Personal Photography

Photography Tips

There are many types of photography, some types not as glamorous as other types. I could use up a couple paragraphs just listing them all but since there only a couple that interest me, I won’t. Let me tell you just about the type I enjoy the most: “personal photography.” It sounds like I just made that up, but I didn’t. See, I’ve been doing this type since I was fourteen years old (need I mention that I’m fifty one years old now?). As a young lad I was always interested in photography—the one way I could show where I’d been or what I’d seen.

Photo Chris Price; ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/1600-second exposure.

Most important of all, it’s the personal memories it gives me of days gone by. Days that I will never see again, and the people whom I most likely will never meet again. This is the type of photography you can’t buy—and may be of no interest to anybody else. With photographs of my Ma and Dad who have passed away, I can look back and see the different stages of their lives and reminiscence about those times. Same with photographs of my children as they were growing up—photos that show the changes in each of them—and most of all the pictures that make each of my kids unique.

Sports and landscape photography are what catches my main interest, and now and then an air show photography shoot. But personal photography is what keeps me snapping pictures. Now that we have computers and digital photography,  I try to keep my hard drives and backups full of my personal photos. And I still have many photo albums full of black and white photographs as well color from negatives.

And no matter what type of camera you have, personal photography can be taken with a high end DSLR camera or a cell phone. You don’t need to be a certified professional photographer to take this type of photograph, and you really don’t need to impress anyone but yourself. Don’t let time pass you by without photographing it, because it is a moment in time that you will own forever. I’m glad I took photographs through the years of the people I love and the places I’ve been, but most of all the pictures of family and friends who have passed on. When I look at a photo, I always recollect the time frame in my life of that snapshot.

Photo by Claudio Olivares Medina; ISO 200, f/2.0, 1/2000-second exposure.

Trust me when I say it’s cheaper now days to take photographs than it was when I started doing photography. So go out and start recording your own personal photography journal. And when you start taking pictures of people and places close to you and look back on them, you’ll find personal photography is the most important photography in life.

About the Author:
Hi my name is Alan Slagle and I live in Northern Michigan. My website can be found at frolickingphotos.com. I’ve been doing photography for the last thirty years, even had my own darkroom. I’ve made a living here in the North building home and various types of construction. I have three kids all grown up and a granddaughter that started school this year. Now I’m trying to build a online business.