The Adventure of Photography

I am driven by adventure, by what I aspire to experience in life and by the unexpected ways that if often turns out to be different from what I had anticipated.

I bought my first camera nineteen years ago, and ever since then, my drive for adventure has fueled my photography. For almost fifteen years as a working professional, I’ve made photography my vehicle for adventure, and during that time, I’ve traveled to some of the most fascinating places on the planet and photographed a world of adventure sports, expeditions, cultures and landscapes.

My photography career has been an adventure in itself, not at all unlike what reads in that first sentence. When I first started, I certainly had some ideas of what I wanted to do as an adventure photographer, but I could not have imagined the exact path that my career has followed up to this point.

With advances in digital imaging technology and the Internet, the craft, equipment and business of photography have changed in innumerable ways from when I started. So has the economy, which affects photographers of all levels. These factors have altered how images are created, transferred and purchased, and it takes constant effort for us as photographers to remain current on equipment innovations and industry trends so that we stay ahead of the curve.

However, the personal and creative aspects of photography have not changed. Even though we now use digital bodies to create our images and store them on hard drives instead of in photo albums and slide pages, the most basic methods for making those images remains the same.

In order to create my own photographs, I must still put myself in the right locations where I can capture the most dynamic images of people interacting with their landscape. This still means hauling my cameras and lenses, along with skis or climbing equipment into remote mountain areas, searching for the best light and vantage points, and watching with attentive eyes as I work to frame my subjects against the most dramataic background. I still wait for the just the right moment and press the shutter just like I always have.

What also remains the same are the essential ways that we learn about photography. We still read articles, journals and books, and study the works of other image makers. However, in addition to looking at printed material, we now refer to blogs and online magazines like this one, as well as Twitter feeds, Facebook Pages and countless websites where we can scroll and click our way to an unending flow of information and industry news.

In its basic form, photography has not changed, technology has just opened up more possibilities for us to explore it. As long as we look at it that way, the future will continune to be a great adventure for those who use cameras to express their creativity.

I’m excited to be a contributor here at The Photoletariat, and I look forward to sharing my own insights into the world of photography. I hope my posts help inspire other photographers to explore their own creativity and find success with their work.

————–

Dan Bailey is a professional adventure, outdoor and travel photographer based in Anchorage, Alaska. Follow his own blog at danbaileyphoto.com/blog and see his daily updates at facebook.com/danbaileyphoto.