What do you do with your photos?

[bakubo]

Some of you here take photos for money, but for the rest of you, what do you do with your photos? Before the internet I had tons of slide boxes and envelopes with negatives and prints. Some of the slides would go in slide trays and I would look at them once or twice and on very rare occasions (total maybe 6 times over many years) I would give a slide show to family, friends, or co-workers. Since 1997 I have had several websites so these days I put some of my photos on the internet. That's it. Sometimes I wonder what is the point? I keep taking more photos, but I don't really have anything to do with them. What do you do? Why do you take them?

Recently I have made three new photo albums:

http://www.bakubo.com/Galleries%202/index.html

I am in the middle of working on a fourth, but suddenly this evening I sort of started wondering why?

[artington]

For me, it's partly the challenge of improving and partly for competing. I always enter club competitions and am now branching out into international competitions. I also print my best and rotate them around the house. I am also intrigued by Blurb, particularly now it is linked to LR4, and am mulling over the idea of producing a series of themed books of my best photos for personal use. Pretty cheap to do, permanent, accessible and nice to have.

I can't see the point of web galleries unless for commercial reasons. And stock libraries seem pretty pointless now - far too many photos.

[Dr. Harout]

Henry, if you enjoy taking shots, then do it. That's the whole point. Enjoying it is all that's important.
I do sell shots, I do exhibit them, I do link them on the net, I do show them to friends and relatives, I do shoot if asked to... but most of all I do enjoy it.
And then, it's part of history making. After all I enjoy looking at old pictures too.
That's part of an answer...

[Greg Beetham]

Capturing and recording Henry, capturing and recording, how else would we have ever seen those ghost elephants if you hadn’t covered yourself in elephant poo and hid in a hollow log until 3am? Its little adventures like that that make a good photo story to remember.
Greg

[Dusty]

Recording history as seen thru my eyes is why I take them. For those that include someone else, I normally give them a copy - much easier and cheaper now days with digital.

The rest I'll use to recall all the things I did when I write my autobiography.

Since my Dad's passing last year, I now have his old Korean War slides, so that I can show my kids some day what grandpa did in the war. All a part of passing history on.

Dusty

[pakodominguez]

Big prints and photo books -nothing like see your photographs printed!

[bakubo]

For me, it's partly the challenge of improving and partly for competing. I always enter club competitions and am now branching out into international competitions. I also print my best and rotate them around the house.

Years ago when I lived in a more or less permanent location I had many photos on my walls. These days though with our mobile lifestyle that is a non-starter.

I am also intrigued by Blurb, particularly now it is linked to LR4, and am mulling over the idea of producing a series of themed books of my best photos for personal use. Pretty cheap to do, permanent, accessible and nice to have.

I have an old friend in England who has been making Blurb photo books for several years. I asked him what he does with them and he said he has them on a bookshelf at home. Occasionally he shows them to a visitor. That is the equivalent of how years ago I occasionally would have a slide show or show a photo album to someone. He spends quite a bit of money on these books, I think.

I can't see the point of web galleries unless for commercial reasons.

I can't see the point of making Blurb photo books to put on a bookshelf either since much, much, much fewer people will ever see them than a web gallery. It is also just one more thing to have to carry around or store somewhere. I suppose it would feel good to see a nice photo book of your photos though. I have never bought a photo book, but occasionally I thumb through one at the library or a bookstore.

And stock libraries seem pretty pointless now - far too many photos.

Yes, it seems so. That is trying to make money from photos though.

[bakubo]

Henry, if you enjoy taking shots, then do it. That's the whole point. Enjoying it is all that's important.

Doc, yes, that is why I do it too. Fortunately, these days, other than the gear the hobby is cheap since I don't need film and processing anymore. And I don't need to carry, keep, and store a bunch of slides/negatives. Now each photo is just a few more megabytes on a hd. With the portable hds that we have now I can keep 3 of them with redundant backups and the total size and weight is quite small.

I do sell shots, I do exhibit them, I do link them on the net, I do show them to friends and relatives, I do shoot if asked to... but most of all I do enjoy it.
And then, it's part of history making. After all I enjoy looking at old pictures too.
That's part of an answer...

I will keep taking photos. Last night I just started wondering why? It is funny how in the morning that feeling has passed.

[bakubo]

Capturing and recording Henry, capturing and recording, how else would we have ever seen those ghost elephants if you hadn’t covered yourself in elephant poo and hid in a hollow log until 3am? Its little adventures like that that make a good photo story to remember.

That is so true! I had almost forgotten about the Ghost Elephants. For those who don't know, here they are:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... =15#p48265

[Birma]

I have recently printed my first pictures for the walls at home. I'm very pleased with them. I also have slides show screen savers I use at work. In long meetings it sometimes helps to 'zone-out' and imagine you're somewhere more interesting. (don't tell my boss .)

[bakubo]

Recording history as seen thru my eyes is why I take them. For those that include someone else, I normally give them a copy - much easier and cheaper now days with digital.

Yes, I like to give photos to people when they are in it. Generally these are more snapshots though.

The rest I'll use to recall all the things I did when I write my autobiography.

Now that's an idea.

Since my Dad's passing last year, I now have his old Korean War slides, so that I can show my kids some day what grandpa did in the war. All a part of passing history on.

Yes, my father was also in the Korean War and he passed away in 2004. Other than a very few small old B&W prints of him and his buddies over there though I don't think he had any others.

[bakubo]

Big prints and photo books -nothing like see your photographs printed!

I agree that it is nice to see one's photo printed. Do you keep them, sell them, give them away?

These days with our current lifestyle it just isn't practical at all for me to make big prints and photo books though so that is the main reason I maintain the photo website. The reason for switching to m4/3 was 2-fold: less to carry around when I am on a trip and also less to carry around when we move from one place to another (always via airplane).

[bakubo]

I have recently printed my first pictures for the walls at home. I'm very pleased with them.

I first made a bunch of prints for my walls when I lived in California about 20 years ago. It was satisfying to see them there, but only the occasional visitor saw them. From time to time I would make a new print of a photo and replace an older one on the wall.

I also have slides show screen savers I use at work. In long meetings it sometimes helps to 'zone-out' and imagine you're somewhere more interesting. (don't tell my boss .)

Yes, I remember the zone-out thing in long meetings. Don't worry about your boss, he/she is probably zoning out too much of the time so doesn't notice who else is also.