Photography is one of the most popular hobbies in the world. Although photography can be simplified to just taking photographs, engaging in photography as a hobby entails much more and can be as complex as you make it. Most photographers also travel, draw, design, advertise etc, and photography is extremely versatile and has a place in almost every industry. Although professional photography requires training and expensive hardware, hobbyist photography is extremely accessible, especially in the age of smartphones where almost everyone always has a reasonably powerful camera on them. Taking up photography can enrich your life in several ways, and this article describes several reasons why you may want to pick up photography as a hobby.
Create Something
Photography is a hobby that produces a tangible output. The photographs can be printed and framed through a service like Melbourne framing and kept on a dresser, hung on walls, or even gifted to someone. Like most artistic subjects, photography produces a result of your efforts that can be shown to other people and that lasts long after the event. This makes it a worthwhile endeavour for many people and attracts a lot of artistic spirits to take part.
Accessibility
As mentioned above, with the era of smartphone cameras, there is no longer a need to buy an expensive camera if you’re just starting out. You can just use your smartphone camera to take high quality pictures while still deciding whether you like photography and practice all the facets associated with it. Dedicated cameras, of course, perform much better and produce higher quality output than smartphone cameras but an amateur may not necessarily be able to use a professional camera to its fullest potential. Therefore, it may be better to first learn with whatever you have and look into buying a camera if you do end up liking photography and want to continue with it.
Stress Relief and Better Health
Photography requires a subject to be photographed, and more often than not, finding a subject can be the best part of photography. This is one of the reasons why photography is combined with other activities such as hiking, birdwatching, wildlife exploration etc. Hence, while photography itself is a great stress reliever, the activities associated with it can improve physical and mental health as well. For example, hiking up a mountain trail to get a picture of a rare flower, or the view is excellent physical exercise, and a fulfilling activity.
Educational
Photography is a complicated art, which is easy to learn and difficult to master. Although photography is accessible to everyone, creating good photographs is a science as much as it is an art. Learning how to position a subject, maintain exposure, arrange lighting etc. are all learned through theory and mastered through experience. Photography is an excellent opportunity for learning about the physical behaviour of light and the artistic elements that take a good photograph. It can also provide insight into human and social behaviours as well as knowledge about subject photographs, especially wildlife.
