# How has photography affected your life?



## DSLR noob (Feb 10, 2007)

Some of you may have been a part of photography for so long that you don't know how it made anything different. I got my first camera (Rebel XT) for Christmas and ever since then, the world has looked more colorful and sharper. It feels like I just got glasses or something, and my eyes work the way they are supposed to. The world is so beautiful, and my camera forcing me to look through the viewfinder and make adjustments has made everything seem to pop.
 I have always appreciated other's photos but I now feel the rush in taking my own. It was a hobby I just fell into and already I have learned so much and enjoy holding that camera to my eye. My girlfriend and friends think I'm crazy when I talk about how much I want a lens(some that cost more than my camera) or what settings I just tried. 
So I have shared the beauty that photography has put into my life, I'd like ot hear about how it has effected yours.


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## Sw1tchFX (Feb 10, 2007)

Years ago, I got a camera as a gift from some catalogue and I really enjoyed experimenting and toying with it. That year, I bought a better point n' shooter (one that actually had a focus system) and than I really started getting into it and not only I, but other people started noticing. Once I bought my FE, my photography went to new heights and I knew what I wanted to do with my life.


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## LaFoto (Feb 11, 2007)

While I have been exposed (ha!) to photography for as long as I can think, and while I have somehow handled a camera of my own for the past more than 30 years, I can still say that photography does change one's way to see things, and despite the fact that I've had the experience for so many years, I still know exactly what you are talking about, DSLR_noob. And you are explaining it really well. The world becomes "sharper", "pops" more, and you see a possible motif where others don't see anything. 

What I personally like so much about photography is how the little frame into which you put only a little part of the big whole can enhance that little part, give it a life of its own, a meaning of its own. You can pick out beauty, make it seen where others would say: "What on earth is he/she on about, why does he/she want to take a photo THERE?", to only later say about the photo itself: "Hey now, THAT was there? Never noticed!" 

But as a photographer you begin to notice, and yes, indeed, you "see" differently, you get "new eyes". And I find those "new" eyes are a very valuable addition to my life. They make it broader, fuller, more complete.

All this apart from the mere joyful fun that I find is also there in photography, that wonderful pasttime. No more need to ever feel bored.


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## craig (Feb 11, 2007)

I have always felt the beauty and power in life. Certainly sharp and coluorful. Photography is the medium that I use to express and record those feelings. In other words it's not like life got better when I picked up a camera. I just found a way to record it. Truth be known I wish I was born as a painter or writer or anything but a photographer. Relying on the mechanics and process of photography is kind of a drag and very limiting. I wish I could just blink my eyes and record what I see.


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## Peanuts (Feb 11, 2007)

It has taken up my life. No kidding. I work weekends with photography, I work at school as a senior leader of photography, and every spare minute otherwise I am learning about photography. School? That is my side-pastime 

On a serious note, I do seem to see the 'beauty' of things more, and I am willing to experiment. Not to mention, it is practically my stress reliever, I will go two weeks without photographing anything, and eventually that craving just comes on and I have to shoot and edit. (In one of those phases as of right now)


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## Alex_B (Feb 11, 2007)

Well, in my case I think it made me look more intensely at things. In particular when travelling I spend more time looking at scenes / landscapes and all. Similar like Peanuts' "to see the beauty of things more" 
This started early on when I was 10-ish i think to remember, but I only became aware of it at 20-ish. 

Since then I would never travel without a camera, not mainly to bring images home, but to see more intensely. The images are just a side product.

Another effect is the mondey drain on my bank account in recent years


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## benjikan (Feb 13, 2007)

DSLR noob said:


> Some of you may have been a part of photography for so long that you don't know how it made anything different. I got my first camera (Rebel XT) for Christmas and ever since then, the world has looked more colorful and sharper. It feels like I just got glasses or something, and my eyes work the way they are supposed to. The world is so beautiful, and my camera forcing me to look through the viewfinder and make adjustments has made everything seem to pop.
> I have always appreciated other's photos but I now feel the rush in taking my own. It was a hobby I just fell into and already I have learned so much and enjoy holding that camera to my eye. My girlfriend and friends think I'm crazy when I talk about how much I want a lens(some that cost more than my camera) or what settings I just tried.
> So I have shared the beauty that photography has put into my life, I'd like ot hear about how it has effected yours.



To freeze a moment in time for eternity..

Ben


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## Jeremy Z (Feb 13, 2007)

Good thread.

