Getting things underway.

So, to begin this blog, I want to write about a thought that I've been having for a while now.

A couple years ago a friend of mine and I were in a field throwing the Frisbee when we saw another group of people playing a larger game. He insisted that we try to join in. I protested and tried to keep the game between the two of us. Being the kind of person he is, he, then and there, tried to dissect my unwillingness to join the game. He said "I think I know the problem. You've spent too much time behind the camera." His statement was certainly convicting. I had spent a lot of time behind a camera taking pictures of other people doing other things. I had gotten into a few sports but had quit for one reason or another. Had I really spent too much time behind the camera? Was I really just on the outside looking in to a world of activity while I sit helplessly behind a window taking note? No. Yes, a camera can be used as a tool to remove one's self from a situation. Journalists in a war zone would be thought of as sick if they did not have their cameras and were only there to observe. As long as they have their cameras between them and the action they are "non combatants".

But photography is so much more than just a documentation. Documentation is the obvious use, but I don't believe I photograph in order to document. To be honest, I don't know why I take pictures. It feels right I suppose. It feels natural. I love the feeling of satisfaction I get when I look at a photograph I just took and know it to be "good" in my eyes. I get feelings from mine and other photographer's photos. They make me think and they also allow me to appreciate an image that I may not have been able to see before.

So I don't think that anyone can spend "too much time" behind the camera, as long as they themselves are satisfied with what they are doing.