# How obsessed with photography are you?



## Adadrian (Aug 28, 2019)

How obsessed about photography are you?
is it all you think about all day long? do you rarely think about it unless you take the camera out? are you always looking at the latest gear and watching reviews? do you collect camera's do you photograph every day all day long for no reason but you love it? do you get the latest photography magazines every month, do you check the forums all day long?

me? i pretty much think all day long where i can go and what i can do to take photos, and if i can't do that I'm checking the forums reading the latest gear and watching youtube. if i had the money i'd be collecting camera's! its an obsession to me haha.


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## Photo Lady (Aug 28, 2019)

I am pretty much thinking about photos all day.. everything i see that suddenly appears enhances my  thoughts and reactions to  go straight to the camera.. fast.. and when it is impossible to have the camera with me.. it really bothers me the shots i missed.. i regrettably don't think that all these thoughts actually add up too much !!! lol..  i have alot of photos that i delete.. but it is always that next one.. that keeps me fired up. and my mind working overtime ... and to me it is plain old fun..


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## Designer (Aug 28, 2019)

Adadrian said:


> How obsessed about photography are you?
> is it all you think about all day long? do you rarely think about it unless you take the camera out? are you always looking at the latest gear and watching reviews? do you collect camera's do you photograph every day all day long for no reason but you love it? do you get the latest photography magazines every month, do you check the forums all day long?
> 
> me? i pretty much think all day long where i can go and what i can do to take photos, and if i can't do that I'm checking the forums reading the latest gear and watching youtube. if i had the money i'd be collecting camera's! its an obsession to me haha.


Not much.
No.
No.
No.
Not now, but I did at one time.
No.
No.
No.

It comes and goes.  Most recently I was interested in portraiture, and have bought several lenses that are good for that, but lately have cooled a bit.


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## webestang64 (Aug 29, 2019)

Adadrian said:


> How obsessed about photography are you?



VERY!!!!!!

I work in a photo lab as a full time job (since 1985).
I collect cameras, I have around 2000. (Have a glass display case with about 200 of them in my living room)
Also collect old photos and slides.
I develop BW film 2-3 times a week at home for work.
I carry a loaded film camera where ever I go.
I read books about photography constantly.
I visit this forum everyday.
I spend many hours in the darkroom printing my BW negs, I'd say about 2 full days every month.

But I call it passion, not obsession.


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## Soocom1 (Aug 29, 2019)

I plead the 5th.


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## ClickAddict (Aug 29, 2019)

When I'm at a store shopping for clothes / furniture...   my mind always goes to "This could be a good prop...."
When I'm walking around town or visiting a new home...  "This would be a good background for a shot....."
So yeah.... pretty much always on my mind one way or another.


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## petrochemist (Aug 29, 2019)

I might be obsessed, but I try to keep it in perspective. I do think of other things, and have been known to go out without a camera. I have occasionally gone over a week without taking a photo or buying something photo-related. (Perhaps not both in the same week that's probably asking too much)

I'm generally not to bothered about the latest reviews, but might take an interest in a few of them years later.
Not sure if my hoard of cameras etc would be considered a true collection (it's to arbitrary), but I probably have over 50 bodies, over 200 lenses (some you might not consider as lenses), hundreds of photographic books and even approaching a hundred half planed projects...

I rarely get photo magazines anymore, most of the articles that interest me are only rehashes of ones I've had for years.

My tea breaks at work, are usually spent on photo forums (or e-bay) as well as a fair bit of my lunchtimes if not out with a camera, sometimes forgetting to start work again at the end & so I have to stay late. 

I attend (& help run) a photographic workshop on Monday nights (typically missing only a couple of sessions a year due to holidays or working away from home). I've been responsible for a few unofficial sessions too.


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## Jeff15 (Aug 29, 2019)

It's just my hobby................


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## Raw photographer (Aug 29, 2019)

I shoot as much as i can, i struggle to find things to photograph, the birds seem to have vanished here, now where really for landscape shots were i live, so ive resorted to macro photos, but that can get boring after a while.


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## Derrel (Aug 29, 2019)

I am not nearly as preoccupied with photography, and cameras, and lenses, and lighting gear as I was say 12 to 15 years ago. Around 2003 to 2007 I was extremely obsessed with photography, and I greatly expanded my equipment set during those years.

