Today’s reflection on ‘stuff I like to do’ is about photography.

Like going record shopping, taking photos has sort of become my ‘thing’. Unlike going record shopping, this is a fairly recent development, and I had a pretty steep learning curve.

I took a beginners’ course a while back, which gave me a good start. It helped me with a core understanding of the mechanics of the camera, a basic sense of how light works, a bit of insight into concepts of composition, which way around to hold the thing and so on.

Since then, it’s become one of my favourite things to do. I’ve been on a couple of organised photo walks, but actually, I hardly go anywhere without a camera – and in fact, I’ve started going places because I have a camera.

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Gaurav Vaz, bassplayer for Raghu Dixit, captured old-school 35mm style

I like photography, though I’m not especially good at it. I know lots of people who are amazing with a camera – and their skills appear to be a blend of raw talent, creative flair, scientific knowledge and some sort of black magic. I don’t have any of those things, but I still like doing photography.

Digital is brilliant for me, because I can take hundreds of photos and just show people the few good ones that happen to have worked through sheer luck.

Using Flickr is even better for me, especially with a pro account – because it means that I can upload EVERYTHING completely indiscriminately – and anyone interested enough can figure out what’s good or interesting on their own terms. Who am I to second guess what they’ll find significant?

On Flickr, my message is not “witness my photographic skills” but – “look what happened” (or in this case – “look how smiley my musician friends are”).

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