Is photography your main hobby or interest?

Just wondering if photograpraphy is your main hobby or interest?

I have a day job which is not photography but involves occasional photography as small part of it in a technical and sterile way. No artistic licence allowed and is simply 'recording what is there'.

I picked it up again last year as a hobby and consider it my main hobby interest although it is often 'a driver' to make me go look for other things to seek out pictures, maybe some event or place. I also like my walking across the countryside particualrly in the cooler months. Funnily enough, in summer daytime sunlight, the two don't combine that well.

So, appreciated we have one or two professional togs in here, one or two doing it part time professionally. Mostly we are 'just hobbyists', but some people for example have dogs or animals and the photography seems to be a spin off as a means to record them? Others don't work and have a significant amount of their leisure time to be playing with cameras perhaps amongst juggling the kids?

So where do you consider photography to be in your life? Where do you think it might become in your life?

A great thread - should be interesting reading all the responses.

Photography for me is very important indeed. I'm under no illusion as to how good I am (I usually rate myself pretty low in everything I do!) but I do think that I will continue to imrpove, and it is something I would like to spend the rest of my life doing, in a professional capacity hopefully. It may not happen, but here's hoping eh?

I do have other hobbies, but none so important as photography to me really. The rats are probably equal - I mean, as pets I adore them to the ends of the Earth - and they always come above photography - however, the hobby itself has taken a backburner a bit since I can no longer show etc. Music was always my main hobby - and something I have done for many years, however, it definitely isn't as important to me as photography.

Great thread!

xx

Photography to me is my 'man' hobby, although like a lot of hobbies, especially 'outdoor' hobbies (as in out of the house, not necessarily outside) I do seem to have periods where I do a lot of photography, then quiet periods too (normally the winter)

Although I have done quite a lot of paid work, I don't generally chase it, as I like to keep it as a hobby.

Alan.

Dogs are my job - and my main interest/hobby.

Photography leads on from that. I love taking pictures of the dogs - but always want to get better and better ones! It has lead me into photography, I would not have the same interest if it was not digital I don't think, I could not afford film photography with the mistakes I make!

Along with playing the guitar - photography is my main hobby but it goes hand in hand with a love for what I'm actually photographing. To me photography is a way of recording a little bit of something and my main passion (rather than hobby) is the mountains.

That said I do quite like the technical aspect of photography and trying to better myself in terms of the results I get.

I have quite a few

Dogs/cats (if you can call them hobbies!)
Gaming
Photography
Computers/technology
Movies
And... I love creating sites where people can get together and make friends

Unfortunately... they are ALL very expensive!!

I work with dogs and Cats, I work dogs, I show dogs, I photograph dogs!! So dogs first then photography!

My job’s 14 to 16 hours, 7 days a week, doesn’t leave too much time for hobbies. But I am very privileged to live in a place where I am constantly surrounded by two of my biggest passions, wildlife and birdlife and I guess photography was an inevitable extension of those passions. There are times I can combine photography with work (there are times when photography is work – photographs for promotional purposes) but that happens far too seldom! I have 3 dogs that take up most of my free time, so much as I enjoy photography it has to take a back seat most of the time!

What games do you play Azz? I play PC games, Xbox360 and PS3, are you online, we could have a blap one night?

Alan.

Photography is a hobby, but I also work for military media operations as a professional freelance photographer. I started photography as a kid with a Kodak box camera - 'progressed' to a Polaroid, then a string of 35mm cameras until going digital nearly 10 years ago.

My other interests/hobbies are Shooting and field sports, archaeology and local history.