Hidden benefits of semi serious photography

[EdinburghGary]

Sitting watching the Sky over Edinburgh slowly change as the sun settles and my mind wandered a bit.

Which is kinda the point.

This photography malarkey actually has such a lovely hidden benefit that I forgot about after my long long long departure from the "hobby".

As well as firing creative neurons all around the old gray matter (incredibly medicinal for those with ADHD imo), it also grounds you a little, forces your gears into neutral and just brings a little isolation and quiet to an otherwise mad fkn world.

I'm gonna get my kids into this to try and help them filter out some of the noise and learn to channel creative urges and maybe find some balance as they navigate their teenage into adulthood years.

Sorry for the brainfart. I do that loads

Photo of 'the office' attached

 

[lindsay]

I totally agree with you. Photography when I can find time for it, both clarifies my perception of what's important, and invigorates my imagination and passion for it. It refreshes me.

 

[Suvv]

I agree.
I read somewhere recently "Treat every day as though it is your first"
I never realised how many shades of green there were !

 

[gman]

I never used to celebrate my birthday, until my wife said that I should because a lot of people never get to see their next birthday. I never thought of it like that. Dogs are awesome as well, excellent medicine for the mind.

 

[TheFiend]

I never used to celebrate my birthday, until my wife said that I should because a lot of people never get to see their next birthday. I never thought of it like that. Dogs are awesome as well, excellent medicine for the mind.

Having suffered a heath scare in my 40's I celebrate waking up each day....

I'm another one that doesn't celebrate birthdays.... but on our recent trip to Thailand my wife, and her friends. organised a surprise birthday party for my 62nd at a new restaurant near our Thai house.... delicious Thai food, Thai beer and 2 live bands was a very enjoyable way to spend my birthday....

 

[Nod]

Don't really celebrate my birthday but do celebrate the date of a life saving brain operation.

Photography definitely helped me through the year or 2 after the op and got me outdoors again. The year before the op, I was getting more and more ill so wasn't doing much!

 

[LCPete]

Do see what you mean, it keeps me sane even a trip to the zoo to watch the big cats , helps me escape the madness that’s this world

 

[TimHughes]

It’s a great thought. Therapeutic photography is a thing for sure.

 

[andya700]

I agree with everything said on here, so much so that I will have to get the cameras out and do much more this year. I think there is so much bad stuff going on in the World, stuff which we cannot change, that we should try and isolate ourselves from it, rather than get involved, get wound up, raise our blood pressure, gatting stressed and ruining our health.
I should be enjoying my retirement.

 

[LCPete]

I agree with everything said on here, so much so that I will have to get the cameras out and do much more this year. I think there is so much bad stuff going on in the World, stuff which we cannot change, that we should try and isolate ourselves from it, rather than get involved, get wound up, raise our blood pressure, gatting stressed and ruining our health.
I should be enjoying my retirement.

My thoughts exactly, I got stressed and angry when I read that Trump is back in but as you say we can’t do anything about it here in the UK
I just try to do my little bit for the environment, our garden and part of our allotment is set up for wildlife and agree it best to just relax and get out with the camera and take it easy

 

[EdinburghGary]

I agree with everything said on here, so much so that I will have to get the cameras out and do much more this year. I think there is so much bad stuff going on in the World, stuff which we cannot change, that we should try and isolate ourselves from it, rather than get involved, get wound up, raise our blood pressure, gatting stressed and ruining our health.
I should be enjoying my retirement.

Yup. Not sure which world events you could be referring to as there are so many, but I am guilty of sitting enraged at situations I can never change. So maybe it's time to withdraw into family units, look after those you can and just hope for those you can't. Dark times right now.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

I don't see the world as any worse than it's been before.

My father and mother came through the second world war OK, although neither had an easy time of it. I was pretty young when the Korean war started, so only learned about it from the heroes of the comics I read. Then there was Suez, Vietnam and the six day war, to mention only the highlights. In other words, the world is a miserable place for many people. Those who "try to make it better" always end up making nothing but a greater mess.

