Why I love photography?

This is both an intrinsically simple and highly complicated question –  I shall try my best to explain.

There is currently a competition being run on twitter by Canon South Africa (#ILuvCanon) in which they ask you to describe why you love your Canon camera (or why you would love to own one)  in 140 characters or less. The prize is a PowerShot A3500. This got me to thinking on why I love my camera, and I realised there’s no ways I can fit that into 140 characters. It’s just not possible.

Besides the fact, that my camera is one of my most valued possessions (coming from a non-material person, this is says quite a lot) There are a few important reasons.

I am never happier than when I am behind the lens. I zone out, all my worries fade into a distant memory, I relax and am able to focus on the scene at hand (yes, sadly, bad pun intended)

True happiness is for some people like a skittish butterfly flittering off into the distance, you have to run after it, do a Jonty Rhodes type dive, cup it in both hands and say to it “you, you and I are going to stick together”.
And so, I spend a lot of time in the fields with my camera chasing butterflies, both literally and figuratively speaking.

It’s also one of the driving reasons I travel. I want to share the feelings of being in a specific location. That feeling of the baking heat on your skin, the smell of pine needles, the peaceful silence of the mountains, a gentle breeze gracing the hairs at the back of your neck. I want to capture that all in an image.

Owning a camera makes me look for things I wouldn’t normally see. And with all life’s rush, stress and pressure, it’s so easy to overlook the precious little things, that can change the way you see the world around you. But having a camera in hand makes you slow down, and really look at a scene.

That instant when you push the shutter button down and a split second of time is frozen, captured, yours!  A moment captured in time, which will never be exactly repeated.
An image to edit, share, or forget about on a hard drive, until …… in years to come, when the memory of the moment is fading to the recesses of the mind; one picture can bring the whole scene flooding back.

Another great reason is in the community it provides, I’ve met so many great people with a shared love of photography. Some far better photographers than I could ever dream to be, and some just starting out and learning about F stops, aperture, shutter speed and ISO. I’ve messaged random strangers to ask for advice or what settings they use, and I’ve been able to pass on tips and tricks to others new to the game.

To be honest, I didn’t choose Canon as a brand (my first DSLR was a gift – what an awesome one) but now, some years down the line, I have no plans in changing. With all the debates that do the rounds, as to which brand is better, the only answer for me is: the best camera is the one you’re comfortable with and the one you have with you. What ever floats your boat.  Canon works for me.