I waited for about 20 years or more for what I thought would be a digital still video camera, but in 1998 Nikon  announced the D1,and in February 2001 I bought myself a used D1.Since that time I have bought 11 or 12 digital single lens reflex cameras and several compact digital cameras,as well as a huge assortment of lighting gear, most of it acquired off of eBay. However since 2017 my photography has slowed down  quite a bit.

 I no longer am obsessed with photography, and I no longer comb the web daily in search of the latest advances in photography. A couple of years ago I decided to get rid of stuff I was no longer using, and I sold off most all of my Canon lenses, but I did keep a couple of Canon digital bodies.  I sold off my big 200 and 300 millimeter Nikon lenses,and I got rid of lenses that I no longer needed or used only very infrequently, and now have reduced my Nikon lens collection way,way down to about 20 lenses. 

I have been interested in photography for about 45 years now, and if you buy one lens every year for 45 years it is pretty easy to develop a huge lens collection. If you buy two or three lenses in a year every other year, you'll still have a huge collection of lenses after 25 or 30 years.


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## Original katomi (Aug 30, 2019)

Even though I am in the UK can I take the 5th ?.
My wife says that I am obsessed with this site, 
I try and balance the photography with life, but most of my books are on photography as are the pod casts and most of my apps 
And of course I suffer from L glass syndrome  it’s a variant of GAS 
that only canon owners can catch


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## petrochemist (Aug 30, 2019)

Original katomi said:


> And of course I suffer from L glass syndrome  it’s a variant of GAS
> that only canon owners can catch


I think it;s open to non Canon owners too now there are such a large range of autofocusing adapters. 
I'm certainly getting tempted by the 70-200 f4 L USM even with a good adapter it's cheaper than the sony option


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## Grandpa Ron (Sep 2, 2019)

Photography is one of a multitude of interests and hobbies of mine. I try to combine several of them often. I have coupled my camera to my telescope. I use it to document my canoe trips. I have used it to study my shotgun patterns and rifle groups. It comes in handy when emailing photos of my antennas to other hams and it is my companion when hiking the the woods looking for my next nature shots.

I really enjoy using a 1910 Seneca view camera I restored and I am currently restoring my uncle's 1940's Kodak autofocus enlarger.  I used my camera to document the disassembly of parts.

I prefer black and white over color and find digital handy when I am experimenting, because I am not limited on the number of pictures I can try.

Basically my camera is one of my many tools, when it is not serving the artistic side of my nature.


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## Fujidave (Sep 2, 2019)

I really do like photography, but I could never be obsessed it.  You do get some folk that become obsessed with a lot of things, but me no chance.


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## Michael Smith 12 (Sep 10, 2019)

It is a hobby for me, but I find myself researching, reading and thinking about photos a lot nowadays.


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## stevet1 (Sep 10, 2019)

It's given me a greater appreciation for life, I think.
The symmetry of a flower petal, the flight of a bird, the joy in a baby's face when he discovers something new, the lonely country road stretching off into the horizon and wondering where it leads...
Every day it's something new.

Steve Thomas


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## Original katomi (Sep 14, 2019)

Update 14,o,19. Are withdrawal symptoms if I can’t get  to do photography count as obsessed lol he he I am not mad just a photographer who haven’t taken a photo for a few hours


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## SquarePeg (Sep 14, 2019)

Taking photos is one of my favorite ways to spend a day.  In the fall I usually take one or two trips that are specifically focused on photography and I am out with my camera several times every week.  Once winter cones I usually put my gear away and rarely take it out with me.  In spring I’m back at it.  In summer not so much.  I guess it’s a seasonal obsession for me.


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## 407370 (Sep 14, 2019)

I did not realise how much I missed my hobby until I had to give up photography for the last three years. I was working in Saudi Arabia and a westerner holding a big camera gets a lot of unwanted official attention.
Since I moved back to UK 10 days ago I have had to deal with all that bureaucracy and pack a daughter off to university but this week I have organised a week in Scotland dedicated to me wandering about various mountains and cities with a camera. I actually cannot wait.
Pics will be posted here ad nauseum. I gotta get it out of my system!!!


