The Rise and Fall... And Rise Again?

I used to totally love photography, I just sort of stopped doing it. I don't know why. I don't think I "burned out" on it, but it definitely fell by the wayside.

What if I was just a little ahead of my time?

I was out with Suzie last night, helping her with a photography lesson for her Wednesday night class. The subject was shots with movement. By the time she gets off work on weekdays the daylight is somewhat limited, so if the assignment wasn't completed over the weekend, that pretty much limits her to night shots. I suggested a few various items before hitting on the one that we finally acted on. We grabbed my tripod and zoomed over to Auburn Station to see if she could get some interesting shots of the Sounder Train that was due to arrive in 15 minutes.

It was cold, but I was immediately drawn into the fun of seeing what kind of effects she could get by slowing the shutter speed way down to a point where everything that moved had a blur to it. I was having a great time visualizing the outcome in my minds eye and scouting out new angles and shots while she was busy setting up and taking them behind me. The bridge that spanned the train tracks afforded a great vantage point to catch car and bus traffic and a good overhead/side view of the train as it came and went.

What we didn't really expect were the shots related to the train stopping there: The humans streaming across the bridge we were using, and their vehicles streaming in a seemingly endless chain of lights as they wound their way out of the parking garage. Both made for some great shots!

I felt myself sharing the excitement that she had--The same feeling I used to get when I was on the hunt for shots with my old Nikon FM film camera. Some days when I was bored all I had to do was pick up my camera and head out the door. It usually provided a sort of catalyst for an interesting day of wandering. Back in the day of a 35mm SLR cameras, the creative tools were not apparent. The camera afforded a person with unlimited light settings and unlimited speed settings, but that was about it unless you had a bulk film cartridge and a motor drive ($$$). The use of filters was another option, but one that I usually didn't bother much with. In other words, it was mostly up to the photographer as to how to make a shot happen. I taught myself everything I ever learned about photography--Some by trial and error and experimentation, and some by reading books and magazines (no internet back then!).

Today things are different.

The camera Suzie has is nothing short of amazing when compared with those of yesteryear. There is basically nothing that it won't do. But the real exciting difference is digital versus film. In the old days I spent a LOT of money having my pictures and slides developed. There is a general rule of thumb that existed in the film camera days: If you got one really great shot out of a roll of film you were lucky. Sure, you might get a whole roll of shots with no flaws in them, but that "perfect" shot was the elusive thing. So it boils down to logistics really. The cost of the film, loading the film, storing the film, the cost of developing the film--All are non-issues now. It is truly a photographer's world in today's day and age.

Given my fickle nature, I can't help but wonder: If I jumped back in would I stick with it? Does that even matter? After all, when you're on this side of 50 years old the clock of life is running pretty quickly so there's not much time to wonder. Given my love of computers and the obvious link between them and digital photography, it's certainly an interesting notion.