Why Do You Take Pictures? by bmac62
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
As I spent considerable time postworking this image today I found myself asking questions.
GOT A MINUTE OR TWO TO ASK YOURSELF THE SAME QUESTIONS?
Do you take them
...purely with subject matter in mind?
...to illustrate a story you have to tell?
...to record where you've been?
...to try photographic techniques you like?
...to try your hand at art for art's sake?
...A COMBINATION OF SOME or ALL OF THESE THINGS?
...OR SOME OTHER REASON not even listed above?
Bill
P.S. Hope you like the airplane cockpit above:)
P-51B
"Awaiting Feathers"

Comments (44)
Great shot Bill too many reasons but to remind me of happy days would be one reason!
To illustrate a story or point of view. But mostly to remember, and later take those 3=second mini-vacations as I rediscover the images. Keen cockpit photo, Bill.
A combination Bill and hopefully to take THAT shot which everyone wants to have a copy of.
I just can't help it! If I don't have a pic of it it didn't happen.
Well, I don't do them. Great picture!!!
Pleasure - taking them, working on them and sharing them. The world through my eye... I love your take on this Bill, sharp and clear. The GPS is a new bit of instrumentation! Clive
Great photo and very pertinent questions, relevant to creating images as well as taking photographs...
I take photos to record, to remember, but also for other reasons - beauty, interesting subject, future use. So many reasons. So, that's the cockpit of the P51 Mustang. Cool - nice to see what it looks inside. Cramped, but so was the Spitfire, Me 109, and so many other fighter planes. Even if one is out in the wold blue yonder, one can't have claustrophobia in such a small space. Keep up the good work! :-)
Reference faroutsider's comment above...YES, YES...not just photographs but creating images of any sort (I am just a parochial guy with a camera but am sure the same questions can hold for an artist in just about any medium). Appreciate the comment!
I think I take pics for a combo of all of them except the last one. I really love the cockpit view by the way.
Estupenda fotografía si señor...Well done
cool looking
Art for art's sake, first and foremost. I'm always thinking about light and form and composition. (Same thing when I've done 3-D in the past, or painting.) Sometimes I'll play around with the camera trying different things, and eventually I become comfortable with those things and am able to use the techniques when I need them. Never for the sake of the tech ... always for the sake of the potential improvement or expansion of my art! (Tech is boring ... it's just a tool.) Sometimes I want to show you something, sometimes I just want to take pictures of my friends. (Of course if those pictures can end up being portraits, I'm so much happier! LOL!) For me, photography is a means to an end ... a starting place. Every photo is an automatic record of where I've been, but that's a side benefit, not a reason. Photographs suggest stories, not the other way around. Subject matter is almost irrelevant. Heck ... I'll even take pictures of airplanes! :D
A variety of reasons - document where I've been, to be used in backgrounds on 3D renders, to manipulate into something else Great photo, btw
I like beautiful things in nature. I like the artistic feel of a Strange shot. I like to play with my photos and make it look different and interesting. And I like to share, what I find exciting and beautiful. That is why I take photos..... among alot of othere reasons :) A really fine shot of the cockpit. :)
I'm with Tara, art first; I get caught by a light, or a shape or colour, or a mood...there are some of the other things too sometimes, but primarily it's art. And this shot is really excellent, Bill, I love the shiny reflective surfaces and the array of dials and gauges.
Great capture Bill. It really highlights aviation and the joys it may bring. As to your questions - travel related primarily, but a little of everything else. With all my post i have an ulterior motive. I keep track of them to possibly use them in the future when I (hopefully) write about my travels. This I will do mainly for myself, to keep busy and sane. I am in the process of matching all my uploads with what I have saved. My save images are not in chronological order and it is a pain to rectify this. Have a nice weekend Bill!
splendid capture and postwork! about photos. It depends on the subject and situation. I take photos to record situations (mostly historical/political ones) or to illustrate a story, or for the subject matter, better for a challenge (when it's forbidden or risky), or... just in case because one never knows.
it can be a challenge to shoot inside of a museum but you succeeded
Great capture Bil,l I guess for many reasons.. lol
Excellent capture and I guess I take different shots for different reasons and all of the above at different times. Excellent title you have made me think about it too.
It's a great question and one I stop and ask myself often. I think the reasons change, depending on circumstances and emotional state, but when I look back at art I've created, it always go to an emotional state, something I'm working through at the moment. With photography, I think it tends to be more a love of nature and the excitement of a great shot. Nice photo by the way!
well, while i usually take lots of pictures, actually there is THE picture that takes ME and that I usually choose among the others....
je ne pense pas que j'aurais pris cette photo,mais elle est tres bien!!
Great shot and thought provoking question. Probably all your answers are good ones. I like recording the memories, and like the idea that other folks can enjoy them through my work. I think I like the idea of showing people things they might not otherwise see or showing them something from a different POV. I'm continually amazed and the wonderful images some artists here post where the subject is some mundane object or a another - that's "Hey, look at this" mode of photographic art, I think.
Brilliant close up Bill, amazing that they still fitted the ring and bead sight even with the reflector....belt and braces?....Although I love this shot, I'd prefer the canopy wound back....as you were going to go 'back to school', this was certainly the pick of the classes..what a subject. Regarding Photography...reason?...to keep an eye on the woman next door in the shower....errrrr sorry wrong site....:-) Your list seems to sum it up quite well, the capture of a moment to keep, to remember and to cherish........ or to 'Photoshop' til it resembles the memory you thought it was when you took it 10yrs ago.
I take pics mostly for reference ... Nice pic - I like the GPS - lol.
Except for subject matter, I do photography for all the reasons you listed above. Subject matter is definitely way down at the bottom of my list of priorities, in contrast to the many photographers who incessantly photograph and post the same old thing day after day, whether it be cats, dogs, birds, flowers, ocean, forests, ad infinitum. Harry's the name, and variety is my game! Oh, and a great POV and lighting effects in this shot of whatever aircraft that is, Bill.
wonderful capture!!
Good questions, I'll try to think of an answer sometime!