Image copyright 2008 Byron O'Neal
I was thinking this afternoon about as photographers what we put ourselves through for our art. I flipped through the current issue of Outdoor Photographer and read the interview with Andy Rouse. He was trying to photograph a Capercaillie, a big wild grouse as he put it, which required sitting in a hide, going in at 4pm to get the shot at 6am the next morning. I'm thinking to myself, "this guy is nuts... totally flipped!" For a bird??? Then, I had to laugh at myself.
The previous day, while getting this shot and a few others, I found myself in the train yard alone when four shall we say rough looking chaps sauntered up and asked, "How much is that camera worth?" It turns out that one of the guys plays drums at a few churches in town and was trying to save up enough cash to buy a camera so he could shoot weddings or the like in the hopes of getting off the streets. I chatted with them for a few minutes and then went on my way. A seemingly bad situation that turned out to be nothing, yet I'm sure Andy would say I was totally nuts. Hopefully, I'll land a magazine spread to talk about it just like he did.
My point , in the end, is that we do what we do because we love it. Why else would you do it. Sometimes I think about what it might be like to sit in a studio and paint all day long. Wouldn't that be easy? Perhaps, but it just wouldn't be any fun.
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