FOCUS
Focus is a funny thing. Like many words in the English language, its meaning changes depending on the context of its usage.
I recently turned 40 and find myself wanting to really focus on how I’m going to spend my remaining time on this spinning rock we call home. Assuming I’ve hit the halfway point, I still have a lot left to give, but I want to be more purposeful in my endeavors.
One of those endeavors is to really focus my skills as a photographer. I’ve dabbled in it ever since I received a Nikon camera one Christmas when I was a kid. As I grew up, I’ve always had a passing interest in photography, especially in the technical aspects of it. However my interest in it dissipated once I got to college and it remained a small hobby that I would pick up when I fancied taking better images than my cell phone could provide.
It’s only been within the last several years that I’ve really pursued getting back into making photography a daily part of my life and honing my craft.
With the advent of mirrorless cameras, the technology in taking great pictures has made it more accessible for all…yet…most folks are still content taking pictures with their phones. That’s not a bad thing as the best camera you have is the one you always carry with you, and everybody carries their phones which are quite good at taking great pictures!
However, I’ve always felt the focus of cell phone pictures is to capture snapshots. Unfortunately, most people, myself included, don’t do anything more with the photo other than make a fleeting post on their social media platform of choice or send it digitally to friends and family.
Getting back to turning 40 recently, I made a checklist of things I want to accomplish before I turn 50. That gives me 10 whole years to focus on these goals. As you’ve probably guessed by now, one of my goals is to capture images that evoke emotion in me instead of just capturing snapshots. I want to have a space to post those images that is my own that I can visit anytime. I also want to share those images with my friends, family and and any strangers who stumble upon this site. Should my images make others feel something, that’s awesome too!
I have no designs that I’ll be the next Ansel Adams or Joe McNally, but, I have every intention of putting full focus on honing my craft and getting better and better over the back 9 of my life.
Who knows, maybe retirement will escape me and I’ll continue capturing images for a living…or maybe I’ll just be posting snapshots on a blog until I’m 90.
Either way, everything is coming into focus now, and I can’t wait to see it clearly!
