Photography is addictive.
I have begun to think that photography is a drug.
It’s addictive, seriously addictive.
I could even liken it to the term used around heroin addiction/taking – “Chasing the dragon”.
If I use the term Chasing the Dragon as detailed in the Urban Dictionary entry 1,here, then I might actually have a good case.
Photography can be thought of in a number of ways, something my pro friend and I have discussed many times, is it an art form, or a precision technical experience, i.e. like “how accurate/detailed can you get a photo?”.
It’s also something I have discussed with another amateur photographer friend.
Cath, the pro, now, she is an extremely talented artist, the other friend is a detail freak.
Does one side mean that it is impossible to do the other ?
No – I am kinda in the middle, although I tend to the detail more than the artist, and I have way less talent than Cath.
I do know however that my detail freak friend and I share a common affliction….. that addiction to the perfect shot. (I’m not saying Cath doesn’t want a perfect shot – somehow that’s different, and honestly, probably a better approach)
Detail freak and I, we both have in our portfolios, shots that are absolutely special, that almost elusive “perfect” shot, e.g. something such as a shot where we can see the rivets on an aircraft flying past us at 450knots, and that has given us the “buzz”, or “high” of that perfect shot.
And this is where I go back to the “Chasing the Dragon” analogy.
We’ve got that first “high” of a precise shot, that “buzz” of excitement as we have zoomed into the shot, and seen those rivets, and the writing on the plane/car.
Trouble is, now we are doing everything we can to get that “high” again…… and again, and it’s taking a ever increasingly better shot to get us that “high”
We are in danger of overlooking the enjoyment of actually taking the photographs and reviewing good shots, at the expense of the crave for the detail.
And with that “chase” of the detail, we are looking at more expensive gear, both camera bodies and/or lenses as we come to the horrific conclusion that when you compare the results of a sanely priced body/lens to an expensive body/lens, in actual fact, expensive bodies/lenses *ARE* clearly better.
It’s a potentially never ending spiral, as better devices are made, and our addiction to the detail gets worse – where are we going to end up ?
Destitute ?
Frustrated ?
I guess that would depend on whether one thinks that the better, and seriously more expensive lenses are actually worth the money – the *Is it worth it* question ?
Honestly, the frustration is the biggest thing for me, as I can definitely see the benefit of the expensive glass attached to the front of my camera.
And there lies a potential danger of the addiction.