realistic noob questions

[DarkPa1adin]

What is a hobby?
-an investment
-an interest that knows no end
-a loss of $/time but gain in skill

To what extend is this hobby?
-get paid for photos? (soft copy or hard copy?)
-exhibit in some galleries?

Point-And-Shoot? DSLR? and the skills involved?
my art teacher is professional, and even her P&S photographs is very well received.

Before buying DSLR, should noobs like me explore xth hand DSLR before buying a 1st hand?
(just like a job interview, before going to your dream company for interview, go to other companies...for experience)

Everything is the same under the sun, so what makes the same subject different?

Film and Photography is said to be showing the world through your lens(eyes) (artistic vision/concept)
What makes a pretty photo stand out apart from just a pretty face?

*plz try to be 0 technical as possible, but few free to express a few concepts to show balance?

 

[ovaltinemilo]

For me, a hobby is a past-time tt don't necessary bring me profit...it should be an activity that helps relieve stress from my usual 8-5.30pm from Mon to Fri...

A hobby will cost you alot of time, alot of money over time...but at the meantime, it should bring happiness and satisfaction...

anything under the sun can be a subject, so take photographs of the subject tt interests you first before you think it will interest others...

What makes a pretty photo stand out apart from just a pretty face? You have to study further to know...if you are not in yet, probably you won't know....

 

[daredevil123]

What is a hobby?
-an investment
-an interest that knows no end
-a loss of $/time but gain in skill

To what extend is this hobby?
-get paid for photos? (soft copy or hard copy?)
-exhibit in some galleries?

Point-And-Shoot? DSLR? and the skills involved?
my art teacher is professional, and even her P&S photographs is very well received.

Before buying DSLR, should noobs like me explore xth hand DSLR before buying a 1st hand?
(just like a job interview, before going to your dream company for interview, go to other companies...for experience)

Everything is the same under the sun, so what makes the same subject different?

Film and Photography is said to be showing the world through your lens(eyes) (artistic vision/concept)
What makes a pretty photo stand out apart from just a pretty face?

*plz try to be 0 technical as possible, but few free to express a few concepts to show balance?

If this is a hobby, treat it as such. You should never view any money spend on equipment as "investment" because equipment will always depreciate, and will depreciate very fast especially for camera bodies. The best way to think of hobby expenditures is to considered the money lost, but exchanged for some joy in the hobby itself.

As for making money out of the hobby. You should not think that at this stage. Treat it as a pure hobby now. Why?

- You are just starting out, so if you treat it as something you need to make money out of, you will give yourself stress and pressure and will possibly erase the joy out of the hobby.
- The are a lot of competition in this field. And a lot of wanna-bes also, who are spoiling the market by offering rock bottom pricing.
- Making money out of photography is not purely about taking photos. You need to understand how to run a business too.
- You do not have enough skill, knowledge and understanding of photography, equipment, and the photography business at this point.

My advice is to keep this as a pure hobby, until you reach a stage when you think you are good enough to match the established pros in skill and results. Then, at that point, do your business viability study to see if going full time is something suitable for you. Skills and knowhow must come first, before even thinking about making money from it.

 

[voxies09]

-an interest that knows no end

 

[wildcat]

Agree with ovaltinemilo, and daredevil123 in some ways.

How did we end up with the job we have today anyway? Some of us enjoy what we do and thus, being good at what we enjoy, we work to earn money for a living. Others may not treat job as something quite so enjoyable; they may just need to earn money to get them going. Even within different cultures and countries, e.g. Singapore compared to Australia or US (and it's differing states), you will have people doing things for different reasons.

I know of cyclists and triathletes who slog hard to get where they are... yet it's not an industry where there's job security or even pays well (if any). Much less here in Singapore, where the focus is getting one's paper degree and do well in the rat race, but more often in slower moving countries, where people do what they like to do.

To me, separating a hobby and work is important (although I have friends who use their hobby to their advantage and do stuff like conduct courses, to earn money); I'm not that kind of guy. I enjoy my work and I enjoy earning money through my proper work so that I can enjoy my hobby - photography at the moment.

From my point of view, you are moving beyond "hobby" to some more serious stuff involving work. Enjoying your work is important, and of course, if you can turn your hobby into work, all the better!

 

[voxies09]

when hobby became your professionalism , it will give you a lot of stress and apparently, you will HATE IT!

 

[night86mare]

1) a hobby is what it is to you.

2) what extent is what you choose.

3) both P&S and dslr involve the same skill set. which one to use is your preference.

4) it's your choice whether you want to explore 2nd hand dslr or not.

5) everything is same under the sun - are you sure? certain scenes work better under certain lighting, some work better under other sorts of lighting.

6) what makes a pretty photo other than a pretty face? you don't even need a pretty face to make pretty photos..... why do you associate prettiness with faces only?

What is a hobby?
-an investment
-an interest that knows no end
-a loss of $/time but gain in skill

To what extend is this hobby?
-get paid for photos? (soft copy or hard copy?)
-exhibit in some galleries?

Point-And-Shoot? DSLR? and the skills involved?
my art teacher is professional, and even her P&S photographs is very well received.

Before buying DSLR, should noobs like me explore xth hand DSLR before buying a 1st hand?
(just like a job interview, before going to your dream company for interview, go to other companies...for experience)

Everything is the same under the sun, so what makes the same subject different?

Film and Photography is said to be showing the world through your lens(eyes) (artistic vision/concept)
What makes a pretty photo stand out apart from just a pretty face?

*plz try to be 0 technical as possible, but few free to express a few concepts to show balance?

 

[night86mare]

when hobby became your professionalism , it will give you a lot of stress and apparently, you will HATE IT!

depends on the person.

