July 8, 2025 • 38 mins
#578 In this episode of the podcast, I deliver a thoughtful exploration into the emotional and psychological aspects that underlie the pursuit of photography. I dissect the difference between being infatuated with photography—often characterized by a focus on gear, novelty, and aesthetics (“lust”)—and a mature, enduring engagement with the craft, marked by sustained commitment and personal growth (“love”). Throughout the episode, I draw parallels between our relationships with people and with photography, making the argument that both require effort, patience, and vulnerability for genuine fulfillment.
KEY TOPICS COVERED
- Lust vs Love in Photography - Raymond defines “lust” as the excitement for gear, newness, and surface-level satisfaction (like shooting shallow depth-of-field because you can), and contrasts this with “love,” which involves accepting photography’s frustrations, dedicating time to growth, and valuing the process.
- Overcoming Frustration and the Importance of Perseverance - The episode examines how photographers often feel discouraged when their skills or tools do not match their ambitions. Raymond stresses that this stage is not a signal to quit, but rather an invitation to invest more time, effort, and patience—transitioning from surface-level excitement to genuine artistic fulfillment.
- Concrete Methods to Deepen Engagement - Raymond provides actionable steps: carrying your camera everywhere, printing photographs, expressing gratitude for your camera through written reflection, and reading the camera’s manual thoroughly. These measures are designed to foster understanding, comfort, and growth—the core elements of a true “love” for the craft.
DISCUSSION & REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Think back—what first attracted you to photography? How have your motivations evolved?
- Can you identify moments when photography felt like a chore? What helped you push through?
- What is one way you can spend more “quality time” with your camera this week?
Sign up for your free CloudSpot Account today at www.DeliverPhotos.com
Connect with Raymond!
- Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group
- Get your Photo Questions Answered on the show - https://beginnerphotopod.com/qa
- Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/
Thanks for listening & keep shooting!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
raymond-hatfield_1_07-02-20 (00:02):
Are you somebody who, just lusted
after photography, the gear, thefeeling of holding a camera in
your hand, capturing images withsuper shallow depth of field
just because you could, or areyou somebody who truly loves
photography?
Hey Raymond here from theBeginner Photography Podcast,
and today we are getting quiteemotional, but in a good way.
(00:26):
So let me start off by askingyou the question of, in
photography have you ever feltthat maybe it's not for you.
Maybe it's a lot harder than itlooked before you got into it.
Maybe you don't have thiscreative vision that, you
thought that you did and maybeyou thought about hanging up the
(00:50):
camera?
Well, today I want to help withthat because that might not be
the case.
I was listening to a podcastrecently.
The Photography Mindset podcastand in it, I don't remember what
episode it was, but there wasjust this kind of offhand
comment about, being in lovewith photography versus being in
(01:13):
lust or having a lust forphotography.
And they had said it likethey've said it a million times
before, like it was just thiskind of natural thing, but it
really, Made me pause because Ihad never really thought about
photography in that way.
And I think it's becausephotography has always kind of
played an important role in mylife.
(01:34):
It's always had, it's alwaysbeen one of the pillars.
Some sort of image creation,whether it be photos or videos.
In high school, I would bring acamera to school and take photos
of my friends and the dumb stuffthat we would do.
I would make videos and that gotme to decide to pursue a career
in cinematography.
I went to film school for it.
I took photos while I was infilm school, and then after I
(01:56):
graduated, I eventually decidedto get into weddings again,
making photography a, importantrole in my life.
But that's not always the case.
I know that there's a lot of youlistening who.
maybe photography is just ahobby that you're getting into
later in life.
Maybe you've had a, a longcareer, in a day job, and you've
(02:19):
thought to yourself, man, Iwould really love to have a
creative hobby like photography.
Maybe you are a new parent andthought, man, I should probably
get a better camera than just aniPhone to take photos of my.
Child and now feel like, wait asecond, my phone takes way
better photos than this cameradoes.
(02:40):
or maybe you're thinking like,Hey, I've seen a lot of,
photographers, doing shoots andmaking money and starting their
own business.
I would like to do that formyself.
take control of my time and I'mgonna get into business, of
photography.
And then whatever one mostapplies to you get the camera
(03:00):
and it seems so easy, right?
Like we're so used to takingphotos on our phone, seeing
incredible images online, thatit just seems like image
creation is simple.
And, it is simple, but it's noteasy, right?
So when you get this tool, it'sdedicated to creating images,
you realize, oh wow, there's alot more control that I have
here, and therefore, like, thisis pretty complicated and it's
(03:22):
doing things that I don't wantit to do, and it's not creating
the images that I see in myhead.
And this is, this is difficult,right?
And that's kind of where we'reat today because it's like when
you first get into photography,there's this lust for it, right?
You get so excited for it.
you think about it all the time.
(03:43):
Simple things get you excitedbecause everything feels so new.
Even if you're just doing simplethings like, taking a bunch of
photos of, your dog's paw whilethey're sleeping.
But then time goes on and themagic kind of wears off.
You don't think about itnonstop.
The simple things that youenjoyed earlier no longer bring
(04:04):
you as much joy.
It's not as playful.
And the things that were joyousand playful earlier, maybe now
feel like a chore.
So in those ways, photography iskind of like a relationship.
And I think every relationshipstarts with a level of lust,
(04:25):
right?
Because we don't truly know theperson when we first meet them,
but something attracts us tothem.
And typically it's somethingphysical.
but then we grow into love.
So this episode is not only for,longtime listeners, people who
have had a camera for a longtime, who feel like, yeah, I'm
pretty sure that I'm in lovewith my camera.
(04:47):
because I think that you'll besurprised at how much deeper you
can go.
And we're gonna talk about thattoday.
But this is also for people whomight be in a, transitional
stage of, Hey, I got the camera.
I was really excited about it,and now I'm realizing, wait,
there's a whole lot more workthat goes into this.
It's not doing the things that Iwanted it to.
It's just not that good.
(05:07):
Right.
and are, are figuring out likedid you just have a lust for
photography and it's not foryou?
Or are you ready to transitioninto having a love of
photography?
Because this is the time whenyou have to make a decision,
right?
Are you somebody who, again,just lusted after photography,
(05:29):
the gear, the feeling of holdinga camera in your hand, capturing
images with, super shallow depthof field just because you could,
or are you somebody who trulyloves photography.
Understanding that ifphotography is not all just
bubblegum and rainbows, there isreal work, there is problem
(05:53):
solving, there is realfrustration, but having a love
for the process or the finalproduct makes it all worth it.
That's what we're gonna find outtoday.
And again, if you're pretty,sure on your conviction, your
love towards the camera, I stillencourage you to take a listen
(06:13):
to this episode because, Ithink, just in, in the creation
of this episode, the me kind ofoutlining the points that I want
to talk about, I started to growa deeper appreciation for my
camera.
Just being able to look at it ina different way.
Something more than just, anobject.
Now, don't worry, I'm not goingto leave my wife and kids to
(06:34):
marry my camera.
But, again, I feel like justafter coming up with the ideas
and the outline for thisepisode, I do have a much deeper
appreciation for my camera andbetter understanding for it too.
