My Journey In Photography

Something just sparked in me while reading some fellow photographers’ blog about their progress in the world of photography. I found myself asking the question How far have I gone with what I’ve done?  It might not be the wisest or smartest question out there but truly, eventually, this question needs to be answered. Right?

My interest in photography was sparked by my dad when he used to bring out his SLR to everywhere we go and capturing every images we could to print as memories of our journey as a family. I started picking up from there, eventually owning my own Nikon FM10 in college as part of my studies. Taking photos of this and that, not only as part of my assignments but also for fun. Eventually, I ‘graduated’ to the world of film as in moving images and found myself working in a production house producing TV programs for TV stations.

Photography took a backseat since I started working, the camera ended up sitting in my cabinet more often than not. Finally totally gone missing when my house got broken in and things got stolen. Did I miss the camera then? I fear the answer was a big No.

Fast forward to the present, where I picked up the interest again some few years back and got myself my first dSLR about 2 years ago as a birthday present for myself. From then, my interest in photography grew again. I start reading up on photography, checking out various photographer’s websites and joining forums like ShutterAsia.

Soon after that, I fell in love with some of the work produced by these photographers and told myself that I’d love to do what they did, trying to emulate the work that they did. Many of these photographers I got to know are fantastic enough that they are more than happy to share what they know with me, teaching me everything from the basic stuff to lighting and so on. Things that I no longer remember from my college days.

But now, looking back at the stuff I’ve tried to emulate, do I really want to produce something similar to what other had done? What will people think when they look at our work? Yes, by following in the success of others, we could create a form of success in our own work, it’s not a big thing but still, nevertheless, it’s still something to be proud of. Right? But, by following or to emulate the success of others with our own work, we essentially became their followers. People see the work, they’d just say that, hey…. doesn’t so and so do the same with their work? In the end, the credit goes to the person we tried to emulate and not ourselves even though we put an effort into it. Don’t you think so? It’s not that I’m not appreciative with what others have taught me, I’m very appreciative and thankful that they are willing to share what they know with me. And I want to do the same with others who wants to learn from me.

As time goes by, as I look back at the things I’ve done. I realized that, at the end of the day, yes, what I did is beautiful in my own eyes, It might not turn up as nicely as the way some of these artists have done but it’s close, but is it really mine?

I’m proud that recently, one other budding photographer’s work was commented to look similar to mine and they could see similar patents or treatment that they also see in my work. But is it really fair for that photographer to be told that what he put an effort in doing looked like someone else’s work?

It’s really time to start discovering what suits me best, what end result that will, when people look at it, says Michael Yip rather than other people. It’s time to show people, look this is what you get when you use my service. Don’t expect this to look like so and so and so. You hire me for what I do, not because it looked like someone else’s work. At the end of the journey, I can safely say that both for me and for my client, we would be more appreciative with the end result. It’s time to look at what I did and say .. “Hey, that’s mine!”

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