4 ms·

I went one step farther and quit taking photos. And this is after many years of hobbiest photography in the film era, had a darkroom at home, SLR with several l

I went one step farther and quit taking photos. And this is after many years of hobbiest photography in the film era, had a darkroom at home, SLR with several lenses. Early digital cameras were underwhelming, basically the equivalent of a 110 film snapshot camera. By the time they got good I had started to reflect on the fact that I almost never went back and looked at any of the photos I'd taken, so I just stopped. Now although with my mobile phone I have a quite decent camera in my pocket all the time, I rarely use it. The "ohh I should take a picture of this" impulse just never enters my mind anymore. I enjoy the moment, and have the memories.

CarVac 8mo ago
It really depends on the person. I do not take photos for the memories, I take photos for art and I do go back and look at them.
- xfil 8mo ago
  I'm in the same boat. My phone is used to record 'memories', but I rarely ever look at the shots I capture with it. I'd probably be better off dropping this habit. My camera is for art, and in my mind this an entirely different thing than recording stuff with my phone. These are as different as using writing utensils to briefly write notes vs. using them to make a complex drawing.
- ratmeadow 8mo ago
  Same! For me this has had the unfortunate side effect of ruining non-art photo-taking. Someone shows me a regular phone photo and the photographer part of my brain is thinking "why did you even take this...?" Yes I'm a terrible friend
bambax 8mo ago
> Early digital cameras were underwhelming, basically the equivalent of a 110 film snapshot camera. One of the first digital Ixus (IV maybe? from 2000?) made images of just one megapixels, but they were amazing. I miss that thing.
tombert 8mo ago
My phone camera is often just a very utilitarian thing, like taking a picture of a receipt and stuff like that. When I do take pictures for fun, it's almost always just a selfie to send people when I'm on vacation. I don't really see the point of taking vacation photos that don't have me (or whomever I'm traveling with) in them; you can find higher quality photos of virtually anything I'd take a picture of on the internet for free; the only thing I can realistically add to the photo is me!
RankingMember 8mo ago
> I enjoy the moment, and have the memories. I don't disagree with your "enjoy the moment" thesis, but I also envy your memory recall capability. For me, photos can resurrect memories I don't have access to normally.
- 72deluxe 8mo ago
  Yes, me too. I have a photographic memory that is getting worse with age. I remember things vividly but have no emotional attachment to the memory, and memories of myself doing things are in the third person so I can't seem to "enjoy" the memory of an event, but visually "see myself" in the memory (which doesn't make sense). Photos and videos help me "relive" the moment. That being said, I have far too many photos (and camera bodies!).

CarVac 8mo ago

It really depends on the person. I do not take photos for the memories, I take photos for art and I do go back and look at them.

xfil 8mo ago
I'm in the same boat. My phone is used to record 'memories', but I rarely ever look at the shots I capture with it. I'd probably be better off dropping this habit. My camera is for art, and in my mind this an entirely different thing than recording stuff with my phone. These are as different as using writing utensils to briefly write notes vs. using them to make a complex drawing.
ratmeadow 8mo ago
Same! For me this has had the unfortunate side effect of ruining non-art photo-taking. Someone shows me a regular phone photo and the photographer part of my brain is thinking "why did you even take this...?" Yes I'm a terrible friend

bambax 8mo ago

> Early digital cameras were underwhelming, basically the equivalent of a 110 film snapshot camera. One of the first digital Ixus (IV maybe? from 2000?) made images of just one megapixels, but they were amazing. I miss that thing.

tombert 8mo ago

My phone camera is often just a very utilitarian thing, like taking a picture of a receipt and stuff like that. When I do take pictures for fun, it's almost always just a selfie to send people when I'm on vacation. I don't really see the point of taking vacation photos that don't have me (or whomever I'm traveling with) in them; you can find higher quality photos of virtually anything I'd take a picture of on the internet for free; the only thing I can realistically add to the photo is me!

RankingMember 8mo ago

> I enjoy the moment, and have the memories. I don't disagree with your "enjoy the moment" thesis, but I also envy your memory recall capability. For me, photos can resurrect memories I don't have access to normally.

72deluxe 8mo ago
Yes, me too. I have a photographic memory that is getting worse with age. I remember things vividly but have no emotional attachment to the memory, and memories of myself doing things are in the third person so I can't seem to "enjoy" the memory of an event, but visually "see myself" in the memory (which doesn't make sense). Photos and videos help me "relive" the moment. That being said, I have far too many photos (and camera bodies!).