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## Photo Lady (Sep 14, 2019)

Derrel said:


> I am not nearly as preoccupied with photography, and cameras, and lenses, and lighting gear as I was say 12 to 15 years ago. Around 2003 to 2007 I was extremely obsessed with photography, and I greatly expanded my equipment set during those years.
> 
> I waited for about 20 years or more for what I thought would be a digital still video camera, but in 1998 Nikon  announced the D1,and in February 2001 I bought myself a used D1.Since that time I have bought 11 or 12 digital single lens reflex cameras and several compact digital cameras,as well as a huge assortment of lighting gear, most of it acquired off of eBay. However since 2017 my photography has slowed down  quite a bit.
> 
> ...


i think you slowed down a bit because you know so much... you don't have to be obsessed anymore.. it is kick back and relax time.


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## Photo Lady (Sep 14, 2019)

stevet1 said:


> It's given me a greater appreciation for life, I think.
> The symmetry of a flower petal, the flight of a bird, the joy in a baby's face when he discovers something new, the lonely country road stretching off into the horizon and wondering where it leads...
> Every day it's something new.
> 
> Steve Thomas


So very true.. i observe so much more ...


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## SquarePeg (Sep 15, 2019)

407370 said:


> I did not realise how much I missed my hobby until I had to give up photography for the last three years. I was working in Saudi Arabia and a westerner holding a big camera gets a lot of unwanted official attention.
> Since I moved back to UK 10 days ago I have had to deal with all that bureaucracy and pack a daughter off to university but this week I have organised a week in Scotland dedicated to me wandering about various mountains and cities with a camera. I actually cannot wait.
> Pics will be posted here ad nauseum. I gotta get it out of my system!!!



Welcome back!  Looking forward to it.


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## vintagesnaps (Sep 16, 2019)

I've been a photographer so long it's second nature now. I sometimes forget I'm still holding the camera, it's like an extension of myself. How much or how often I take pictures depends on what else is going on, etc.

I reached a point a long time ago that I knew I'd do _something_ with photography, just didn't know what. Not surprised I more recently started doing submissions to juried exhibits, but I hadn't expected to have done sports (hockey). You have to love it enough to stay with it.


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## gk fotografie (Sep 17, 2019)

I think obsession sounds very dangerous, I prefer to call it passionate and I was certainly passionate as a teenager and many years after that. During that time in my teens I bought Dutch, German and English photo magazines on a monthly basis, experimented with films, filters, color printing (Cibachrome among other things) and I was so often in my darkroom developing and printing in black & white and color, that my mother sometimes closed this space in the summer to get me outside. I''m a certified photographer, I've studied for 4 years at the former MTS voor Fotografie en Fototechniek in The Netherlands, since 1981 I've had my own photo and design studio for 30 years. What I've never had, however, is that urge many amateur photographers seem to have with buying all kinds of lenses, newer/better cameras etc. etc. As a professional, I bought the (best) things I needed and what apparently is called GAS I never had.

I don't know, but the last 10 years (since 2008, when I bought a digital camera) my interest in photography has declined further and further, perhaps because I'm not actually that much interested in "digital photography" or because of my health, which is considerably gone backward in the past years. I've done a lot of different things in more than 50 years of photography (I think it's easier to mention what I did not do than vice versa) and certainly made more than 1.5 million pictures, so for me it's not strange that my true passion has disappeared a bit. It goes up and down, I still have quite some ideas, but implementation is something completely different, this summer I gave myself some photo assignments and that absolutely seems to help in my case. Where my need for photography is falling sharply, my enthusiasm for designing and creating art objects (something that I've done for years alongside my photography) is on the rise again.


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## NGH (Sep 17, 2019)

it's just a hobby... it's not important to me at all... no, not at all... Okay so I have more cameras than teeth.  Okay so I've looked at some sort of photography website/forum/app several times today and it's not quite lunchtime..
It's not a problem.  I'm not obsessed.  Nope.

Must get back to doing some work.   ....hmm  shall I use the Kodak or Ilford next time out?....


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## Tropicalmemories (Sep 18, 2019)

I think my obsession is with the images.  I want to capture moments in time, before they are lost "like tears in the rain".

