Weird Frame of Mind

I have been taking pictures for over two years now but just recently started to take it seriously. Now I find myself thinking in pictures all the time. I’m at the grocery looking at the veggies thinking how they would look framed or grouped a certain way. Every drive in the car creates a catalogue of future pictures. I find myself wanting to take my camera with me wherever I go, worried that I might miss capturing a rare picturesque moment of time. Is this just a phase or am I stuck with it for life? It’s not a bad thing but a noticeable change in my perception of life. “Not just living life but trying to capture it as well’. Please feel free to share your thoughts.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MonkeyWrench

I have been taking pictures for over two years now but just recently started to take it seriously. Now I find myself thinking in pictures all the time. I’m at the grocery looking at the veggies thinking how they would look framed or grouped a certain way. Every drive in the car creates a catalogue of future pictures. I find myself wanting to take my camera with me wherever I go, worried that I might miss capturing a rare picturesque moment of time. Is this just a phase or am I stuck with it for life? It’s not a bad thing but a noticeable change in my perception of life. “Not just living life but trying to capture it as well’. Please feel free to share your thoughts.

---

Join the club dude. I bought a backpack and keep my meds for my back in it so I can have an excuse for the wife to have my camera 27/7. At my job I am on the road a lot and never leave my camera at home. I keep my e500 and ql-17 in the bag. I am selling off things on e-bay right now to get the funds up for a new lens.
Greg

It certainly isn't a bad thing MonkeyWrench. Neither is it a bad thing that it'll be like that for the rest of your life!

When you do photography, as an art, or seriously, I should say, you look at the world differently, as you describe. Why? You start to get an eye for composition, light, colors, etc etc.

How do you get this eye?

You've obviously been taking photos, you're also obviously interested in photography so you probably come here, and other places, a lot to look at photographs, maybe even critique. You may not know it, but every time you see a "pleasing to the eye" photograph(a good photograph), your brain takes into consideration as to why that photograph was good. This goes for your own photographs as well, you pick out your favorite ones, and you start to understand what makes those favorites your favorites. I.E., it's composition, light, tones, etc etc. You start to develop this skill, and as time goes on, your favorites are getting a little more pleasing to the eye. As time goes by your standards raise, and this skill develops more and more.

Some people have a natural eye for these things, but anyone can attain one using the technical skills such as composition, light, DoF, etc etc.

I have to run, I wanted to write more but I'll have to do so later.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MonkeyWrench

Now I find myself thinking in pictures all the time...

---

I see photos every where I go all the time. Throw in the fact that I use lights on location a lot now, and I'm always "scanning" scenes, noting the time of day, the lighting, the weather, and imagining what the look would be with a subject and lights in the shot.

It's simply a state of mind. I do it almost automatically now...

Wait 'til you find yourself in a public place with your thumb and forefinger making a photo frame as you peer intently through it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Frog

Wait 'til you find yourself in a public place with your thumb and forefinger making a photo frame as you peer intently through it.

---

it's easier to draw the frames on your glasses.

I left the house in a hurry this evening, leaving my camera on my desk, I must admit that I felt naked without it. :blush2:

I always have my P&S with to and from work just in case? The only way to deal with what you described is take more pictures and see if you can capture what your mind is seeing. Keep at it, were all with you!

I can surely relate. We start to see things as we may expect or hope to see them in the viewfinder. The camera can take alot of what we "ordinarily" view in our lives and remove them from their context, creating entirely different scenes and images. I think we begin to understand how that can be and then go looking around at everything in completely new and exciting perspectives. We border on obsessing with it, but thats ok, it's what helps make you a better photographer

Great thread you started here Russ. As for me I don't know if the condition you described last for life or not. I just know that it's infected me for nearly 40 years and I see no signs of it going away. I will admit that there have been times over those years that the symptoms have been less acute but they have never left entirely. (Thank Goodness) My advice is just to relax and enjoy your new found bliss. Those are great eyes that you are seeing the world through now.

I carry the backpack with me almost every day for work and am always looking for something different. I usually do shots for work, that already have a need, head shots, etc. I'm going to start to make at least one picture a day just for the heck of it. If I don't bring my D200 kit, I usually take the cheesy auto everything point and shoot that goes in my underwater housing. It does alrght for those one of a kind pick up shots

As everyone else has alluded to, it's called "seeing".
It's an important step in one's photography.
Just make sure you act upon what you see as often as you can, or you'll likely to loose a little sleep.
Trust me on that!
Brian
:thumbsup:

I think there are many of us that have this same type of mindset, it can come from other things as well, I've caught myself more than once thinking, "It would be fun to ride my bike on that..." Guess its just a part of engaging in some activities. Heres a few quotes that I heard that pertain to this kind of thing.

"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera."
- Dorthea Lange

"In my mind's eye, I visualize how a particular . . . sight and feeling will appear on a print. If it excites me, there is a good chance it will make a good photograph. It is an intuitive sense, an ability that comes from a lot of practice."
- Ansel Adams

"Once photography enters your bloodstream, it's like a disease."
- Anon

Thank you all for taking the time to share your thoughts. And yes Brian I have already fussed about missing a shot because I did not have my camera on more than one occasion. I have found it can even ruin my day. It was nice to here it’s a fairly natural transition as you get more into photography. I'm getting a T-Shirt made "Living Life one Frame at a Time" I am sure it's not an original thought but It's the way I feel right now. I would of liked to have Quoted/Responded to all of you individually but I’ve been busy of late and only had time to lurk here and there on the site with no real time to thoughtfully post.
Russ

Great thread topic.
Monkey Wrench, Thanks for sharing your thoughts...I know the feeling.
Some of my best shots happen as life "happens" or because the D80 was hanging on my neck.A featherweight DSLR.
It's good to see the passion you feel is shared by many.
I can honestly say that Photography has changed my life.It's the source...along with surfing. LOL.
Rick

Monkeywrench.....count me as one of the many who see a photo in everything. I think it all starts after you've seen what goes on here, and other places where photogs 'gather'. It becomes a frame of mind, and eventually a kind of instinct. I'm seriously considering buying a p & s just to have on me all the time rather than constantly carrying the dslr all over. The world is full of possibilities for shooting photos.
John