So that's never a bad thing tohave.
So again, encourage you tolisten to this even if you
identify as somebody whoabsolutely loves photography.
(06:55):
But first, guess what?
The Beginner Photography Podcastis brought to you by Cloud Spot.
Speaking of love versus lust.
Cloud Spot is full of people whotruly love photography and even
more than a love of photography,they love photographers.
I've had many conversations withGavin, the CEO of Clouds spot
about, what he's doing to helpphotographers.
(07:17):
And it's so interesting thatlike every time we talk, his
talking points are always howclouds spot can be more helpful.
He's asking me questions oflike, what are the struggles
that you as listeners have, sothat he can help address those
problems because, He knows thatfor you to enjoy photography,
for you to be successful as aphotographer, to create
(07:41):
impactful images, you need somehelp.
Help delivering beautiful imagegalleries That's why they
invested so much money intocreating Cloud Spot Studio,
their client management portionof the service so that if you're
new to the business side ofphotography, you have a helping
hand right away.
The ability to send outcontracts, to send out invoices,
(08:04):
to collect payments, to trackthe process or progress rather
of a client and their photojourney, so that you don't have
to write it down in a notebookor a Excel spreadsheet and, lose
track of these things.
'cause that's how it allstarted.
That's where I started.
So if you're somebody who has alove for photography, I promise
you Cloud Spot is here to helpyou, deepen your love for
(08:29):
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So grab a free accountover@deliverphotos.com And
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Again, grab your freeaccount@deliverphotos.com.
So let's start at the beginningof a relationship.
(08:49):
A relationship starts becauseyou see something that you like
and you decide to pursue it,whether that's a person, whether
that's an image, whether that'sa specific camera.
At some point you make thedecision to go further than just
seeing something, but youactually want to take action on
it.
(09:10):
So you start this relationship.
Right?
In those early days of arelationship, man, there is
nothing more magical than thatfeeling, right?
You're talking all day, you'reholding hands everywhere.
You're doing like small thingslike going to the post office,
you know what I mean?
Like small things together, youfeel like you can never truly
(09:31):
get enough of it.
But then at some point therelationship goes from never
getting enough of it to havingenough of it.
If things start to feel stale,they start to feel stagnant.
You start to wonder, is thisperson really my person or did I
misjudge them?
(09:51):
Are they different?
Was I wrong?
I.
And you start to questionwhether or not it's time to move
on.
But as the great LindsayBuckingham says, in one of the
most iconic love songs of alltime, go your own way.
If you open up, everything iswaiting for you.
(10:14):
And what that means is that whenyou stick around, when you dig
in your heels to go deeper, somuch more is revealed.
If you stick around, if you doopen up the things that are
waiting for you are a level ofsecurity, a level of
understanding, a level of trueconnection that really can only
(10:38):
come from lots of time spenttogether and being vulnerable
with each other.
Lust will get you there, but itwon't keep you there, you know,
in love, your mood may change.
You may have a really bad day,you may be angry, but the level
(10:58):
of care and respect that youhave for the relationship is
unconditional.
So while you might be angry atyou know what somebody does, or
what your camera does, you don'tthink to yourself, that's it,
I'm done.
Because that level of care andrespect is.
Is unconditional, but in lust,you're happy to just text and
(11:20):
call all day and it feels goodto have that attention.
But in, in love, you have tospend quality time together in
person.
My wife and I, I dunno if I'veshared this story on the podcast
before my wife and I actuallymet on Craigslist.
Yeah.
Fun story.
This was like at the height ofthe Craigslist killer, like back
in oh nine.
(11:43):
Yeah.
Looking back, like realquestionable judgment on her
part and my part honestly.
But regardless, we were in twovery different locations, her
and Indiana, me and in LA at thetime.
And it was hard to spend timetogether in person, but in, in
lust.
Again, it doesn't matter as muchbecause you're happy calling and
(12:03):
texting all day because again,it feels good to have that
attention that somebody ispaying attention to you, that
you feel valuable, right?
But love could not have grown ifwe didn't spend time, quality
time together in person.
With lust, you look at somethingas a physical shiny object.
(12:26):
in love you see a lifelongcompanion.
But that transition phase, Ithink is where a lot of people
get stuck because there's a lotof questions, you know.
but if you're consideringcontinuing the transition from
lust to love, I think you firstrealize that there's, I.
more than just a physical desirethere.
(12:48):
in photography, that would be afast lens, a full frame sensor,
weather sealed body, somethinglike that.
but you start to be drawn moreinto the personality, into the
charm.
Things like, oh, lens flare, or,the way that highlights render a
(13:08):
slight glow or just how vibrantyellows are you start to see the
world differently through yourrelationship with a camera.
You start thinking of how youcan interact in the world with
them rather than just satisfyinga physical closeness.
(13:30):
You're starting to think moreabout we instead of me, and then
that's when your feelingsdeepen.
Right?
When you do decide to go deeperwith the camera, you start to
feel safe.
You start to feel comfortable,rather than just trying to show
them off.
like Lindsay Buckingham said, ifyou open up, everything is
(13:54):
waiting for you.
And here's the thing about lustas well, is that, lust fades
once it has been satisfied.
Meaning, you could go out andbuy the best camera in the
entire world.
Okay?
But then what?
or wait a second.
now a new camera's coming out.
So this deep desire, what feltlike a deep desire for this
(14:17):
thing, for this object, for thisperson, for this camera.
Once you get it it can start tofade.
However, love it does not dothat.
It grows over time.
A love for photography isrealizing, oh, I don't need a
hundred megapixels.
26 is more than I've needed forliterally anything.
(14:40):
I don't need 14 stops of dynamicrange.
I don't need whatever is next.
What I have, it works.
I'm able to create somethingthat, I enjoy that others enjoy,
that can communicate a messagethat I'm trying to share with
the world.
Lust focuses on that, thatsexual gratification.
(15:01):
The first wedding that you showup to with like, a fancy L lens
or the newest mirrorless camera,fancy camera straps.
You feel incredible.
You feel like a million bucks.
You're like, here I am.
I am at the top of the world.
I am a professional, even thoughnone of those things Speak to
(15:22):
the image quality, to theability to create an image that
makes anybody feel anything.
In love, love values anemotional connection.
and in photography, that'sartistic compatibility.
The camera creates a feeling inthe image that is more than the
(15:43):
sum of its settings.
You have this feeling of like,man, I've never created
something like this, withanother camera.
Sure, it's going to have itsfaults, but together you feel
like you're working more as ateam to create something
beautiful rather than workingsolo to achieve a very singular
(16:05):
mission.
And that's because lust seekspersonal pleasure.
The people who are excited totalk about their hassle blad or
their Leica, when they just gotinto photography, I mean less
than a few years of photographyexperience.
Those are the people chasing thelust.
I've been in a room with aphotographer who had a hassle
(16:29):
blad and could not stop talkingabout how it was the same type
of camera that went to the moon.
That is cool, but like itdoesn't mean anything for the
images that you are able tocreate, whereas love prioritizes
each other's happiness andwellbeing.
