"Why are you into photography?" - The million dollar question

"Why are you into photography?" This is a question that my teacher asked me the first time we sat down at our first weekly meeting. This is an important question as each of us have our own reason for spending so much time into this activity.


Some do it for a living, some do it to thrive for perfectionism, some do for the demonstration of equipment, some do it for approval of others, others do it for self satisfaction.


My teacher has taken photos for many many years now and he has taken a lot of photos, met with many photographers at their various stages of learning and life. His conclusion is that a good photo, is a photo that brings a message.


"A picture is worth a thousand words" may sound a bit of a cliché but it is very true. A good photo is photo that has something to say just like an interesting conversation is where the topic is engaging and the content is presented in a understandable manner. In a conversation, we use words, tones and body gesture while in photography, the language of choice is composition, lighting, texture, aperture, and shutter speed.


So, why are you into photography? Maybe this should be a question that everyone of us should have in our mind next time our finger sink in on that shutter.