Last Updated 13th July 2015 Photography is a wonderful hobby, it takes you out and about, meeting people, capturing images of sometimes incredible scenes and that interaction with people and nature can bring immense joy to your life. It can dramatically improve your lifestyle, especially if you are single, perhaps shy or old and retired and without a doubt can remove depression by taking you out of the house and into a regular routine, even if it is just walking around the town, the zoo, sports grounds or shooting street photography.
Introduced to kids at a very young age, photography can be incorporated into visits to nature reserves, the zoo, hill walking, snowboarding, cycling, football, rugby, hockey, ice skating, especially travel and other social events accompanied by their parents. This interaction is not only beneficial for family bonding it also opens up a wider insight into the the world around them. Perhaps it may even help prevent a later obsession with mobile phones, android devices and games on home computers along with the obesity that is linked to those activities.
Today's cameras not only shoot stills photography, some have time lapse and stop motion video. Youngsters can shoot still images and HD videos of flora, macro insects, sport, wildlife and even create a video of a scene changing in an entire day which lasts a few seconds on video - stars in the night or thunder clouds passing swiftly overhead in a few seconds, even a flower growing in seconds rather than days. Stop motion can produce animation video much like Wallace & Gromit and parents can get in on the creative act as well.
A photograph on the wall can evoke a thousand words of conversation it can take the visitors on a journey, it can stimulate the senses and bring joy as past memories are unleashed even great moments with old friends who have passed on. A picture on the wall encourages a social experience, it is singular, a moment in time and part of your life. Bitter sweet memories are also part of your life and should not be hidden away in old photographs stacked in a cupboard.
The hobby of photography can assist you to turn your life around. The government recently (October 2013) published a report raising concern at the huge number of people in the UK, young and old who were living their lives alone. Some people avoid any interaction with the human race, perhaps they have suffered financial hardship, the loss of a job, the death of their spouse, a messy divorce or just reaching old age which has brought on depression. Their persona changes which in turn creates an inability to become motivated which in turn deepens the depression which may last for years. Photography is better than any pills from the doctor, it can take you out of the rut, pull you away from that television, give you a purpose to get out and about in the open air, in the sun and the rain. It encourages a re-engagement with the human race even if only from a distance and if conversations take place it helps you to avoid a negative attitude to life and embrace the positive side.
Photography enhances those social moments, captures them and holds them
for later reflection, especially in old age but photography should not create friction between your friends, your spouse
and especially a beautiful girlfriend. There is nothing worse than a
photographer who allows the camera and his hobby to dominate his life
whereby his social encounters are compromised. In blunt terms, imagine
a golf widow whose husband was always out playing golf and then
he suddenly decided to take along his golf clubs when they went out
together and practiced his golf swing in the restaurant, during that
nice walk in the park and on holiday whilst walking down the street.
Even worse, imagine that he also left her alone in the lounge whilst in
the study he is endlessly browsing the internet, reading reviews on
golfing equipment, having countless 'cyberspace' conversations in golf
forums, Face book and Twitter with people he does not even know, keeping
a irrelevant blog up to date and
purchasing golfing gear that piles up in a cupboard - - - - so
moderation, especially in those moments of amour. Photography encourages a life in the real world instead of one in cyberspace! |
