Let's Talk: Photography

Good Morning (or night or afternoon, wherever you are, whenever you read this)! This post / email is for those who want something fun to read. Hope you stick until the end!

Photography is one of those hobbies that a lot of people declare having because they have a phone and take a thousand and one selfies. I, too, declare photography as one of my hobbies, but not because I take selfies. In fact, I absolutely hate selfies. This week, I’ve decided to talk about photography. I hope you enjoy!

Growing up, I’ve never had an official camera, solely for the purpose of taking pictures. Even when I got a phone, I doubt the quality of the pictures compared to actual cameras, nor even reached the level of quality that big brands such as Google and Apple somehow manages to achieve on their phones. However, I liked taking pictures, so I took pictures on my phone anyways. On the upside, my phone was a major upgrade from that iPhone 4 I used to take a total of, say, 10 pictures.

I’m not a very good photographer. I like something, I take pictures of that thing. It’s like attempting to capture a beautiful thing you want frozen in time…only to realize that, realistically, you can’t. I also take pictures when fooling around with friends, but those are few because, most of the time, I don’t have my phone ready on hand 😶‍🌫️ . Yes, please go ahead and bully me for not needing my phone to survive. Which is perhaps why I have so few photos on my phone. Hmm.

School helped me take better pictures, in a way. My visual arts teacher taught us a little, and my yearbook-advising teacher also taught us some things. Very interesting stuff (or not). It was pretty boring to listen to, to be honest. However, it did educate me on something I liked. I just wish teachers knew the existence of 2x speed. Some YouTubers speak too slow to pay attention to (or they have very soothing voices that make me fall asleep 😅). I learned about composition, lighting (to an extent), and other things about photography, and it enlightened me to the possibilities of photography. Before that, I had no idea what in the world long exposure and short exposure was and heck, not even the rule of thirds. Everything I know about photography comes from those teachers and, well, YouTube (no duh).

Photography is a hobby, so I don’t readily improve my skills (even though I should think about improving). Which is perhaps why my skills aren’t getting better. However, it is fun to take random photos whenever I find myself staring at something beautiful (and I have time to pull out my phone). I find myself staring at something beautiful, and I appreciate life (and, uh, sometimes I loathe human kind…sorry). Photography helps me see things in a different light. Other art forms are the same. It helps me understand the possible processes that the artist might’ve used to make that piece of art when I learn about something new. I didn’t know how people took long exposure photos or short exposure photos until I learned about the two exposures. It clicked, and I have not seen those photos the same.

For context, short exposure essentially freezes time (some insanely fast shutter speeds can take frozen and not blurry pictures of a humming bird’s wings), and long exposure is the opposite, capturing something over a period of time (like the blurry pictures you see of people walking in the city such as in a film or video, or traffic lights making a trail of light that makes something beautiful at night even though light pollution is a thing). If you Google it, I’m sure you’ll find all kinds of pictures 😉.

I take pictures, and post some on Instagram. I take a variety of pictures, some with people in it, others with nature, others with architecture that I find beautiful, some others with animals. I take pictures of everything, but the only ones I post are those without people in them. I don’t really see the appeal in posting pictures of people in them, and I’m quite certain that the people in them don’t want it posted either. Also because I low-key think that the pictures of things that aren’t people are much more beautiful 😆. If anyone is interested, check my account at https://www.instagram.com/elisemoris_photography/

I hope it isn’t that boring, nor too bad of photos. If you’re into photography, leave any comments for me to improve on. If you want to step into the world of photography, I’m not sure if my account is a good place to start, but it is a good idea to utilize social media (and its algorithm) to your advantage 😉. Good luck!

Thanks for sticking this long, and I hope you have a great week! 😁 

I want some feedback: Do you like these topics? Anything else you want to send me is much appreciated. Thanks for reading, and I hope it was worth your while 😄 Please tell me something about the funniest pictures you or someone else has taken, and remember, you’re awesome! If you want, sign up to my weekly newsletter (if you haven’t already). Link down below! Email: [email protected]