My cameras are just tools to achieve this aim.

I even took a camera on one of my first dates with the lady who would become my wife - and whenever I look at this simple snap, I can remember how I felt when looking over the table 10 years ago.  I can also remember trying to only look into her eyes, and failing. 

And when we're old, I hope we'll get pleasure viewing the images of our travels together, my attempts at glamour photography, and our many, many selfies.


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## DanOstergren (Oct 10, 2019)

I love it a lot, but I have to be careful not to get burnt out on it because I do it professionally. I find that having other hobbies helps me love photography even more by keeping it from taking over my life.


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## pocketshaver (Oct 15, 2019)

the only hobbies I have are going to work, trying to figure out a way to stay home from work, and designing houses in my head.

Playing with a camera is a really good thing. Getting a random photo off is really godly. Thankfully I have a rabbit family in the yard that like to come out late afternoon on the weekend when im home


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## NE-KID (Oct 16, 2019)

When I got sick a long time ago I decided to take my pain and passion to photography. I started with a Nikon D5100 until I sold it and took some time away and got back in to photography few months ago when I bought my first Nikon D810 got a great deal on it since it was brand new.


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## Bear Dale (Oct 21, 2019)

*How obsessed with photography are you?*

In dollar value, I'll say what you Americans say in court "I'll take the 5th" !!!!!!!!!!!


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## johngpt (Dec 3, 2019)

I can quit any time.
Really.


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## Sharpshooterr (Dec 9, 2019)

Mostly I spend a lot of time thinking about Girls!
After that I think about sex, drugs and rock & roll. 
After that my danged job takes priority for a big chunk of my days. 
But I do shoot a lot of my photography professionally but the good thing is that the only time I have to think about photography, is while I’m thinking about photography, otherwise I’d probably think about it all the time!!! LoL 
SS


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## Sharpshooterr (Dec 9, 2019)

NGH Okay so I have more cameras than teeth.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE="NGH said:


> Okay so I have more cameras than teeth.


For your sake, I hope you have more than 2 cameras!!!
SS


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## star camera company (Dec 9, 2019)

I’m 94% collector and 6% photographer.  I have a camera from my collection close by at all times.  Like the gent with a .600 Westley Richards  Double Barrel Elephant Gun...I don’t NEED to *USE* my gear to absolutely enjoy owning it. But the obsession level is the same.  And I’m good with it


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## NGH (Dec 9, 2019)

Sharpshooterr said:


> NGH Okay so I have more cameras than teeth.[/QUOTE]
> [QUOTE="NGH said:
> 
> 
> ...



Ha ha yes indeed I do and for the record I have two less teeth than I should have


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## patrickt (Dec 10, 2019)

I am older than most trees and started taking photos before zoom lens existed. Of course, earning $79 a month doing my military service I couldn't afford lens anyway. I can remember how excited I got when Tri-X arrived with ASA 400 and, whoo-hoo, the sky was the limit. And life went on. I had a nice little Durst enlarger and enjoyed darkroom work. Then I got married. I soon had a choice of taking photos or having sex and making the wrong choice I ended up with neither. And, life went on.

When I got divorced, older, and had a better income I started taking photos again and when I moved to Mexico I got a digital camera. I soon found I wasn't enjoying photography. I sat down and wrote out all the steps in my photography and ranked the steps from Most Important/Enjoyable to Least. Then, I kept a log on how I was spending my time.

I found that most of my time was being spent on the step I found the least enjoyable. So, I corrected and I love taking photos again. 

Two years ago I put my camera in the closet with my lens collection and other paraphernalia. I was tired of toting all the stuff. I got a mirrorless camera and had three lens. I got tired of carrying that around and decided to see what I could do with a phone camera. Since I'm hard of hearing I'd never got a cell phone.

I think the phone techology is amazing, the editing programs are awesome, and I'm having fun again.


