>Does anybody know of a good non-monetary reason to take photos >(other than to record our own lives and the big moments in the >kiddies lives? I guess it depends on if what your question is about has to do with is how we justify ourselves and our hobby, in which case my only answer isn't a very good one: if you don't already have a personal reason, then there isn't any reason that I could give you -- either you want to take photos or you don't, and the pleasure is in the making of the photos or it isn't. But I would also say that it sounds like you might be a bit burnt-out, in which case I do have a few ideas that might or might not be helpful, all along the lines of jump-starting a stagnant feeling in your practice. I'm sure that these are all common knowledge, things like trying out a new film, sticking an infrequently-used prime (or fixing your zoom in one place) on your camera and seeing what you can do with it, making yourself stand in one place with at least one foot fixed until you shoot a whole roll of film, giving yourself a time-limit (say 3 minutes) in which to walk around downtown somewhere and burn a roll, shooting an entire roll in your living room/dining room/backyard, etc. -- all of these are variation on the them of "set some arbitrary limit on yourself and still take some photos" to make you think a little differently about your subject matter and/or shooting style. Good luck! Keith ___________________________________________________________ Keith Alan Sprouse / Department of Modern Languages 176 Hampden-Sydney College / Hampden-Sydney, VA 23943 (o) 434.223.6335 / (f) 434.223.6347 / (h) 434.244.0465