I started photography as a young lad in the 80s with a 110 camera I got as a gift for Christmas from an uncle.  It was the best gift ever.  However, I noticed that no matter how hard I tried, the pictures didn't come out as well as my dad's and grandpa's. (who were shooting 35mm)

I forgot about it and read comic books for a few years.

Then, I got the bug again.  I saved my allowance until I had about $55 and marched down to the local camera shop.  I bought a Fuji, fixed focus, manual wind camera.  No aperture adjustments, the lens was always wide open.  One shutter speed, and no sensitivity difference with each type of film.  It pretty much relied on the latitude of the film.  The viewfinder was not at all accurate; it only showed about 70% of what I was getting, which was quite maddening to me.  Nevertheless, this was a "real" (read: 35mm) camera.  Being an impatient youth, I lost interest due to lack of control and crappy results for a couple more years.

Then, my older sister received an old 35mm camera from my grandpa for a high school photography class.  A Canon Ftb.  I asked a lot of questions to my grandpa about this. (my sister wanted nothing to do with her 5 year younger brother; all she wanted was to watch MTV and sleep)  So I grilled my grandpa about the technicalities of photography.  What is shutter speed?  What is aperture & f-stop?  What is ASA and ISO?  What's the difference between telephoto & zoom?  Why doesn't your camera have a viewfinder like everyone else's?  So I learned all the technical basics from him, and basic composition from books.

A few months later, I had saved up allowance, birthday & Christmas gift money, and money from odd jobs and bought one of the last brand new Pentax K1000 SE with 50mm f/2 lens.  I shot one bad roll, learning the ropes.  The results finally encouraged me.  Things were framed exactly as I had composed them.  If things were too dark or bright, or without enough depth-of-focus, I could figure out what happened.  Now that I had control, and that I got good results when I did things right, I was hooked.  

So it started for me in about 1995.  It has been a hobby one and off, and even when it wasn't a hobby, it was useful.  That is the thing about it that makes photography so cool.  Once you learn a certain amount and get a certain grade of camera, it is useful, even if you're not hot about it at that moment in your life.  My family pictures are always good, my ebay pictures are always sharp & clear.

Now to answer the real question.  It has changed my life because I am able to show other people how I see things.  If I notice a certain detail, I can protray that to them.  For someone who hasn't got a good memory, it is _really_ nice.  My favorite pictures are my vacation photos, as they really bring me back.  With just a nudge from a photograph, I can remember everything that happened at that time with crystal clarity.  So I guess it helps me keep my memories polished and bright too.

Thanks for asking, I bet you regret it now, hehehe.:blushing:


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## Mike_E (Feb 13, 2007)

I am still a work in progress but photography is helping me learn to speak clearly through metaphor. Words, emotions, motion and seasons all wrapped up in a photo like a fly in amber. Golden for all time.

mike


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## DSLR noob (Feb 13, 2007)

No Jeremy, I have read all of your reply and everyone else's. The life story adds character to your response. I feel photography is a very positive thing that may be hard on the wallet, but has enough self-bettering perks to bring out the good in people.


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## neea (Feb 14, 2007)

Like craig said, I too wish I was a painter. I used to write alot when I was a teenager but it was purely for my own enjoyment and own reading.
Once I quit writing I often got urges to paint landscape scenes, but I know nothing about painting, so photography stepped in.
If I cant create my own beauty I will capture what is already there. Although I still get random urges to paint. And I have no idea where this desire comes from.

I dont think of photography so much as expressing myself (well maybe it is a bit) but I think I do it to help others see the beauty in everyday life.
I often feel that too many people are just consumed in work and such that they dont take time to stop and smell the flowers (where as I not only smell them but take their pictures too).
My 'hope' for my photography is to help people realize how much beauty is around us despite all the chaois and hopefully encourage them to stop and take it all in more often.

My relationship with photography has more ups and downs than any other relationship. If photography was a person we'd be in couples therapy : / haha.
It frusterates me alot. I havent used a whole roll of film since summer probably. I had planned on making photography help me see the beauty in winter this year but when it's -40C I find it hard to leave the house unless necessary... and I dont think my camera would appreciate it either (so I tell myself)

This is getting long winded... last point. I promise.
It's certainly helped me to.. not really meet people.. but have better conversations when I meet someone new. People always ask questions and I get to tell them how beautiful I think every day is.


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## Claff (Feb 15, 2007)

LaFoto said:


> But as a photographer you begin to notice, and yes, indeed, you "see" differently, you get "new eyes". And I find those "new" eyes are a very valuable addition to my life. They make it broader, fuller, more complete.



