Poll : What motivates you?

[BLev65]

I have been thinking about the motivation behind our collective craft. People take pictures of nature for various reasons. As I age, I have become increasingly reflective about my motivation for work, travel, fun, and life in general. Because this forum is focused on nature photography, I find to be one of my favorite "Social Media" spots. There is a focused nature to many of our discussions, and I find this to be both intellectually stimulating and refreshing. So it is with this spirit that I have set up my first poll in any social site.
I can honestly claim that my motivation for nature photography has changed throughout the years. As a young researcher in the 1980's while on the Pribilof Islands, I took pictures for my research as a way to document methods and specific birds. Photography complimented my desire to document wildlife encounters while backpacking, and offered me an outlet while in nature. In the 1990's and early 2000's I sent my best work to a stock agency, and it became an important part of my income. When digital media expanded, my stock sales plummeted... so my photography became the focal point of magazine essays and blogs. These days it is something completely different. I am now looking at wildlife and nature photography as an artistic outlet. I'm not sure what I will do with my images, but I know that I am looking for something different and more intrinsically personal.
So with that, I am curious about your motivation... I have purposely restricted you such that you can only vote for one category. Feel free to vote and comment... or vote and move on.
regards,
Bruce

 

[MrFotoFool]

If most forum members are like me, more than one of these apply equally. It is therefore impossible for me to vote for only one (which is why I didn't vote).

 

[MatsNilsson]

If most forum members are like me, more than one of these apply equally. It is therefore impossible for me to vote for only one (which is why I didn't vote).

Maybe I'm a bit odd but for me, nature and the love for wildlife triumph over all other reasons I shoot my Nikon, sure I love the hardware (Z9 and 800pf) but this wouldn't be anything if it wasn't for the meditative and relaxing time I get from all the wildlife. I'm a hobbyist!

So as you guessed I'm all in for "I do it for fun. I love to be in nature, and this is how I enjoy my time outside."

Cheers!

​

 

[Jmaes]

Technically speaking, multiple options apply to me as well.

However, I voted for "I do it for fun. I love to be in nature, and this is how I enjoy my time outside.", since I feel that without that all the other reasons would become obsolete.

 

[Vulture]

I to do it just for fun and the relaxation it gives me.

 

[Doug Herr]

No vote, multiple reasons.

 

[Winston Churchill (Sir)]

Multiple reasons too.

 

[Joel N]

chose other. For me is the “next best photo”, I strife for, work harder for, and enjoy more for and dream of more for. It’s also the excuse I use to justify the exorbitant amount spent that is hard to justify. In short the pleasure I get from being able to get the next best photo. This is a sickness and I think I am not the only one who has it.

 

[lwan]

I do it mostly for fun/passion, so I answered that. Aside, as my wife & I are farmers on a land large enough to host a good variety of species, I document the species living here either full time or occasionally to feed my local wildlife associations with data.

 

[BLev65]

If most forum members are like me, more than one of these apply equally. It is therefore impossible for me to vote for only one (which is why I didn't vote).

I agree with your sentiment, as the list was a challenge to generate. Yet, we are often strongly motivated by one thing... even slightly more than by others. As I mentioned, I have slid into and out of these choices throughout my photographic life. For many years I would tell others that photography was my placebo for a former life when I sat in the still calm of a research blind for days. These days, there is something specific that I am seeking in nature, and while a meditative experience, I seem to be driven by a preconceived vision.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
bruce

 

[BLev65]

Maybe I'm a bit odd but for me, nature and the love for wildlife triumph over all other reasons I shoot my Nikon, sure I love the hardware (Z9 and 800pf) but this wouldn't be anything if it wasn't for the meditative and relaxing time I get from all the wildlife. I'm a hobbyist!

So as you guessed I'm all in for "I do it for fun. I love to be in nature, and this is how I enjoy my time outside."

Cheers!

​

Thanks for sharing you thoughts...
Enjoying the calm of nature and taking pictures for fun is one of life's great pleasures!

regards,
bruce

 

[BLev65]

Technically speaking, multiple options apply to me as well.

However, I voted for "I do it for fun. I love to be in nature, and this is how I enjoy my time outside.", since I feel that without that all the other reasons would become obsolete.

Thanks for sharing... Your point is definitely notes.
bruce

 

[BLev65]

I to do it just for fun and the relaxation it gives me.

Thanks for sharing...

 

[BLev65]

chose other. For me is the “next best photo”, I strife for, work harder for, and enjoy more for and dream of more for. It’s also the excuse I use to justify the exorbitant amount spent that is hard to justify. In short the pleasure I get from being able to get the next best photo. This is a sickness and I think I am not the only one who has it.

Thanks for sharing this...
I have a good friend who is a longtime professional nature photographer. While his income from photography is not a drip compared to what it was in the 80's and 90's, he would always say that your most interesting photo is the one you are going to take. For him it was all about "future publications," and the kernel of his next best picture. While I do understand this, I am equally comfortable looking back through my image library in search of great past work that needs new eyes...

Interesting comments like yours is the reason that I posted the poll.
regards,
bruce

 

[BLev65]

I do it mostly for fun/passion, so I answered that. Aside, as my wife & I are farmers on a land large enough to host a good variety of species, I document the species living here either full time or occasionally to feed my local wildlife associations with data.

