Thread: How many photographs do you take?

I was briefly thinking about this the other day at a display. So many people whipped out their iPhones, etc. It's kind of sad. I miss enjoying a moment with others back as a kid and everyone (okay, there were cameras but it wasn't as ridiculous) enjoying a performance with their own eyes instead of through a phone screen. Is there a point when it's probably been uploaded to YouTube by someone else anyway?

Anyway, how many things do you get photos (or videos) of, how often, and do you put them on social media? Sure, I take photos on vacation at slower paces. In other words, if it's a single thing (scene or animal) worth snapping, I'll do that, but I don't take an abundance.

My mother's very guilty of needless photography. When I looked at her SD card, she had several thousand photos, and like a teenager she's always taking them. Why spoil a vacation? We do have a mind's eye and don't need loads of photos to replace that. To her credit, at least she's doing it for memories' sake and not Instagram "clout".

Not many, it sounds like you take a few more than I do but I've been on a lot more vacations so I think the photograph itch had been thoroughly scratched years ago for me. When I see something impressive, I make a conscious decision to NOT get my phone out. As a late-teen I fell into that trap for a while, but since age 20 or so my phone has been on silent mode and I make an effort to create a memory rather than take a photo. My mom & wife are the polar opposite and experience their entire lives through a screen. My wife took 64GB of food photos in 6 days. She hardly remembers anything we do and forgets all the details of things we have done or seen together because she is just fiddling with her phone while the experience itself passes her by. I expressed this to her, but she told me to let her experience things the way she wants to...so...not my problem.

I mostly take pictures of my cats. lol If I looked through my gallery on my phone right now, it would be 97% cat pictures. I even set up Instagram pages for them. I am one of those weird people. haha

I don't like having my picture taken and I don't like taking pictures of people because I feel like I might make them uncomfortable (because that is how I feel). I also don't go to very many places. I will do pictures at the park, the zoo, places like that but never excessively. I don't like the idea of taking so many pictures that I ruin an event for myself as you mentioned. I am the type of person to walk into my backyard with the intent of taking "artsy" pictures just for fun.

I really don't take pictures unless I need to capture something remarkable or want to use something for reference later on.

In fact, 7 of my last 10 photos are school papers (we have to submit everything online now) lol.

I'm a bit strange when it comes to this. I don't use any social media, I almost never take pictures of myself, and I don't typically take photographs of "important" things like events or holidays with family. However, I do take a lot of photos of... completely random and seemingly meaningless things. I like to stop and smell the roses, so if I'm walking down a street and see a pretty little plant nestled in a crack in the sidewalk, I might stop and take a photo. I'll take a photo of my backyard, a dead leaf, a rainy road, a dark alley, pretty much anything that speaks to me. I become very attached to certain vibes, and when I see something that mimics those vibes, I like to capture it. I also like creating a timeline for myself, and insignificant pictures can mean a lot when placed into context. A few years back, a buddy asked what I was up to so I snapped a picture and sent it to him: a photo of my N64 playing Ocarina of Time with a cold bottle of vodka sitting next to it, and the fuzzy light of the CRT illuminating a dark room. It's a dumb photo in a way, but every time I look at it, it reminds me of what life was like when the picture was taken, and thus drudges up memories and associations that I might have otherwise forgotten.

In short, I use photography as a way to isolate feelings.

Originally Posted by Messup434

In fact, 7 of my last 10 photos are school papers (we have to submit everything online now) lol.

Does your school not have computers to do this with Word documents? Taking photos and grading that sounds very tedious.

Originally Posted by StarDood64

I'm a bit strange when it comes to this. I don't use any social media, I almost never take pictures of myself, and I don't typically take photographs of "important" things like events or holidays with family. However, I do take a lot of photos of... completely random and seemingly meaningless things. I like to stop and smell the roses, so if I'm walking down a street and see a pretty little plant nestled in a crack in the sidewalk, I might stop and take a photo. I'll take a photo of my backyard, a dead leaf, a rainy road, a dark alley, pretty much anything that speaks to me. I become very attached to certain vibes, and when I see something that mimics those vibes, I like to capture it. I also like creating a timeline for myself, and insignificant pictures can mean a lot when placed into context. A few years back, a buddy asked what I was up to so I snapped a picture and sent it to him: a photo of my N64 playing Ocarina of Time with a cold bottle of vodka sitting next to it, and the fuzzy light of the CRT illuminating a dark room. It's a dumb photo in a way, but every time I look at it, it reminds me of what life was like when the picture was taken, and thus drudges up memories and associations that I might have otherwise forgotten.

In short, I use photography as a way to isolate feelings.

Crap dude, we are almost the same person in terms of photography haha. I take odd pictures like you described, and especially ones that (i don't realize this at the time they're taken) capture the feeling from a certain time in my life. I have one picture of my Dreamcast connecting to dial-up internet...one with a few beer bottles and a 'Tales of' game playing on the TV in my old room at my family's house, a picture taken of my CRT playing Breath of Fire 3 with a snowstorm raging outside the window...so much emotion for me in those shots.

Originally Posted by Zemekis

I have one picture of my Dreamcast connecting to dial-up internet...one with a few beer bottles

Truly a man after my own heart.

I feel like most photos are so fake. People spend all this time trying to dress things up to look perfect for a photo, and yet this defeats the purpose of photography. Photography was meant to capture a moment, to capture something real and then freeze it forever; but photos nowadays have become more of a way to idealize things -- to suggest what they could be, rather than what they are. For me, a picture of a grungy, lived-in basement littered with cigarette ash and beer cans is more beautiful than a prim and proper photo of a family dressing up and wearing a faux smile for the camera. One provides a window into a life, it has feeling and ambiance, while the other is just a sad attempt to create perfection in a world defined by chaos.

Originally Posted by Mantis

Does your school not have computers to do this with Word documents? Taking photos and grading that sounds very tedious.

My old school had individual computers (and I took mine with me!), but the new one does not do that.

Plus, this is math so you gotta be able to show your work etc. It's still a bit weird not to just hand in your math homework though!

As mentioned before, most pictures I take are of my cats and my husband and I just adopted a kitten so needless to say, I have been taking more pictures. lol I plan on printing some out for some albums I have. I need to get a new one for the kitten as well.