where has the fun gone in photography

[CanNik]

Hasthe enjoyment, pleasure, fun, call it what you want gone out ofphotography.


Myfirst real camera was a Praktica Super TL, I can't remember going outwithout it, coming back home with my self loaded FP4 or HP4,developing it and printing it (I was not that good), I was 15 ish. Itook photographs of EVERYTHING from the light in my bedroom to thewhole of Frimley and Camberley walking everywhere.


Ilearned, not from books but doing, OK I learned the very very basicsfrom reading the occasional Amateur Photographer but the rest likemany was from doing. And this is what baffles me today.


Likelearning the one thing I think I still use every day, my timestables, mental arithmetic, I wonder how the teens and even adultstoday would cope without a calculator, or if the power to their tillwent down. I bought two hot dogs at an event, 2 x £2.35 easy £4.70gave £5 change 30p, the teenager had to use a CALCULATOR !!!!!!!!


Photographyis the same.


Askmost new day photographers how they work out the hyperlocal distance,“What's that ??”


Forgrab shots, street photography what are the best average settings with iso 200 “125^th at f8” DUH!


Instinctively KNOW exactly what my DOF will be at a given aperture for my lenses on my cameras, how, years of practice and doing.


I can't remember the last time I took my cameras off Manual mode, andas a sports photographer, when I last used continuous shooting,99.99% of the time single frame


I have met so many I have lost count, supposed sports photographers at Donington, Brands Hatch, Silverstone etc who can't even pan !!!


Toe the fun/enjoyment was the fun of learning to “do”, why f8 was different to f2, why my sports shots were better panned at 1/125^th than 1/500^th.


Ihave nothing against auto, , but if the fun has not gone out of photography, the knowledge of how, why, what has


like Astronomy and new telescopes, full automation in photography and astronomy has opened up a world to people who would not have previously participated, it is just a shame that so much pleasure is being lost by not trying things out.


Just MY personal thoughts