I'd like to be more eloquent but I can't put it much better than this. I'm now constantly on the lookout for the next great scene, if I can capture a dramatic sky while walking the dog, if I can get those colors to pop on the computer just like they did when I saw them the first time, and now, what else can I do exploring the world of macro photography. The world is full of minute details and textures that nobody notices; maybe I can show them to a few people and they'll appreciate them as much as I do.


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## Blairc (Feb 15, 2007)

Peanuts said:


> School? That is my side-pastime


 
Yeah, it feels like that to me too.:lmao:  My life would be very, very different if I didn't do photography. But that's a nightmare, me without a camera!?

Blair


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## JoRoFoto_Photog (Feb 15, 2007)

benjikan said:


> To freeze a moment in time for eternity..
> 
> Ben


nice quote.. its funny because a similar saying is on my site.. 

"Capturing the moments that make life stand still."


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## droyz2000 (Feb 15, 2007)

Photography has really opened my eyes to a new world. It has also made me appreciate art a whole lot more.


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## simonydes (Feb 15, 2007)

everytime im outside and sun is hitting something in a way that i like i take picture so i could share it with other people. i notice things a lot more, and i pay attention to every detail, sometimes it get weird


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## Orgnoi1 (Feb 15, 2007)

Besides making me broke?  

I have been shooting photographer since the mid 80s... since the first day I picked up my Pentax K1000 for my HS class I was hooked... and loved the darkroom work as well as I did the actual picture taking...

While in the army my gear got stolen while on deployment so for a couple years I went without and there was definately something missing...

Last few years though I went back in with a full head of steam and I cant be happier again... photography is about capturing moments as much as it is capturing thoughts, feelings, and pushing myself to be good...

There is no such thing as a bad day of photography...


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## brighteyesphotos (Feb 16, 2007)

Somehow, I just don't feel complete without my camera. Ever since I got my Minotla, it automatically felt like it was a part of me. Right now, I am limited by my lack of adequate income to truly build up my stock of toys that I want. When I have my camera, I am constantly thinking about how the world looks through the viewfinder and how can I share that image with everyone else. I have always felt drawn to capturing events more than I have to making art if that makes any sense. And in this day and age, there is so much to capture and not enough time to do it.


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## KaraM (Feb 18, 2007)

Photography has been part of my life for the past 30 years. Photography has been my source of creative and artistic release, it has helped me see the beauty in this world that many people miss, and it has been the key in my remaining sane all these years.


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## NYBrit (Feb 18, 2007)

I first got into photography over 20 years ago through my love for soccer. I would go to local soccer games with a cheap cartridge camera I got one Christmas and take the pics thinking at the time they would come out good but they were always blurry or there would be a colour cast or the players would be further away and smaller in the frame than I expected. I was always disappointed. Then one Christmas time having just got paid I wondered into a newsagent and came across a double edition of Amateur Photographer (an English mag) and bought it figuring that it might give me some clues as to what I was doing wrong. I took the mag home and read it literally from cover to cover and was hooked from that moment on! I'd no idea until then just how much was involved in photography. 
I bought a Minolta compact camera first and liked the results then went on to buy a second hand Practika which I loved. I've never looked back since.
One of the things I love most about being a photographer is it really makes you SEE things! You notice the quality of light at certain times of day. You really see the sunset and the way the setting sun gives everything such a nice glow. Picking up that magazine is one of the best things I ever did and I wouldn't change it for anything.


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## cherrymoose (Feb 19, 2007)

I think I first got interested in photography when I was 10 and we visited the South of France. My mom was all over the place, photographing chateaus and cute little towns. I always dragged along behind her, begging for a turn with the camera. But even more than that, I wanted my own camera. I would settle with a disposable camera--- I just wanted photos to call my own.

About two years after that,  I received a Canon Powershot P&S for Christmas. I hadn't asked for one, but I remember that I was ecstatic. I immediately went and took pictures of my room, of my pets. They weren't much-- but for a 12 year old, I was excited. 

Then there was a grace period, between that Christmas and August of the next year. I hardly took out the camera again until my Alaskan cruise in August. That's when I started taking "real" photographs, besides just landscape shots. Yeah, I got beautiful pictures of glaciers and other stuff from the boat, but I also spent a fair amount of time inside the ship with my Canon, taking what I called at the time "abstract photos". Of the chandeliers, of the balcony railing. Et cetera.
On the last day of our trip, when my memory card was full and I had to use the little "16 photo capacity" one for our black bear and whale watching excursion, I dropped my camera, and the case, into the ocean. I was completely devestated, since all of my fun "real" abstract photos were lost, but at least the little 16 photo memory card with the pictures of bears was safe.