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## NGH (Dec 10, 2019)

patrickt said:


> I am older than most trees and started taking photos before zoom lens existed. Of course, earning $79 a month doing my military service I couldn't afford lens anyway. I can remember how excited I got when Tri-X arrived with ASA 400 and, whoo-hoo, the sky was the limit. And life went on. I had a nice little Durst enlarger and enjoyed darkroom work. Then I got married. I soon had a choice of taking photos or having sex and making the wrong choice I ended up with neither. And, life went on.
> 
> When I got divorced, older, and had a better income I started taking photos again and when I moved to Mexico I got a digital camera. I soon found I wasn't enjoying photography. I sat down and wrote out all the steps in my photography and ranked the steps from Most Important/Enjoyable to Least. Then, I kept a log on how I was spending my time.
> 
> ...



I glad that you are finding new ways to enjoy your hobby, sounds like you have had an interesting journey - I especially like how you re-evaluated what worked for you.  The Zoomar lens came out for 35mm photography in 1959 so you have indeed been at this for quite a while


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## Eric Uberseder (Dec 17, 2019)

I don’t have an obsession.  I was a professional back in film days, and so I remember how not to get too obsessed.  I would be obsessed with lenses and printing though.


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## Lonnie1212 (Dec 22, 2019)

I take my camera to church-seriously.  Wherever I go the camera has to be by my side.  I bought my first DSLR 5 years ago.  It was a Nikon D3200.  It took years to learn how to use all the features.  The Nikon D3200 has help items to read about in the menu.  I would read the menu and options while waiting in the doctors office or while out in the park etc....     I am a serious hobbyist.  On weekends I will take my camera wherever I go.  I don't always take photographs.  But I do want the camera with me.


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## Nikonrider (Dec 23, 2019)

Well I took my first photo with my mother's Brownie in the 1950's, got my BA in photography in 1980 and have been working as a photographer ever since. I believe I enjoy it as much today as I ever have.


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## TWX (Dec 26, 2019)

We're old for parents of a young child, it often takes both of us when a younger parent might be able to keep up with a two year old more readily.  Until we had her I would spend a lot of time out in the workshop.  With photography the hobby can directly include my wife and child, I'm on-hand to help, and I don't have to go clean up after working on something before I can help.

So right now it's a pretty big hobby, and goes well with my wife's interest in ordering calendars and picture books, lots of material for her to choose from.


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## Adadrian (May 7, 2020)

It’s been almost a year since I started seriously into photography and a day doesn’t go by where I don’t think about photography. I am constantly buying all the latest mags reading on the latest equipment. I am pretty obsessed


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## dxqcanada (May 7, 2020)

I took a picture yesterday ... last time before that was about 2 months ago.

These days I prefer restoring cameras over taking photographs with them.


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## Raw photographer (May 8, 2020)

I am extremely obsessed with photography, I love bird and wildlife photography, if i see any animal, from a beetle to an elephant, "I NEED TO PHOTOGRAPH IT" I just love it.


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## Mike Drone (Jul 12, 2020)

I'll give you my kids for that roll of film.


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## Photo Lady (Jul 12, 2020)

Raw photographer said:


> I am extremely obsessed with photography, I love bird and wildlife photography, if i see any animal, from a beetle to an elephant, "I NEED TO PHOTOGRAPH IT" I just love it.


you took the words right out of my mouth...…… oh I cannot wait to see an elephant..


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## Space Face (Jul 13, 2020)

I'm not obsessed,  that's unhealthy imo.  I love it and enjoy it immensely but do it as and when I feel like it as opposed to feeling I must do it.


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## Solarflare (Jul 22, 2020)

Well, its my main hobby, and I just got another big lens.


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## Lerato Nketsi (Apr 21, 2021)

Adadrian said:


> How obsessed about photography are you?
> is it all you think about all day long? do you rarely think about it unless you take the camera out? are you always looking at the latest gear and watching reviews? do you collect camera's do you photograph every day all day long for no reason but you love it? do you get the latest photography magazines every month, do you check the forums all day long?
> 
> me? i pretty much think all day long where i can go and what i can do to take photos, and if i can't do that I'm checking the forums reading the latest gear and watching youtube. if i had the money i'd be collecting camera's! its an obsession to me haha.


I am farely obsessed with photography, I always try to see a picture even where it does not exist. If I have not taken pictures for sometime I go mad at myself, It is frustrating because I enjoy photography a lot. It has become a norm to shoot!


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