The fulfillment that you'll getfrom photographing family
(16:53):
portraits for some sort ofcharity event with an entry
level camera and a kit lens willfar outweigh the deep
satisfaction that you'll getfrom simply owning like a, like
a M six or a hassle blad.
It's very surface level.
It's very cheap.
When my wife and I started,dating, I wanted to impress her.
(17:16):
I would buy her gifts.
I would make her feel special bytrying to spend tons of quality
time with her.
I mean, one, because it was along distance relationship, so
whenever we had the ability tobe together, I would want to
spend like deep quality timewith her.
Years later, I found out that,what she loved most early on in,
(17:36):
in our relationship was notthose things.
It was not the gifts, it was notthe quality tied together.
It was, how I would plan out ourdates.
It was, would drive everywhere.
It was, me just taking charge ofwhat we were going to do because
what that meant was that herexperience of the date became
(17:57):
pure enjoyment.
there was no thinking ordeciding or questioning herself.
It was, she was along for theride and I took care of the
rest.
And I come to find out againyears later that her love
language is acts of service.
When I do things that make herlife easier, that's acts of
service.
It wasn't gifts.
It wasn't sending her flowers.
(18:17):
I mean, those helped of course,let her know that I was
listening and thinking of her.
But acts of service was thething that filled her cup.
So today, in our relationship,16 years later.
I.
Always, I have a very keen eyefor acts of service.
I'm always on the lookout forthings that I can do to make her
(18:40):
life easier.
Things like filling up her gastank when I'm out, handling the
wagon full of equipment whenshe's coaching our daughter's
softball team.
When I hear her upstairs, wakingup in the morning, getting up
outta bed, I will start her acup of coffee.
But none of those things Iwould've done early on in our
relationship and not because Iwouldn't have done them, I just
(19:03):
didn't know that that's what shevalued, and I wouldn't have
known that those things were soimportant to her unless I
invested actual time intolearning more about her.
And I mean, look, we hadarguments as every young couple
does.
And I had thought to myself asI'm sure everybody does, like,
(19:25):
yeah, I don't know if this isgonna work out, but it took me
opening up and everything waswaiting for me.
You know, it took it, goingthrough those things to get to
the point to where I know herbetter, where she knows me
better.
We know each other fuller and ina very loving way.
So no matter where you're atwith photography, you are
(19:48):
flirting with it.
You're fighting with it, you'refalling in love with it.
Remember that the more time youinvest with your camera, with
photography, the more it givesback to you.
You get out of it, what you putinto it, you know, you wouldn't
marry somebody just because oftheir looks.
(20:08):
That's why, people don't getmarried on the first date.
I mean, maybe in Las Vegas youwould, but you fall for their
quirks.
You fall for their outlook onlife, their reliability.
Your camera's the same.
The more time you spend reallygetting to know it, spending
time with it, the more magicyou'll make together.
(20:28):
So in preparing for thisepisode, I looked up some facts,
right?
So, fun fact here in Las Vegas,the marriage capital of the
world, they have the highestdivorce rate in the entire
country of 4.2 people perthousand married.
Now, the national average forcomparison is two, meaning Las
Vegas has more than double thedivorces of the national
(20:53):
average.
Why is this?
Well, it's attributed to thefact that Nevada has the most
relaxed rules on gettingmarried.
Meaning it's easier to getmarried while you're still in
the lust phase, and then guesswhat?
The lust phase eventually andinevitably ends and then turns
(21:17):
out twice as many peoplerealize, oh, this isn't actually
somebody who I'm in love with.
But man, at first it was fiery.
It felt amazing.
It felt like this personcompleted me.
Now when surveyed, many divorcedpeople said that they were
surprised how much their partnerchanged once they became
(21:41):
married.
That's interesting.
Did they change or did you notspend enough time with them to
know who they really were orboth?
I personally, I hope that I'vechanged.
I hope that I've grown and I'vebecome a better version of
myself than I was at 25 when wegot married.
(22:03):
I know my wife has changed.
Neither of us are the personthat we were when we got
married, but we've changed tobecome better together, to
become less selfish ofourselves, and we make a
decision every day to staytogether because at our core, we
(22:25):
know that we truly love eachother.
Here's another, little somethinginteresting that I found in, in
looking this up, 64% of divorcedmen and 74% of divorced women
think that their partners shouldhave tried harder.
That means that there is a hugenumber of marriages that end
(22:47):
where both partners think thatthe other one should have tried
harder.
Now what does that mean?
That is simply a lack of effortand communication.
And in fact, the number onething that couples who, identify
as happily married say, is thatthey understand the value of
(23:09):
compromise.
You go your whole life beforemarriage, only thinking about
yourself, where are you gonna goto school, whatcha gonna do with
your life, what are you gonnahave for dinner?
Like all day you think aboutyourself, that's perfectly
normal.
And then one day you now have toconsider an entirely other
(23:29):
person with a completelydifferent background,
upbringing, set of ideals, lensthat they just view the world
through overnight.
All of your decisions now changefrom me to we, and that's the
only way that you can make itwork, is if you make the mental
(23:49):
decision of changing the way youthink of, of the decisions that
you make from me to we.
If you don't, if you stillcontinue to only think of me,
well, it's not gonna work.
That's why lust works, becauseit's a me, me, me, game.
But love is a wee, wee wee game.
(24:10):
Meaning it takes work to make itwork.
It's a lot of work to make itwork.
Absolutely, I will admit that,but again, you have to work to
make love work.
Love isn't easy.
It doesn't just happen one day.
It takes work.
(24:30):
Maybe your camera was not madespecifically for shooting
sports.
Maybe like me, you have adaughter in softball and you
want to take photos of thesoftball game and you want to
get that perfect swing with theball going, just an inch away
from the bat or something likethat.
But your camera, again was notmade for sports.
Like it was made for a slowerpace.
(24:51):
It's more of an entry levelcamera, so you can only shoot
four frames per second ratherthan 30.
Well.
Okay, so it doesn't do this.
One thing that, that you'vedecided that you want to do are
you gonna throw out the cameraright into the trash and then
spend five times as much on adifferent camera for that one
feature?
(25:13):
Or are you gonna dig in?
Are you gonna give it effort?
And are you gonna try your best?
Are you going to learn tocompromise?
Are you gonna do your part ofthe relationship or things like
working on your positioning ofwhere you are, where you're
(25:34):
shooting from, working on yourtiming to increase your chances
of capturing the right moment,even if it is only at four
frames per second.
Are you going to try harder orare you gonna say, I'm done,
this camera doesn't.
Try enough.
This camera doesn't put inenough effort for what I need it
to do.
(25:55):
And are you gonna give up beforeyou really learned what the tool
was capable of?
And by the way, remember thatlike photographers were shooting
for decades on film when likeone frame per second was amazing
and they still got incrediblephotos.
So like four frames a second,you're gonna complain about
that.
Maybe not you, but it's just anexample.
(26:15):
You get it.
Okay, so then that brings us tothe question of how do we
transition from LUT to love?
The way that we transition fromlust to love, whether it be in a
relationship, or, with ourcamera is two things.