 

[DarkPa1adin]

IC, thanks for the points.
I guess for me, if i would venture photography as a high level hobby, i would be spending close to 5digit, so i'm quite hesitant for now. But i would like to use some photographs for design works and reference for other productions, if any. So it is something like hobby but captured information can be used for work kind of relations.

I mean with regards to investment, it is not about buying and selling of EQ, but rather investing $$$ on EQ to train up your skills with the camera and sell your photos/services.

And of course for every hobbyist, the greatest price would be the timeless expression captured...(wrt to humans) and "i never knew this exist" for none living objects/environment.

Nightmare,
I know that light settings and different lenses work differently w lights as well as multiple lights (physical conditions) + many formulae to derive the same "stop" unit. (camera settings). Nevertheless we are limited by this under the sun, which is why some forumers felt it bored after awhile...

For lay-people, pretty stuff are always associated with pretty face, so i want to see some response from season photographers here. I do know of beauty as proportion as well as some artistic treatment/movement involved... like minimalism... which are quite cool.

 

[night86mare]

Nightmare,
I know that light settings and different lenses work differently w lights as well as multiple lights (physical conditions) + many formulae to derive the same "stop" unit. (camera settings). Nevertheless we are limited by this under the sun, which is why some forumers felt it bored after awhile...

i'm not sure if you got what i meant.

most people will tell you that stormy weather is bad for photography:

http://www.adamburtonphotography.com/images/gallery/AB009091.jpg

 

[DarkPa1adin]

i'm not sure if you got what i meant.

Maybe,

most people will tell you that stormy weather is bad for photography:

I am not surprised as "nothing is unintentional in art". For practical/pragmatic reasons, most of them would say it is bad because their gears may not be environmentally sealed in case of rain. The image u showed felt like a 3d rendered object but i am sure it is "slow shutter" to achieve the "waterfall" effect.

And an artist does explore and experiment with stuff... in order to know what and how to be intentional.

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

....
I know that light settings and different lenses work differently w lights as well as multiple lights (physical conditions) + many formulae to derive the same "stop" unit. (camera settings). Nevertheless we are limited by this under the sun, which is why some forumers felt it bored after awhile...

I don't quite understand the point you're trying to make with this.

 

[engrmariano]

What is a hobby?
-an investment
-an interest that knows no end
-a loss of $/time but gain in skill

all of the above

To what extend is this hobby?
-get paid for photos? (soft copy or hard copy?)
-exhibit in some galleries?

better if you get paid sometimes for ROI, but i still prefer my profession...

Point-And-Shoot? DSLR? and the skills involved?
my art teacher is professional, and even her P&S photographs is very well received.

pros dont care about their gears, its about their skills...

Before buying DSLR, should noobs like me explore xth hand DSLR before buying a 1st hand?
(just like a job interview, before going to your dream company for interview, go to other companies...for experience)

if you can afford the higher end, why not?...

Everything is the same under the sun, so what makes the same subject different?

Film and Photography is said to be showing the world through your lens(eyes) (artistic vision/concept)
What makes a pretty photo stand out apart from just a pretty face?

ones creativity & perspective...

for example, the Singapore flyers, MBS, etc... its always there for use to take pictures of if. but there are unlimited possibilities for taking great photographs of it...

 

[Alan Chan]

TS, you worry too much if you treat it as a hobby, and you are think too much (or too far) to turn it into an income.

hobby is first and foremost for fun and enjoyment. money will come if ppl see your potential. i did web programming and designing as a hobby, after friends saw what i can do, they got me job that pays.

i do enjoy very much when my hobby brought me income, and the satisfaction that comes with it, but like i said, first and foremost should be fun.

 

[ortega]

if you like it, just do it, why think so much

only the image matters

 

[DarkPa1adin]

What is TS?
anyway i agree with what you said, Alan.

 

[Alan Chan]

What is TS?
anyway i agree with what you said, Alan.

TS = Thread Starter (in this case, you)

Cheers

 

[driveanegg]

A hobby is for fun. Never though about making money from it. Love my day job ;p

Since its a hobby, why think so much ?? sit back and enjoy !!

 

[Fotophilic]

What is a hobby?
-an investment
-an interest that knows no end
-a loss of $/time but gain in skill

To what extend is this hobby?
-get paid for photos? (soft copy or hard copy?)
-exhibit in some galleries?

Point-And-Shoot? DSLR? and the skills involved?
my art teacher is professional, and even her P&S photographs is very well received.

Before buying DSLR, should noobs like me explore xth hand DSLR before buying a 1st hand?
(just like a job interview, before going to your dream company for interview, go to other companies...for experience)

Everything is the same under the sun, so what makes the same subject different?

Film and Photography is said to be showing the world through your lens(eyes) (artistic vision/concept)
What makes a pretty photo stand out apart from just a pretty face?

*plz try to be 0 technical as possible, but few free to express a few concepts to show balance?

if u are enjoying photography, don't think so much.

photography means diffferent things to different people.
some people simply love the feeling of owning top-notch gears.
some people like to earn money through it.
some people like everyone in the world to look at their shots.
some people just like to take shots at different persepctive and be different.
some people look at the portrait section to look for pretty girls, hack care what lighting and composition as long as they see what they wanna see.

just do what u enjoy about photography, even with a simple camera phone. cheers.

 

[DarkPa1adin]

If i am a blogger, iphone is good enough for documenting daily life especially with the touch-focus
A bit of thinking, because if i pick up DSLR, it will definitely be an expensive hobby. On the back of my mind was thinking of some ROI or at least some EQ offset. I am more towards candid(human) and object(inanimate/non-food) photography for artistic reason. Although i enjoy viewing quality images, buttery bokeh, IR hair/leaves/sky...