Revelations About Photography; Motivators

Backlight; from the Loop Road in Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (click to enlarge)
X-T2, 50-140mm f/2.8 lens @ 50mm plus polarizing filter; 1/240th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200 (tripod)

Recently, while quietly sitting and letting my mind wander without direction,  I started thinking about my photography on a bit more analytical level. A I was sitting and thinking, I found myself asking myself, what is it exactly that I like the most about the craft of photography?  What was it that most brought satisfaction to me?

Through a convoluted internal process (I've called myself many things before but I don't think convoluted has been one of them!), my thinking evolved to the realization that I believe I love the process of photographing as much, if not more, than the images I produce.  I came to the realization that it is the entire process, from start to finish, that I enjoy most.  

Here is a list of things I came up with that causes me to enjoy photography:

Learning and understanding the history of photography—how we got to where we are today

The long process of learning how to photograph well—well being the operative word (I still consider myself a journeyman)

Searching out and finding what may be emotion-evoking subject matter—the hunt!

Figuring out how best to capture a scene—problem solving and visualization

Researching and finding the best photographic tools that fit my needs—the technical aspect of the craft (I have a need for both right-brain and left-brain activities to achieve satisfaction, photography fills both with the creativity and the technology)

Learning how to fully exploit the capabilities of my gear to increase my chance of success—the concept of continuous learning throughout life

Utilizing my photographic tools in a certain way to capture the scene as I envision how I want my final image to be—competence and improvement

Editing my images—achieving my visualization of a subject

Being my own worst critic to judge my images that I deem are not worthy of showing—the process of self-criticism, growth and advancement

Posting finished images—sharing my accomplishments and success

And now...writing about photography to share all of my knowledge and experience so others can enjoy the craft as much as I have—benevolence

I like the above listed process items as much as the final images themselves, if not more in many cases.  The entire "process" or chain of events is what mostly interests me, it seems.  How did I get from A to Z?

Old Rusted Dodge Truck in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (click to enlarge)
X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 42.7mm plus polarizing filter; 1/25th sec. @ f;8; ISO 640 (handheld; no image stabilization)

In graduate school I learned about job satisfiers and dissatisfiers.  One long term job satisfier was the ability to see a job through from beginning to end and not hand it off to someone else for completion.  The ability to start a job, then take it through its entire process to its end state, is important to human beings.  That concept seems to be true for my photography as I not only enjoy all those attributes I listed above, in the past when I printed more, I enjoyed making my own prints (in my own darkroom), buying and cutting mat board, and then mounting and framing my photographs for display on my walls. Again, the entire process is what interested me.

This seems to go back to the old Herzberg "Satisfaction-Hygiene" Theory that he published in his 1959 book, Motivation to Work, where the work itself and opportunities for growth and achievement (as well as other things) were motivators and satisfiers in work.

I think it is important for each of us to understand ourselves as well as possible.  If we understand our own motivations, satisfiers, dissatisfiers and just "what it is" that gives us the impetus to keep moving forward, I believe we become happier, more successful and live a more fulfilled life.  Or maybe not!

I just thought I would share this personal revelation with you as a way to get you thinking about what it is about your photography that satisfies you most.  I hope you discover just what it is and your level of satisfaction with this wonderful craft increases.


Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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