It's time and it's beingvulnerable.
(26:37):
Now I can spend a lot of timewith my friends or neighbors and
not fall in love with them, anda stranger can tell me something
incredibly vulnerable and I notfall in love with them.
It takes both, and both of youhave to work together on it.
So step one is to simply spendmore time with your camera if
(27:01):
you don't already.
Seriously, find a way to bringit with you everywhere.
I mean, make your camera anevery day carry.
Before you walk out the doors,do a phone, wallet, keys,
camera, check.
By simply spending more timewith the camera.
By having it around, you'regoing to just naturally want to
(27:24):
use it.
You're gonna naturally seesomething and think, Hey, I'm
gonna try to take a photo ofthat, and then you're gonna try
it.
And because you're gonna be indifferent lighting scenarios,
shooting different subjects,you're just naturally going to
grow a deeper understanding ofnot only how your camera works,
but also like how you see theworld.
So maybe buy yourself a camerabag that is gonna make bringing
(27:48):
your camera with you easier.
Buy a neck strap that you canjust throw the camera over your
shoulder as you're walkingaround doing whatever.
Put it in your purse.
Cameras are not as fragile asyou think that they are.
And, it doesn't have to beperfectly padded.
You want to remove the barrierto taking photos, not make it
more difficult.
(28:10):
So find out ways that you canspend more time with your
camera.
The next thing you can do isstart to get physical.
Yeah, this is my favorite part,just kidding one of the things
that I love to do in photographyis to print out my photos.
Putting out your photos that youhold them in a way that like you
don't naturally interact withyour images when they're on a
(28:30):
computer.
So here's what I want you to do.
Just simply print out fivephotos that you've taken over
the past year.
Maybe these are photos that youabsolutely love.
Maybe this is a photo that youwish turned out a little bit
better, because I think thatonce you get it in your hand,
you're going to realize howtruly, Amazing it is.
(28:50):
And how different of anexperience you have dealing with
it in your hands.
There's been photos where on thecomputer I just see all of the
technical imperfections, butonce I print them, it all fades
away and it feels entirely likea different image.
I have a Canon selfie printer.
It's not like, taking a selfieon your cell phone, but it's
(29:13):
just the name.
You can look'em up on Amazon.
They're relatively cheap.
I think like 200 bucks, maybelike 150 bucks.
Anyway, they print out four bysixes at home really, really
quickly.
It has air prints, so you know,you don't even have to plug it
into your computer.
It's fun.
It's easy to just make thesefour by sixes.
But if you don't have one, youcan upload your photos to
(29:34):
Costco, to Walmart, whoever, andpay like four bucks to print out
five photos.
I just want you to enjoy thephysical nature of prints and
start to look at yourrelationship with photography a
little bit differently.
And the best way to do that isagain, to get physical.
Another thing you can do is, andthis one is really gonna sing to
(29:54):
the hopeless romantics outthere, is to write a love letter
to your camera.
I'm dead serious.
This may seem extremely cheesyand honestly, I think that the
cheesier that you make, the loveletter, the better, but you
know, thank it.
Thank your camera for all themoments that it has helped you
to capture for being there foryou during some amazing
(30:17):
experiences, trips, expressgratitude.
When you express gratitudetowards something, you mentally
build a stronger connection toit.
It shifts your view of thecamera from only thinking of its
limitations to thinking of allthe great things that you have
done together, creating aconfirmation bias that your
(30:38):
camera can capture great photos.
Talk about your firstimpressions of it.
Were you nervous?
Were you intimidated?
Were you excited?
I'm serious.
Talk about how frustrated you'vebeen with it, and how you've
grown with it.
You used to think that, maybeyour camera would mis focus all
the time, but it turns out youjust didn't know how to properly
(30:58):
change your focus point to whereyou wanted it.
So a love letter for me.
Might in fact, hold on, lemmegrab the camera right here.
Might sound something like this.
Dear Fujifilm, ex Pro two, Ikind of bo you on an impulse.
I told myself that, I wanted toshoot more street, more
documentary, more travel, andthat you would be perfect for
(31:23):
these things, and even thoughyou weren't the most practical
camera at the time, you wererather expensive.
You were a crop sensor comparedto the full frame camera that I
already had and was shootingwith.
I took a chance and it paid offbecause you made me fall in love
with photography in a differentway.
(31:45):
You reminded me that creativitycomes from limitations.
That beauty is is what you see,and it's not just what you own.
So thank you for that.
I love you.
Okay.
Just kidding.
I added in that extra part forhumor.
I've never told my camera that Ilove it.
(32:06):
That does feel weird to saythat, but in a weird way.
I feel a little bit closer to mycamera now saying that out loud.
So again, give it a shot.
You don't have to do it publiclyin front of thousands of
listeners all over the world.
You could just hold your camerain your hands and look at it and
say these things in your headand then that be it.
(32:30):
But do something, show itgratitude because mentally that
it will make a change in how youview your camera.
And another thing you can do isto read, read your camera's
diary to learn more about it.
I forgot that I wrote that downas a bullet point to call it a
diary.
But, I'm talking about yourcamera's manual.
(32:51):
Trust me, I know how boring itsounds to read a manual, but I
will say that I've learned moreabout the cameras that I've
owned by reading through themanuals than anything else.
So take your camera's manual.
And if you don't have one, likeyou can find it online, and buy
(33:11):
it seriously.
It's gonna be like four or$5.
Nobody wants those things, eventhough they're so full of
helpful information.
Like seriously imagine beingable to read somebody's diary.
You're gonna learn so much aboutthem, even when you think, you
know a lot about them.
The camera's manual is soinsightful, and you're gonna
(33:31):
learn more about the smallfeatures of your camera that you
just didn't know existed.
You're gonna learn things thatyou didn't know you could do,
and when you discover thosethings, it is going to inspire
you to try new things andexplore and go deeper with the
(33:52):
camera.
I have never enjoyed countrymusic.
In fact, if you were to ask me,I would say that I have a
disdain for country music.
You might say that I loa countrymusic.
My wife on the other hand, doesnot feel the same way about
country music.
In fact, she quite enjoys it.
(34:14):
Learning about her love andappreciation for country music.
I didn't understand at first,but knowing this about her, I
bought her tickets to a littlecountry music festival.
I went with her and even thoughI'm not into country music,
(34:37):
seeing her light up, seeing herget so excited and just feel
free and alive was amazing.
She was so magnetic.
If I didn't take the time tolearn the things that she liked
(34:57):
or could do, I would've missedout on that.
And even though I'm not gonnatake her to country music
festivals every month or, oryear, or several years, I now
know what's possible if I needit.
The camera manual's the sameway, you're going to see things
and think to yourself, I don'tknow how useful that would be to
(35:20):
me, or I don't think I would usethat at all, but give it a try.
And deepening your understandingfor something just might
completely change the way thatyou photograph everything.
It might not, but it just might.
And are you willing to miss outon that chance?