I've always been very taken with this advice from Tom Paxton, written in the 1960s...

"If you see me passing by and you sit and you wonder why,
and you wish that you were a rambler too;
Nail your shoes to the kitchen floor, lace 'em up and bar the door,
Thank your stars for the roof that's over you."​

 

[rd6743]

Think Suvv touched on it, but I feel I notice more colours. Could be driving home and was cloudy but noticed some very subtle hints of colour that I suspect most wouldn't notice and appreciate.

Lots of hiking and ties in with my photography. I sometimes consider a hike without the camera, but always seem to take it anyway. For the longest time I'd not realised how diverse England was in terms of wildlife.

There's a lot of benefits of modern living, clean water, electricity, 24 hour shopping but is a shame there's folk (and I could easily have been on of them) that never looked up at the night sky and saw the milky way in amazement.

So it's helped my appreciation of wildlife and got me into hiking when has health benefits too.

 

[EdinburghGary]

I don't see the world as any worse than it's been before.

My father and mother came through the second world war OK, although neither had an easy time of it. I was pretty young when the Korean war started, so only learned about it from the heroes of the comics I read. Then there was Suez, Vietnam and the six day war, to mention only the highlights. In other words, the world is a miserable place for many people. Those who "try to make it better" always end up making nothing but a greater mess.

I've always been very taken with this advice from Tom Paxton, written in the 1960s...

"If you see me passing by and you sit and you wonder why,
and you wish that you were a rambler too;
Nail your shoes to the kitchen floor, lace 'em up and bar the door,
Thank your stars for the roof that's over you."​

View attachment 438384

I think maybe it's just the lurch to the right many of us centrist or left leaning westerners are experiencing or at least perceiving. I get it, things are bad for many people and many people will vote for change, any change, but it's still unsettling. Academia is in the firing line, science is no longer trusted, and sensible caring thoughts and words are seen as pandering and woke. I think the culture war that is playing out is spreading like a mental plague, I'm ready to withdraw from that battle.

 

[lindsay]

OTOH: I believe in the Ying and the Yang, the ultimate balancing forces of nature that ensure that for all the bad stuff, there is an equalising amount of good. It might be hard to see the good when you are subsumed into the awfulness of a situation, but it's there if you can find a way to see it. And that's the gift that photography gives us, the ability to see and record for sharing with others.
IMHO

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Academia is in the firing line, science is no longer trusted, and sensible caring thoughts and words are seen as pandering and woke.

All three effects, I think, are reasonable reactions from a better educated majority in many countries.

The worst thing about education, from the point of view of "the elite", is that it has this unfortunate side effect of people being able to spot lies much better than when they were kept in their place as "the great unwashed".

Academics now find that their robes and ceremonies are perceived as childish dressing up and no indication of good judgement. Scientists are appalled that their pronouncements are no longer accepted as gospel but questioned by those who have dared to do their own research and rightly or wrongly, have come to different conclusions. "Sensible and caring words" are now considered in the glaring light of far greater access to information. Often such consideration leads to different conclusions than "the great and the good" would prefer,

I think the culture war that is playing out is spreading like a mental plague, I'm ready to withdraw from that battle.

I see it as good plague, sweeping away the cosy class system that survived the "left wing liberalisation" of the later 1940s and the swing to the right of the 1950s. In a world where there are many more people who do "know their place" and know that place is exactly equal to those who previously saw themselves as divinely chosen to lead, there is bound to be a cacophony as people choose their own opinions instead of accepting the opinions of "the establishment".

 

[EdinburghGary]

All three effects, I think, are reasonable reactions from a better educated majority in many countries.

The worst thing about education, from the point of view of "the elite", is that it has this unfortunate side effect of people being able to spot lies much better than when they were kept in their place as "the great unwashed".

