composition-wise, and I think even my post-processing skills have taken a leap.

But sometimes, I feel like it’s too much, you know. I think I’ve gone overboard sometimes with post-postprocessing, and sometimes, I get way too technical when taking shots that I forget to just appreciate the beauty of the scene before me and just let my eyes decide how to frame the scene and position the subject. Suffice to say, I got sort of lost in the avalanche of knowledge that I got from friends, fellow photo-hobbyists, forums, and online tutorials. So, I think I kinda need to remind myself why I got into this very expensive mess in the first place, what should this hobby mean to me, crap like that.

The following photos were taken by an old Sony Ericsson k650i cameraphone. Mind you, that phone wasn’t even the most kick-ass in terms of MegaPixels back then. I only bought it so I could have a Pinas roaming phone when I transferred to Tokyo for work. These lame-ass cameraphone photos are actually the reasons why I thought I’d buy a DSLR and see where that hobby will take me (hey, I was depressed back then, I would try almost anything — keyword: almost).

“Takot sa Sun” was taken at around 5am during a Winter month when I couldn’t sleep because of something depressing.

“…” was taken later that same day when my emo mood refused to just take a hike.

So, yeah, I need to remind myself that I take photos for my enjoyment and not for anybody else (well, also for you, but you get what I mean, right?). I take photos of my travels and my everyday experiences (like, hello, Project 365!) and just because I wanted to snap a shot of that damn awesome scene in front of me. I used to take self-portraits (like, hello, Project 365!) but then I’ve gotten way too tired of myself so that kinda dwindled down. It was never because I wanted to show off or get recognized or get complimented (although that would be nice haha). I may have good days and bad days (sometimes my post-processing sucks) and maybe get stuck in a very long rut but there is no way I’m stopping. I’m doing this for all the right reasons and I may get lost in all the technical shit again but I got these two photos to remind me to just, I dunno, sometimes great composition happens when you’re not thinking at all.

So there, I’m doing this because I love doing this — nothing more, nothing less.

//

Okay, wait, I’m not making any sense. I swear I had a point in my head earlier.

Fine, I’m stopping now.

Guess that’s what you get if you stopped blogging for what feels like eons.

*Shrugs*