You don't have to read it coverto cover, but if you were to
(35:42):
take your camera manual to acoffee shop and just sit down
and skim through it and onlyread the things that caught your
attention, again, I think thatyou would be absolutely shocked
at how much you can learn aboutthis beloved camera of yours
that you thought that you knewjust about everything about.
And that's gonna give you such adeeper appreciation for your
(36:04):
camera.
And it's also gonna give yousome confidence, right?
Knowing that, oh, there's nownew things that I can add to my
toolkit of being a photographer.
So there you go.
There's a few things that youcan try to either fall deeper in
love with your camera or startto make that transition from
(36:27):
lust to love.
And remember, like photography,like love isn't just about the
best moments.
It's not just about thehighlights, if you will.
It's about those everydaymoments.
It's about the frustrations,it's about the quirks, it's
about the triumphs.
It's about those quiet momentstogether.
(36:51):
So fall in love with photographyagain.
And that's all that I got today.
Until next time, remember, themore that you shoot today, the
better of a photographer youwill be tomorrow.
Talk soon.
Are you somebody who, just lusted
after photography, the gear, thefeeling of holding a camera in
your hand, capturing images withsuper shallow depth of field
just because you could, or areyou somebody who truly loves
photography?
Hey Raymond here from theBeginner Photography Podcast,
and today we are getting quiteemotional, but in a good way.
(00:26):
So let me start off by askingyou the question of, in
photography have you ever feltthat maybe it's not for you.
Maybe it's a lot harder than itlooked before you got into it.
Maybe you don't have thiscreative vision that, you
thought that you did and maybeyou thought about hanging up the
(00:50):
camera?
Well, today I want to help withthat because that might not be
the case.
I was listening to a podcastrecently.
The Photography Mindset podcastand in it, I don't remember what
episode it was, but there wasjust this kind of offhand
comment about, being in lovewith photography versus being in
(01:13):
lust or having a lust forphotography.
And they had said it likethey've said it a million times
before, like it was just thiskind of natural thing, but it
really, Made me pause because Ihad never really thought about
photography in that way.
And I think it's becausephotography has always kind of
played an important role in mylife.
(01:34):
It's always had, it's alwaysbeen one of the pillars.
Some sort of image creation,whether it be photos or videos.
In high school, I would bring acamera to school and take photos
of my friends and the dumb stuffthat we would do.
I would make videos and that gotme to decide to pursue a career
in cinematography.
I went to film school for it.
I took photos while I was infilm school, and then after I
(01:56):
graduated, I eventually decidedto get into weddings again,
making photography a, importantrole in my life.
But that's not always the case.
I know that there's a lot of youlistening who.
maybe photography is just ahobby that you're getting into
later in life.
Maybe you've had a, a longcareer, in a day job, and you've
(02:19):
thought to yourself, man, Iwould really love to have a
creative hobby like photography.
Maybe you are a new parent andthought, man, I should probably
get a better camera than just aniPhone to take photos of my.
Child and now feel like, wait asecond, my phone takes way
better photos than this cameradoes.
(02:40):
or maybe you're thinking like,Hey, I've seen a lot of,
photographers, doing shoots andmaking money and starting their
own business.
I would like to do that formyself.
take control of my time and I'mgonna get into business, of
photography.
And then whatever one mostapplies to you get the camera
(03:00):
and it seems so easy, right?
Like we're so used to takingphotos on our phone, seeing
incredible images online, thatit just seems like image
creation is simple.
And, it is simple, but it's noteasy, right?
So when you get this tool, it'sdedicated to creating images,
you realize, oh wow, there's alot more control that I have
here, and therefore, like, thisis pretty complicated and it's
(03:22):
doing things that I don't wantit to do, and it's not creating
the images that I see in myhead.
And this is, this is difficult,right?
And that's kind of where we'reat today because it's like when
you first get into photography,there's this lust for it, right?
You get so excited for it.
you think about it all the time.
(03:43):
Simple things get you excitedbecause everything feels so new.
Even if you're just doing simplethings like, taking a bunch of
photos of, your dog's paw whilethey're sleeping.
But then time goes on and themagic kind of wears off.
You don't think about itnonstop.
The simple things that youenjoyed earlier no longer bring
(04:04):
you as much joy.
It's not as playful.
And the things that were joyousand playful earlier, maybe now
feel like a chore.
So in those ways, photography iskind of like a relationship.
And I think every relationshipstarts with a level of lust,
(04:25):
right?
Because we don't truly know theperson when we first meet them,
but something attracts us tothem.
And typically it's somethingphysical.
but then we grow into love.
So this episode is not only for,longtime listeners, people who
have had a camera for a longtime, who feel like, yeah, I'm
pretty sure that I'm in lovewith my camera.
(04:47):
because I think that you'll besurprised at how much deeper you
can go.
And we're gonna talk about thattoday.
But this is also for people whomight be in a, transitional
stage of, Hey, I got the camera.
I was really excited about it,and now I'm realizing, wait,
there's a whole lot more workthat goes into this.
It's not doing the things that Iwanted it to.
It's just not that good.
(05:07):
Right.
and are, are figuring out likedid you just have a lust for
photography and it's not foryou?
Or are you ready to transitioninto having a love of
photography?
Because this is the time whenyou have to make a decision,
right?
Are you somebody who, again,just lusted after photography,
(05:29):
the gear, the feeling of holdinga camera in your hand, capturing
images with, super shallow depthof field just because you could,
or are you somebody who trulyloves photography.
Understanding that ifphotography is not all just
bubblegum and rainbows, there isreal work, there is problem
(05:53):
solving, there is realfrustration, but having a love
for the process or the finalproduct makes it all worth it.
That's what we're gonna find outtoday.
And again, if you're pretty,sure on your conviction, your
love towards the camera, I stillencourage you to take a listen
(06:13):
to this episode because, Ithink, just in, in the creation
of this episode, the me kind ofoutlining the points that I want
to talk about, I started to growa deeper appreciation for my
camera.
Just being able to look at it ina different way.
Something more than just, anobject.
Now, don't worry, I'm not goingto leave my wife and kids to
(06:34):
marry my camera.
But, again, I feel like justafter coming up with the ideas
and the outline for thisepisode, I do have a much deeper
appreciation for my camera andbetter understanding for it too.
So that's never a bad thing tohave.
So again, encourage you tolisten to this even if you
identify as somebody whoabsolutely loves photography.
(06:55):
But first, guess what?
The Beginner Photography Podcastis brought to you by Cloud Spot.
Speaking of love versus lust.
Cloud Spot is full of people whotruly love photography and even
more than a love of photography,they love photographers.
I've had many conversations withGavin, the CEO of Clouds spot
about, what he's doing to helpphotographers.
(07:17):
And it's so interesting thatlike every time we talk, his
talking points are always howclouds spot can be more helpful.
He's asking me questions oflike, what are the struggles
that you as listeners have, sothat he can help address those
problems because, He knows thatfor you to enjoy photography,
for you to be successful as aphotographer, to create
(07:41):
impactful images, you need somehelp.
Help delivering beautiful imagegalleries That's why they
invested so much money intocreating Cloud Spot Studio,
their client management portionof the service so that if you're
new to the business side ofphotography, you have a helping
hand right away.
