What do you Use your Camera For?

By Christina VanGinkel

Someone asked me the other day what I use my cameras for, as I always have them with me, they went on to ask me if I was a professional photographer when I first did not answer them. No, I ma not a professional photographer, though I have sold a photo or two. I really did not know how to answer them though, as I never really gave it much though. My cameras have become to me like clothing is too many people, a life necessity. Where I go, they go. It was not always like this though, only since I purchased my first digital a few years back. Up until then, I loved taking pictures, but being a young mother with a budget did not allow me extra for film or money for film developing, or other camera supplies, so even though I would have loved to tote along my camera back then, I never did, except for special occasions.

With my digitals though, I can snap away to my heart's content, and with a cable I leave attached to a USB port on the front of my computer, because I use it constantly, I can quickly download those same pictures. From there, I can edit, tweak, delete, and print, compliments of a fantastic little photo printer my daughter and her family purchased me last year for my birthday, any photographs I deem worthy.

What do I take pictures of though?

My children and their families, including tons of ones of my grandson
Anything interesting in our rural area that I discover, including farmhouses, barns, fields, sunsets, sunrises, eagles, hawks, deer, turkeys, chipmunks, black bear, and our dogs
Friends and their families, of which I have taken several family photos over the years so everyone could be in the shot
Graduation pictures for a graduating senior this past year who could not afford traditional photos, and I come cheap, i.e. free!)
Our vacations
Stuff to sell on Ebay
Cataloging personal possessions for insurance reasons
Pictures taken specifically for a scrapbook layout…I have been known to snap a photograph of fabric that I loved, just so I could print it on paper to use in my scrapbook

While this is just a partial list of items that immediately come to mind, there are probably at least a dozen more ways I use my cameras throughout the year. A camera is useful for much more than just snapping the occasional vacation layout in today's world. You can use it as a tool in many areas of your life. With advancements in cameras coinciding with the dropping of prices for new technology, it is even possible for an amateur photographer with a good eye, to make their love of photography a part time money earner. You can always rent yourself out to do personal inventories of peoples houses, to snap team photos at local sporting events, even to sell the occasional photo to a newspaper or online venue. The more I reflect on the answer to the question of what I do with my cameras, there is really only one correct answer, the answer I gave when asked. I have fun with them. What do you use your camera for?