Throughout the fall of that year (last year) I borrowed my mom's identical Canon quite a bit. And I actually seemed to take photos-- I'd lie down on the lawn and get macros of the grass. But it was never enough for me. 

Christmas of last year, my grandpa forked over $500 for me to spend. The next time we visited BestBuy, I went straight for the cameras. I didn't even know what SLR meant, and all of them cost way over my budget, so I settled with a more advanced version of my Canon. I bought a Kodak Easyshare Z612, which I'm currently using. It's not great, but it'll do for now.

Just last month I stumbled across these forums. I think I wanted to look at someone's photo, but the site denied access to me since I wasn't a member. I decided I'd quickly join, look at the photo, and that would be it.

But after that I regularly started coming. And then I regularly started taking my camera everywhere.

It's hard to express just what _photography _means to me-- but I know that every picture I capture, if it's professional looking or not, means something to me. 

--------

Haha, sorry. That was like, a personal narrative.


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## silentrunning (Feb 19, 2007)

One of the best things it has done for me is make me more active. Now instead of getting home from work and hitting the couch, I now find myself grabbing the camera and heading for the river or the beach or the park. I'm spending a lot more time out doors and enjoying it too.


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## Shutterbug (Feb 22, 2007)

Well I'm $60k in Debt from Brooks Student Loans, hows that 

It's given me a career, which is arguably the biggest change in my life.


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## nolatome (Feb 22, 2007)

I chose photography because it was the best job the U.S. Navy had to offer when I joined 9 years ago.  They wanted me to go Nuke tech, but hey I was a theater major in college and I had to have something creative.  My father was a navy photographer and he loved it.  So I decided on that.  They taught me everything there is to know about photography, except the creative artistic side.  So I ran with that for four years.  Moving from combat photojournalism to Wedding photography has been quite the experience.  So with that background, my answer may make more sense.  Photography has given me a friend who is always one step ahead of me, trudging this road to happy destiny.  Providing me the means to get better but requiring me to find them on my own.  What a beautiful challenge, I never thought I would love.


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## Rebel (Feb 22, 2007)

Photograpy has me looking at things differently. From the way common items sit to sunsets. I look at it all in a different way.


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## burtharrris (Feb 24, 2007)

I was always interested in photography, but never thought twice about it.  Last summer, a friend of mine took me to some small gallery her friend ran.  I looked at the crap on the walls by the current exhibit, Mark Borthwick, and thought "I could do a hundred times better than this jerk".  

So yes, I was brought into photography out of spite.  That night I dug out my father's old Canon AE-1, used up the old rolls of film I found in the bag, and never looked back.  He had bought a digital rebel the winter before.  I thought he was absolutely mad for buying an $800 camera!!! (I'm currently eyeing a $1000 Canon 20D, haha).

But here I am.  I'm amazed at how much I have learned (and spent) in the past 9 months.  I love photography, and no matter what I do, school, sports, music, dance, I can always relate them to photography to keep things fresh.  I always have an SLR in my bag at all times!

Oh yeah and TPF has definitely helped me knowledge grow!


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## justphotos (Feb 27, 2007)

i'm waaaaay more observant of what's around me. i can look at almost anything and see how it could look good in a picture. i see details no one even thinks of seeing. it's so true, as you said in the first post, how your perspective on objects changes completely. colors become sharper, and you just want to take a picture, and hang it somewhere.


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## Alex_B (Feb 27, 2007)

i just have to say this is a very interesting thread


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## davidbeck (Feb 27, 2007)

i choose it ,because i love it!


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## DSLR noob (Mar 6, 2007)

Alex_B said:


> i just have to say this is a very interesting thread


Thank you, I thought it'd be a good one and I have enjoyed reading all of these replies. I didn't think a 4-month-in newbie(me) could evoke such good responses, and I though it was crazy to say I see differently. I hope this thread goes on a bit longer, as I love reading these stories.


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## Mr. Bananagrabber (Mar 10, 2007)

i took a photo class by accident this year (school year). So i have only been into photography since september, well thats not all true my cousin is an amateur photographer, so ive been into it for a while, but never really involved. but even with such little experience i already know what i want to be in life. :camera:


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## KillerChaos (Mar 10, 2007)

I agree that it makes me view the world in a whole new way. I enjoy it because it allows me to "freeze a moment in time for eternity" like several others have said.