The ability to send outcontracts, to send out invoices,
(08:04):
to collect payments, to trackthe process or progress rather
of a client and their photojourney, so that you don't have
to write it down in a notebookor a Excel spreadsheet and, lose
track of these things.
'cause that's how it allstarted.
That's where I started.
So if you're somebody who has alove for photography, I promise
you Cloud Spot is here to helpyou, deepen your love for
(08:29):
photography.
So grab a free accountover@deliverphotos.com And
you'll see that cloud spot is ona never ending mission to
empower photographers.
Again, grab your freeaccount@deliverphotos.com.
So let's start at the beginningof a relationship.
(08:49):
A relationship starts becauseyou see something that you like
and you decide to pursue it,whether that's a person, whether
that's an image, whether that'sa specific camera.
At some point you make thedecision to go further than just
seeing something, but youactually want to take action on
it.
(09:10):
So you start this relationship.
Right?
In those early days of arelationship, man, there is
nothing more magical than thatfeeling, right?
You're talking all day, you'reholding hands everywhere.
You're doing like small thingslike going to the post office,
you know what I mean?
Like small things together, youfeel like you can never truly
(09:31):
get enough of it.
But then at some point therelationship goes from never
getting enough of it to havingenough of it.
If things start to feel stale,they start to feel stagnant.
You start to wonder, is thisperson really my person or did I
misjudge them?
(09:51):
Are they different?
Was I wrong?
I.
And you start to questionwhether or not it's time to move
on.
But as the great LindsayBuckingham says, in one of the
most iconic love songs of alltime, go your own way.
If you open up, everything iswaiting for you.
(10:14):
And what that means is that whenyou stick around, when you dig
in your heels to go deeper, somuch more is revealed.
If you stick around, if you doopen up the things that are
waiting for you are a level ofsecurity, a level of
understanding, a level of trueconnection that really can only
(10:38):
come from lots of time spenttogether and being vulnerable
with each other.
Lust will get you there, but itwon't keep you there, you know,
in love, your mood may change.
You may have a really bad day,you may be angry, but the level
(10:58):
of care and respect that youhave for the relationship is
unconditional.
So while you might be angry atyou know what somebody does, or
what your camera does, you don'tthink to yourself, that's it,
I'm done.
Because that level of care andrespect is.
Is unconditional, but in lust,you're happy to just text and
(11:20):
call all day and it feels goodto have that attention.
But in, in love, you have tospend quality time together in
person.
My wife and I, I dunno if I'veshared this story on the podcast
before my wife and I actuallymet on Craigslist.
Yeah.
Fun story.
This was like at the height ofthe Craigslist killer, like back
in oh nine.
(11:43):
Yeah.
Looking back, like realquestionable judgment on her
part and my part honestly.
But regardless, we were in twovery different locations, her
and Indiana, me and in LA at thetime.
And it was hard to spend timetogether in person, but in, in
lust.
Again, it doesn't matter as muchbecause you're happy calling and
(12:03):
texting all day because again,it feels good to have that
attention that somebody ispaying attention to you, that
you feel valuable, right?
But love could not have grown ifwe didn't spend time, quality
time together in person.
With lust, you look at somethingas a physical shiny object.
(12:26):
in love you see a lifelongcompanion.
But that transition phase, Ithink is where a lot of people
get stuck because there's a lotof questions, you know.
but if you're consideringcontinuing the transition from
lust to love, I think you firstrealize that there's, I.
more than just a physical desirethere.
(12:48):
in photography, that would be afast lens, a full frame sensor,
weather sealed body, somethinglike that.
but you start to be drawn moreinto the personality, into the
charm.
Things like, oh, lens flare, or,the way that highlights render a
(13:08):
slight glow or just how vibrantyellows are you start to see the
world differently through yourrelationship with a camera.
You start thinking of how youcan interact in the world with
them rather than just satisfyinga physical closeness.
(13:30):
You're starting to think moreabout we instead of me, and then
that's when your feelingsdeepen.
Right?
When you do decide to go deeperwith the camera, you start to
feel safe.
You start to feel comfortable,rather than just trying to show
them off.
like Lindsay Buckingham said, ifyou open up, everything is
(13:54):
waiting for you.
And here's the thing about lustas well, is that, lust fades
once it has been satisfied.
Meaning, you could go out andbuy the best camera in the
entire world.
Okay?
But then what?
or wait a second.
now a new camera's coming out.
So this deep desire, what feltlike a deep desire for this
(14:17):
thing, for this object, for thisperson, for this camera.
Once you get it it can start tofade.
However, love it does not dothat.
It grows over time.
A love for photography isrealizing, oh, I don't need a
hundred megapixels.
26 is more than I've needed forliterally anything.
(14:40):
I don't need 14 stops of dynamicrange.
I don't need whatever is next.
What I have, it works.
I'm able to create somethingthat, I enjoy that others enjoy,
that can communicate a messagethat I'm trying to share with
the world.
Lust focuses on that, thatsexual gratification.
(15:01):
The first wedding that you showup to with like, a fancy L lens
or the newest mirrorless camera,fancy camera straps.
You feel incredible.
You feel like a million bucks.
You're like, here I am.
I am at the top of the world.
I am a professional, even thoughnone of those things Speak to
(15:22):
the image quality, to theability to create an image that
makes anybody feel anything.
In love, love values anemotional connection.
and in photography, that'sartistic compatibility.
The camera creates a feeling inthe image that is more than the
(15:43):
sum of its settings.
You have this feeling of like,man, I've never created
something like this, withanother camera.
Sure, it's going to have itsfaults, but together you feel
like you're working more as ateam to create something
beautiful rather than workingsolo to achieve a very singular
(16:05):
mission.
And that's because lust seekspersonal pleasure.
The people who are excited totalk about their hassle blad or
their Leica, when they just gotinto photography, I mean less
than a few years of photographyexperience.
Those are the people chasing thelust.
I've been in a room with aphotographer who had a hassle
(16:29):
blad and could not stop talkingabout how it was the same type
of camera that went to the moon.
That is cool, but like itdoesn't mean anything for the
images that you are able tocreate, whereas love prioritizes
each other's happiness andwellbeing.
The fulfillment that you'll getfrom photographing family
(16:53):
portraits for some sort ofcharity event with an entry
level camera and a kit lens willfar outweigh the deep
satisfaction that you'll getfrom simply owning like a, like
a M six or a hassle blad.
It's very surface level.
It's very cheap.
When my wife and I started,dating, I wanted to impress her.
(17:16):
I would buy her gifts.
I would make her feel special bytrying to spend tons of quality
time with her.
I mean, one, because it was along distance relationship, so
whenever we had the ability tobe together, I would want to
spend like deep quality timewith her.
Years later, I found out that,what she loved most early on in,
(17:36):
in our relationship was notthose things.
It was not the gifts, it was notthe quality tied together.
It was, how I would plan out ourdates.
It was, would drive everywhere.
It was, me just taking charge ofwhat we were going to do because
what that meant was that herexperience of the date became
(17:57):
pure enjoyment.
there was no thinking ordeciding or questioning herself.