Thanks for sharing Iwan!

 

[MatthewK]

Yeah, multiple apply for myself, but I picked the first option, “in it for the art”, as it sorts what drives my photography overall, and not just the bird/nature side of the hobby. Whatever it is I’m shooting, I don’t want to take just snapshots, I strive to capture a mood, interesting light, a look, a balance, in my photos. You know that buzz you get when you find that one photo from your day that just jumps out at you, when it makes you say “yeaaaaah, that’s the one, wow”… that’s what I’m after.

I love(d) being outdoors and wildlife long before I ever picked up a camera, so could have picked “I do it for the fun, I love to be in nature”.

I to do it just for fun and the relaxation it gives me.

This is a huge part of why I get out into the woods and can spend the day chasing birds: mindfulness. Bird photography is a huge stress and anxiety relief for me, after days/weeks of taking care of two toddlers. I’m a different person when I come home after a few hours of birding, and it helps me be a better person overall.

 

[BLev65]

Yeah, multiple apply for myself, but I picked the first option, “in it for the art”, as it sorts what drives my photography overall, and not just the bird/nature side of the hobby. Whatever it is I’m shooting, I don’t want to take just snapshots, I strive to capture a mood, interesting light, a look, a balance, in my photos. You know that buzz you get when you find that one photo from your day that just jumps out at you, when it makes you say “yeaaaaah, that’s the one, wow”… that’s what I’m after.

I love(d) being outdoors and wildlife long before I ever picked up a camera, so could have picked “I do it for the fun, I love to be in nature”.



This is a huge part of why I get out into the woods and can spend the day chasing birds: mindfulness. Bird photography is a huge stress and anxiety relief for me, after days/weeks of taking care of two toddlers. I’m a different person when I come home after a few hours of birding, and it helps me be a better person overall.

I really love this response... very similar to my own thoughts..
I shoot when I can, and trash much of what I shoot. I approach a scene with some preconceived vision of what the final image will be.... I often see how it will be processed in my head before I even click the shutter. This entire process is key to the "mindfulness" that I am seeking in nature. So, while I too shoot for the pure joy of being "one" with the moment, the driving force is my fulfillment of some "vision." A goal that I rarely achieve.
The failure to make something meaningful after a shoot never diminishes the experience of "being there," as I find great joy when I sit in the "still" of a moment. However, my photographic motivation now seems intimately linked to an image I am seeking to make.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
bruce

 

[MatsNilsson]

This is a huge part of why I get out into the woods and can spend the day chasing birds: mindfulness. Bird photography is a huge stress and anxiety relief for me, after days/weeks of taking care of two toddlers. I’m a different person when I come home after a few hours of birding, and it helps me be a better person overall.

I can relate besides I don't have kids. For me with a severe case of ADHD, coming back from a walk in nature, my mind just defaults. Yes, I believe I'm also a better person. The calm and the true relation to nature you got from a hike is what I believe is true medicine for people like me. Well, I guess you already know this but It's medicine for us all!

 

[Woody Meristem]

I couldn't vote since I'm a photographer for several reasons -- as a naturalist and land manager it's to document sightings; as a blogger it's to illustrate my blog; my photographs are used in training sessions; I've sold and donated photographs. So ...

 

[JAS]

I picked other. Photography is my overall "hobby". I can't draw or paint or build things. I need a hobby of some sort just for fun. Photography works. I am not picky on subjects, though tend to birds, wildlife, scenery and flowers/macro mix. People and buildings are not my strong suit. I have physical limitations so, no long hike, mountain climbing or other overly strenuous stuff. You won't see overly remote or exotic stuff either. I just do it because I like it!

 

[DRM]

In general, I shoot for fun, for art, to document, and for others at their request. But honestly, if the sporting challenge, fun, and excitement wasn’t a key factor in my photography, I never would have gotten a high performance body like the Z9. Admittedly, I shoot a lot of subjects that I have next to no interest in preserving on “film” simply for the challenge of seeing what I can get.

And for me, the sporting challenge is similar to a golfer competing against the course. Tougher courses are a lot more fun to play on.

I’m not exclusively a wildlife photographer, either. I would be in the great outdoors observing wildlife regardless of whether I was taking pictures or not. But I can’t say that about other subjects. I wouldn’t attend many events I attend without a camera and the sporting challenge being present. So perhaps the fun derived from the sporting challenge in other areas of photography have creeped in to my wildlife photography, whereas before I was already outdoors enjoying nature and the camera was simply along for the ride.

 

[fcotterill]

Multiple reasons, being fascinated with abiotic and biotic diversity and the origins of the natural world: couched in the aesthetics of natural history.
In a word it's Biophilia as described and celebrated by the late Edward O Wilson and indeed many great Nature writers including Aldo Leopold.

 

[DRwyoming]

Multiple reasons here as well but if I had to pick one it's time in the field with interesting subjects and watching their behaviors.

 

[Paul Grecian]

I've made my living in photography for 20 years now but I selected the art as my motivation because there are certainly easier ways to make a living.

 

[Winston Churchill (Sir)]

While your poll doesn't cover all reasons - It is certainly thought provoking on many levels.

I do it probably for all the reasons you listed - but mainly because it is an addiction. And an expensive one at that