Do you have a Photography Compulsion Syndrome?

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This article by Darlene Hildebrandt summarises the photography compulsion syndrome that some of us may have. This is an interesting read.

 

Do you:-

  • when traveling you’ve raced around at dusk, narrowly escaping a speeding ticket, trying to find the best spot to shoot the sunset
  • you’ve skipped dinner, or left your friends having dessert, while you go outside in the rain cause there was a great shot you just had to get
  • you’ve been on regular travel tours and were constantly frustrated because they never gave you enough time at the great locations or stopped at the side of the road for the old broken down buildings or because the “light was amazing”
  • you’ve lost images due to a card failure, a lost memory card, or a hard drive problem and have cried for days
  • you’ve yelled “Stop the car I’m going to have a coronary if I don’t get this shot!” to your friend or significant other
  • you comment on the lighting in a movie and notice when they use a graduated filter on the sky to make daytime into night and your partner rolls his/her eyes at you
  • you have at least 8 photography apps on your smartphone

Photography Compulsion Syndrome

But don’t despair, there is help available!

So keep reading, and please share your photography compulsion stories in the comments below. Only by forming our own support group and sharing can we find the help we need to conquer this crippling problem.

The other way to look at this is by using the following phrase: “You know you’re a photographer when . . .”. I know you may not consider yourself a “photographer” but you do not need to be a professional to have this distinction.

It’s in the blood. You can’t help but live, breathe and sleep photography.

It’s about passion. It’s about what makes your heart beat a little bit faster.

It’s about being excited when you get that shot you’ve always wanted.

Steel wool or fire spinning, something I’ve always wanted to do and finally got to try it.

So if you feel all those things about photography, you ARE a photographer. Don’t listen to what anyone else says, or labels set out my society or other people. They’re just that, labels. Being a photographer is in the blood, and the more you do it, the more passionate you feel about it. I often feel privileged because I “see” the world differently than others. Honour that in yourself and just embrace it.

Read more: at Digital Photography School.

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