It was, she was along for theride and I took care of the
rest.
And I come to find out againyears later that her love
language is acts of service.
When I do things that make herlife easier, that's acts of
service.
It wasn't gifts.
It wasn't sending her flowers.
(18:17):
I mean, those helped of course,let her know that I was
listening and thinking of her.
But acts of service was thething that filled her cup.
So today, in our relationship,16 years later.
I.
Always, I have a very keen eyefor acts of service.
I'm always on the lookout forthings that I can do to make her
(18:40):
life easier.
Things like filling up her gastank when I'm out, handling the
wagon full of equipment whenshe's coaching our daughter's
softball team.
When I hear her upstairs, wakingup in the morning, getting up
outta bed, I will start her acup of coffee.
But none of those things Iwould've done early on in our
relationship and not because Iwouldn't have done them, I just
(19:03):
didn't know that that's what shevalued, and I wouldn't have
known that those things were soimportant to her unless I
invested actual time intolearning more about her.
And I mean, look, we hadarguments as every young couple
does.
And I had thought to myself asI'm sure everybody does, like,
(19:25):
yeah, I don't know if this isgonna work out, but it took me
opening up and everything waswaiting for me.
You know, it took it, goingthrough those things to get to
the point to where I know herbetter, where she knows me
better.
We know each other fuller and ina very loving way.
So no matter where you're atwith photography, you are
(19:48):
flirting with it.
You're fighting with it, you'refalling in love with it.
Remember that the more time youinvest with your camera, with
photography, the more it givesback to you.
You get out of it, what you putinto it, you know, you wouldn't
marry somebody just because oftheir looks.
(20:08):
That's why, people don't getmarried on the first date.
I mean, maybe in Las Vegas youwould, but you fall for their
quirks.
You fall for their outlook onlife, their reliability.
Your camera's the same.
The more time you spend reallygetting to know it, spending
time with it, the more magicyou'll make together.
(20:28):
So in preparing for thisepisode, I looked up some facts,
right?
So, fun fact here in Las Vegas,the marriage capital of the
world, they have the highestdivorce rate in the entire
country of 4.2 people perthousand married.
Now, the national average forcomparison is two, meaning Las
Vegas has more than double thedivorces of the national
(20:53):
average.
Why is this?
Well, it's attributed to thefact that Nevada has the most
relaxed rules on gettingmarried.
Meaning it's easier to getmarried while you're still in
the lust phase, and then guesswhat?
The lust phase eventually andinevitably ends and then turns
(21:17):
out twice as many peoplerealize, oh, this isn't actually
somebody who I'm in love with.
But man, at first it was fiery.
It felt amazing.
It felt like this personcompleted me.
Now when surveyed, many divorcedpeople said that they were
surprised how much their partnerchanged once they became
(21:41):
married.
That's interesting.
Did they change or did you notspend enough time with them to
know who they really were orboth?
I personally, I hope that I'vechanged.
I hope that I've grown and I'vebecome a better version of
myself than I was at 25 when wegot married.
(22:03):
I know my wife has changed.
Neither of us are the personthat we were when we got
married, but we've changed tobecome better together, to
become less selfish ofourselves, and we make a
decision every day to staytogether because at our core, we
(22:25):
know that we truly love eachother.
Here's another, little somethinginteresting that I found in, in
looking this up, 64% of divorcedmen and 74% of divorced women
think that their partners shouldhave tried harder.
That means that there is a hugenumber of marriages that end
(22:47):
where both partners think thatthe other one should have tried
harder.
Now what does that mean?
That is simply a lack of effortand communication.
And in fact, the number onething that couples who, identify
as happily married say, is thatthey understand the value of
(23:09):
compromise.
You go your whole life beforemarriage, only thinking about
yourself, where are you gonna goto school, whatcha gonna do with
your life, what are you gonnahave for dinner?
Like all day you think aboutyourself, that's perfectly
normal.
And then one day you now have toconsider an entirely other
(23:29):
person with a completelydifferent background,
upbringing, set of ideals, lensthat they just view the world
through overnight.
All of your decisions now changefrom me to we, and that's the
only way that you can make itwork, is if you make the mental
(23:49):
decision of changing the way youthink of, of the decisions that
you make from me to we.
If you don't, if you stillcontinue to only think of me,
well, it's not gonna work.
That's why lust works, becauseit's a me, me, me, game.
But love is a wee, wee wee game.
(24:10):
Meaning it takes work to make itwork.
It's a lot of work to make itwork.
Absolutely, I will admit that,but again, you have to work to
make love work.
Love isn't easy.
It doesn't just happen one day.
It takes work.
(24:30):
Maybe your camera was not madespecifically for shooting
sports.
Maybe like me, you have adaughter in softball and you
want to take photos of thesoftball game and you want to
get that perfect swing with theball going, just an inch away
from the bat or something likethat.
But your camera, again was notmade for sports.
Like it was made for a slowerpace.
(24:51):
It's more of an entry levelcamera, so you can only shoot
four frames per second ratherthan 30.
Well.
Okay, so it doesn't do this.
One thing that, that you'vedecided that you want to do are
you gonna throw out the cameraright into the trash and then
spend five times as much on adifferent camera for that one
feature?
(25:13):
Or are you gonna dig in?
Are you gonna give it effort?
And are you gonna try your best?
Are you going to learn tocompromise?
Are you gonna do your part ofthe relationship or things like
working on your positioning ofwhere you are, where you're
(25:34):
shooting from, working on yourtiming to increase your chances
of capturing the right moment,even if it is only at four
frames per second.
Are you going to try harder orare you gonna say, I'm done,
this camera doesn't.
Try enough.
This camera doesn't put inenough effort for what I need it
to do.
(25:55):
And are you gonna give up beforeyou really learned what the tool
was capable of?
And by the way, remember thatlike photographers were shooting
for decades on film when likeone frame per second was amazing
and they still got incrediblephotos.
So like four frames a second,you're gonna complain about
that.
Maybe not you, but it's just anexample.
(26:15):
You get it.
Okay, so then that brings us tothe question of how do we
transition from LUT to love?
The way that we transition fromlust to love, whether it be in a
relationship, or, with ourcamera is two things.
It's time and it's beingvulnerable.
(26:37):
Now I can spend a lot of timewith my friends or neighbors and
not fall in love with them, anda stranger can tell me something
incredibly vulnerable and I notfall in love with them.
It takes both, and both of youhave to work together on it.
So step one is to simply spendmore time with your camera if
(27:01):
you don't already.
Seriously, find a way to bringit with you everywhere.
I mean, make your camera anevery day carry.
Before you walk out the doors,do a phone, wallet, keys,
camera, check.
By simply spending more timewith the camera.
By having it around, you'regoing to just naturally want to
(27:24):
use it.
You're gonna naturally seesomething and think, Hey, I'm
gonna try to take a photo ofthat, and then you're gonna try
it.
And because you're gonna be indifferent lighting scenarios,
shooting different subjects,you're just naturally going to
grow a deeper understanding ofnot only how your camera works,
but also like how you see theworld.