Academics now find that their robes and ceremonies are perceived as childish dressing up and no indication of good judgement. Scientists are appalled that their pronouncements are no longer accepted as gospel but questioned by those who have dared to do their own research and rightly or wrongly, have come to different conclusions. "Sensible and caring words" are now considered in the glaring light of far greater access to information. Often such consideration leads to different conclusions than "the great and the good" would prefer,

I see it as good plague, sweeping away the cosy class system that survived the "left wing liberalisation" of the later 1940s and the swing to the right of the 1950s. In a world where there are many more people who do "know their place" and know that place is exactly equal to those who previously saw themselves as divinely chosen to lead, there is bound to be a cacophony as people choose their own opinions instead of accepting the opinions of "the establishment".

A good plague I guess. Unless your queer, black, hispanic, any non white in fact, value the freedom to be free of hatred (verbal hatred disguised as free speech as well as all the other forms of hatred). I get that the other way is also terrible, a holier than thou snobbish attitude where those deemed "dumb" are cast aside and laughed at. Hopefully it will all balance out and those voting in protest don't suffer in the way those educated types they hate so much are worried they might.

 

[TimHughes]

sighs....personally, I'm heading out for some more photo therapy.....

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Unless your queer, black, hispanic, any non white in fact, value the freedom to be free of hatred (verbal hatred disguised as free speech as well as all the other forms of hatred).

It seems to me that plenty of hatred, these days, comes from the "queer, black, hispanic, any non white" and I do write from personal experience. As another old saying goes: "there's bad apples in every barrel". That doesn't mean that you should assume every apple is suspect, just that you should look each one over with an open mind, in case there's a sign of rot.

I get that the other way is also terrible, a holier than thou snobbish attitude where those deemed "dumb" are cast aside and laughed at.

You can learn just as much from those you dislike as you can learn from those you like. Just apply the same caution to the claims of both groups.

 

[gman]

I think maybe it's just the lurch to the right many of us centrist or left leaning westerners are experiencing or at least perceiving. I get it, things are bad for many people and many people will vote for change, any change, but it's still unsettling. Academia is in the firing line, science is no longer trusted, and sensible caring thoughts and words are seen as pandering and woke. I think the culture war that is playing out is spreading like a mental plague, I'm ready to withdraw from that battle.

Personally, I believe that there's too much political interference in sectors that should be free from it such as education, science, health and the police to name a few. As soon as politicians interfere, I think the trust starts to go.

Whenever I see a new event that the masses start fighting over, my first thought is that the elite don't want us looking up at what they doing. Keep us distracted whilst they are up to no good. I can't remember exactly, but I think it was a comedian who said, do you think a black billionaire walks into a room where there's a white billionaire and they start talking about race? Hell no, they will be discussing how to make more money.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Personally, I believe that there's too much political interference in sectors that should be free from it such as education, science, health and the police to name a few. As soon as politicians interfere, I think the trust starts to go.

I have to disagree with all the items in your list.

Education, health and the police are all areas where the politicians have no alternative but to interfere. Funding and direction for all three has to come from the representatives of the people. You might well argue that the government are a general waste of time but then you need to decide who could do better and help to get them elected.

Science is slightly different, because it has to deal with both public and commercial areas. However much commercial funding there is, there will always be important areas that have to be funded by government, such as transport, safety testing and others.

 

[gman]

I have to disagree with all the items in your list.

Education, health and the police are all areas where the politicians have no alternative but to interfere. Funding and direction for all three has to come from the representatives of the people. You might well argue that the government are a general waste of time but then you need to decide who could do better and help to get them elected.

Science is slightly different, because it has to deal with both public and commercial areas. However much commercial funding there is, there will always be important areas that have to be funded by government, such as transport, safety testing and others.

Funding isn't interference and to a certain extent neither is direction. I don't really want to get into a protracted debate in Gary's thread, but my opinion is more to do with things like the evident two-tier policing that we see, there was all sorts of interfering with science going on during COVID, interference with policies and ideologies at schools (i.e. forcing the trans agenda) etc. Of course it is your prerogative to disagree.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Of course it is your prerogative to disagree.

...which, to some degree, I do.

We vote for politicians we wish to have represent our opinions. If they fail to do so they are criticised. Therefor, there is pressure, justified or otherwise, on them to interfere with the actions of public bodies.