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## meesh (Mar 11, 2007)

well Im taking a photography class that requires a loooot of time!  So other than taking up all my free time, it's given me an outlet for boredom, creativity, and just getting out there and seeing what Ive been missing out on.  I think the most important to me at this moment is being able to "creatively express myself."  I put those in quotations because it's an attempt.  But I do have to brag--my teacher asked me if she could put up my work in a gallery because she thought it was pretty awesome.   soo i guess i like the fact that it boosts my confidence ---though I am still humble with my abilities and trying to learn more every chance I get.


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## burtharrris (Mar 11, 2007)

Nice meesh, its always a motivation when someone tells you they like what you're doing.


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## table1349 (Mar 11, 2007)

I don't take my guns out and Kill things as much.  Phesant and Quail will never be safe, and I'm Jonesin for a nice bowl of venison chilli but all in all the wildlife in my area are a little safer.


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## Riggaberto (Mar 11, 2007)

I'm enjoying everything visual around me much more, which is good.  I also never have any spare cash.


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## burtharrris (Mar 11, 2007)

gryphonslair99 said:


> I don't take my guns out and Kill things as much. Phesant and Quail will never be safe, and I'm Jonesin for a nice bowl of venison chilli but all in all the wildlife in my area are a little safer.


 

You know I've heard of that, people who love to hunt and stalk, but don't want to kill.  They'll bring a short telephoto (instead of a rifle with a scope) and try to get a great shot of the deer/bird/whatever.  Is that what you do?


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## table1349 (Mar 13, 2007)

burtharrris said:


> You know I've heard of that, people who love to hunt and stalk, but don't want to kill.  They'll bring a short telephoto (instead of a rifle with a scope) and try to get a great shot of the deer/bird/whatever.  Is that what you do?



I wish I could be noble and claim that as the reason, however for me it is a little simpler.  Frankly I'm getting older and when going hunting it's really early, it's really cold and I just don't #*&^%@! want to go.

I have found that out of season it is much easier to find wildlife at decent times of the day.  

The above reason for not hunting as much any more does not apply to Quail and Phesant however. We own a lot of farm land in the finest Phesant and Quail hunting area of the Country.  Northwest Kansas is noted for our Phesant and Quail and those little babies are not going to be safe from me until I am dead and gone.  Now that I can get processed Bambi and buffalo I am pretty content to photograph them instead of shooting them, but I do miss the hunt.


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## Efergoh (Mar 14, 2007)

I haven't given much thought about how it has affected my life, but I have given though to how my life has affected my photography.

On the practical side of things, I'm an unemployed college student who recently lost his school funding due to the arbitrary decision of a bearucrat of the Veteran's Administration (not lost entirely, I just have to take a different approach next semester). Over the last two months, I've been offered and given quite a few paid assignments. So photography has put food on my table and paid my rent.

Photography has caused me to look at things differently. I tend to deconstruct the world around me and break it down to its more basic elements rather than take them in all at once. I also find myslef wondering what things would look like it they weren't so colorful.

No, as for how my life has affected my photography? Well, 10 years in the Marine Corps has effectivly removed any semblence of shame and inhibition from my being. So, I'm not affraid of trying new things or pushing boundries. It will either work or it will not, and I will only know the anser if I simply do it.


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## Greenday92 (Mar 14, 2007)

I dunno for some reason, ever since I was very small I loved to steal my dads camera out of his hand and take pics, and you can see my first camera in my avatar, was a polaroid, and I loved it.  I am in the photography club at school now, but it is more like a yearbook class and they dont really "teach" photography, so I always like to learn new stuff.  I hope to learn a lot here.


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## Rayna' (Mar 16, 2007)

It helped me get through the hardest year of my life in 2006. I had two losses but then gain alot by joing NILMDTS www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org. I am able to give to others who are grieving for a child lost. Giving to others is such a healing tool.  Without NILMDTS & the support of my family I would not be here today.


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## machangezi (Mar 20, 2007)

> So I have shared the beauty that photography has put into my life, I'd like ot hear about how it has effected yours.


Hmmm, actually photography has changed my whole world. I have no idea what's going around me as of late. I am either out shooting snaps or sitting in front of me monitor reading articles on photography and new cameras. This is what I have been doing for few months now (since I came across TPF) although I am in photography for over 10 years.


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