So maybe buy yourself a camerabag that is gonna make bringing
(27:48):
your camera with you easier.
Buy a neck strap that you canjust throw the camera over your
shoulder as you're walkingaround doing whatever.
Put it in your purse.
Cameras are not as fragile asyou think that they are.
And, it doesn't have to beperfectly padded.
You want to remove the barrierto taking photos, not make it
more difficult.
(28:10):
So find out ways that you canspend more time with your
camera.
The next thing you can do isstart to get physical.
Yeah, this is my favorite part,just kidding one of the things
that I love to do in photographyis to print out my photos.
Putting out your photos that youhold them in a way that like you
don't naturally interact withyour images when they're on a
(28:30):
computer.
So here's what I want you to do.
Just simply print out fivephotos that you've taken over
the past year.
Maybe these are photos that youabsolutely love.
Maybe this is a photo that youwish turned out a little bit
better, because I think thatonce you get it in your hand,
you're going to realize howtruly, Amazing it is.
(28:50):
And how different of anexperience you have dealing with
it in your hands.
There's been photos where on thecomputer I just see all of the
technical imperfections, butonce I print them, it all fades
away and it feels entirely likea different image.
I have a Canon selfie printer.
It's not like, taking a selfieon your cell phone, but it's
(29:13):
just the name.
You can look'em up on Amazon.
They're relatively cheap.
I think like 200 bucks, maybelike 150 bucks.
Anyway, they print out four bysixes at home really, really
quickly.
It has air prints, so you know,you don't even have to plug it
into your computer.
It's fun.
It's easy to just make thesefour by sixes.
But if you don't have one, youcan upload your photos to
(29:34):
Costco, to Walmart, whoever, andpay like four bucks to print out
five photos.
I just want you to enjoy thephysical nature of prints and
start to look at yourrelationship with photography a
little bit differently.
And the best way to do that isagain, to get physical.
Another thing you can do is, andthis one is really gonna sing to
(29:54):
the hopeless romantics outthere, is to write a love letter
to your camera.
I'm dead serious.
This may seem extremely cheesyand honestly, I think that the
cheesier that you make, the loveletter, the better, but you
know, thank it.
Thank your camera for all themoments that it has helped you
to capture for being there foryou during some amazing
(30:17):
experiences, trips, expressgratitude.
When you express gratitudetowards something, you mentally
build a stronger connection toit.
It shifts your view of thecamera from only thinking of its
limitations to thinking of allthe great things that you have
done together, creating aconfirmation bias that your
(30:38):
camera can capture great photos.
Talk about your firstimpressions of it.
Were you nervous?
Were you intimidated?
Were you excited?
I'm serious.
Talk about how frustrated you'vebeen with it, and how you've
grown with it.
You used to think that, maybeyour camera would mis focus all
the time, but it turns out youjust didn't know how to properly
(30:58):
change your focus point to whereyou wanted it.
So a love letter for me.
Might in fact, hold on, lemmegrab the camera right here.
Might sound something like this.
Dear Fujifilm, ex Pro two, Ikind of bo you on an impulse.
I told myself that, I wanted toshoot more street, more
documentary, more travel, andthat you would be perfect for
(31:23):
these things, and even thoughyou weren't the most practical
camera at the time, you wererather expensive.
You were a crop sensor comparedto the full frame camera that I
already had and was shootingwith.
I took a chance and it paid offbecause you made me fall in love
with photography in a differentway.
(31:45):
You reminded me that creativitycomes from limitations.
That beauty is is what you see,and it's not just what you own.
So thank you for that.
I love you.
Okay.
Just kidding.
I added in that extra part forhumor.
I've never told my camera that Ilove it.
(32:06):
That does feel weird to saythat, but in a weird way.
I feel a little bit closer to mycamera now saying that out loud.
So again, give it a shot.
You don't have to do it publiclyin front of thousands of
listeners all over the world.
You could just hold your camerain your hands and look at it and
say these things in your headand then that be it.
(32:30):
But do something, show itgratitude because mentally that
it will make a change in how youview your camera.
And another thing you can do isto read, read your camera's
diary to learn more about it.
I forgot that I wrote that downas a bullet point to call it a
diary.
But, I'm talking about yourcamera's manual.
(32:51):
Trust me, I know how boring itsounds to read a manual, but I
will say that I've learned moreabout the cameras that I've
owned by reading through themanuals than anything else.
So take your camera's manual.
And if you don't have one, likeyou can find it online, and buy
(33:11):
it seriously.
It's gonna be like four or$5.
Nobody wants those things, eventhough they're so full of
helpful information.
Like seriously imagine beingable to read somebody's diary.
You're gonna learn so much aboutthem, even when you think, you
know a lot about them.
The camera's manual is soinsightful, and you're gonna
(33:31):
learn more about the smallfeatures of your camera that you
just didn't know existed.
You're gonna learn things thatyou didn't know you could do,
and when you discover thosethings, it is going to inspire
you to try new things andexplore and go deeper with the
(33:52):
camera.
I have never enjoyed countrymusic.
In fact, if you were to ask me,I would say that I have a
disdain for country music.
You might say that I loa countrymusic.
My wife on the other hand, doesnot feel the same way about
country music.
In fact, she quite enjoys it.
(34:14):
Learning about her love andappreciation for country music.
I didn't understand at first,but knowing this about her, I
bought her tickets to a littlecountry music festival.
I went with her and even thoughI'm not into country music,
(34:37):
seeing her light up, seeing herget so excited and just feel
free and alive was amazing.
She was so magnetic.
If I didn't take the time tolearn the things that she liked
(34:57):
or could do, I would've missedout on that.
And even though I'm not gonnatake her to country music
festivals every month or, oryear, or several years, I now
know what's possible if I needit.
The camera manual's the sameway, you're going to see things
and think to yourself, I don'tknow how useful that would be to
(35:20):
me, or I don't think I would usethat at all, but give it a try.
And deepening your understandingfor something just might
completely change the way thatyou photograph everything.
It might not, but it just might.
And are you willing to miss outon that chance?
You don't have to read it coverto cover, but if you were to
(35:42):
take your camera manual to acoffee shop and just sit down
and skim through it and onlyread the things that caught your
attention, again, I think thatyou would be absolutely shocked
at how much you can learn aboutthis beloved camera of yours
that you thought that you knewjust about everything about.
And that's gonna give you such adeeper appreciation for your
(36:04):
camera.
And it's also gonna give yousome confidence, right?
Knowing that, oh, there's nownew things that I can add to my
toolkit of being a photographer.
So there you go.
There's a few things that youcan try to either fall deeper in
love with your camera or startto make that transition from
(36:27):
lust to love.
And remember, like photography,like love isn't just about the
best moments.
It's not just about thehighlights, if you will.
It's about those everydaymoments.
It's about the frustrations,it's about the quirks, it's
about the triumphs.
It's about those quiet momentstogether.
(36:51):
So fall in love with photographyagain.
And that's all that I got today.
Until next time, remember, themore that you shoot today, the
better of a photographer youwill be tomorrow.
Talk soon.
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