Lately I’ve gotten really into photography. To me, it’s one of the easiest ways to be expressive and creative, even if it is one of the more expensive hobbies (some camera sets cost upwards of $400, and some lenses cost even more). But, seriously, it’s so rewarding. You can do a lot with photography, from taking some amazing landscape shots, to crazy long exposure pictures (like the one above that I took in Iowa City).
Everyone, in some way or another, is a photographer. Whether it’s a Snapchat selfie or a food-centric Instagram post, we’ve all been picture-takers at some point. You don’t need an expensive camera to be a good photographer (even though the picture quality is absolutely superb): you just need a keen eye for what looks good and an understanding of what you’re interested in. Because that’s what photography should be about: about you and what you like.
Photography is subjective. Tastes are subjective. Art, as a whole, is subjective. Some people like really wide shots that have a lot of negative space. Others like tight, zoomed-in shots that put one thing into focus and blur the rest. I don’t know what I really like yet, but that’s why it’s also important to practice and play around with it.
Photography says a lot about who you are and what you think is important. Is it a blurry picture of your dog that moves around too much for you to take a good picture of him/her? Is it an artsy photo of you with your hair draped around your face in a messy manner? Or is it a mirror selfie of you at the gym, flexing the muscles you didn’t use to have?
For me, I love long exposure photos. To me, it represents how quickly days go by, how we’re always in a hurry to get from Point A to Point B, and how we never really think to slow down and really enjoy things in the moment. It also looks pretty damn cool.
It's also an excellent way to document things, to keep them in some sort of permanence. There’s always an emotional element behind long exposure images, too. They say that a picture’s worth a thousand words, but it’s also worth a thousand memories (cheesy, I know). One photo is bound to have a million different meanings to a million different people.
So go out there and take more pictures. Post them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, whatever. Show off your pictures and show off who you are. You don’t need a $400 camera to do that. You just need a good eye and a penchant for knowing when and where to take a photo. There’s a bunch of technical things too, like lighting and the rule of thirds (which a lot of photos are judged on), but forget about those things. Sometimes, it’s okay to break rules. All that matters is what matters to you.
