I've been taking a break from writing. See, I write when I feel strong emotions. Strong negative emotions. I sit down to write when my emotions are tame enough that I'm no longer crying my eyes out and I can somehow organise my thoughts and type -- instead of wiping snot. And from there, I start thinking. How do I transform my sad, angry, lonely thoughts to something other than whining and/or ranting?
Thankfully, some sort of humour comes out. But the problem is this: my brain takes forever to stop thinking. It cannot limit itself to think only of the writing. It's a curse, this overthinking thing that I have. It can be very depressing.
And so I decided to take a step back from writing. I still needed an outlet, but it had to be one that wouldn't make me implode.
Luckily, I found photography. It does not require thinking. You create an image. Snap it. Photo comes out. Tada! Instant gratification!
Of course, photos have a nice-ness hierarchy. I'm not sure what the technical terms are for the criteria. But you know how some photos just get to you? Those I aim for. Here, technology and some physics (photography is all about light and reflections, according to a physicist friend of mine) are involved. But those are not very hard to grasp even for the ones like me who are lazy when it comes to reading technical books if you spend enough time fiddling with your camera.*
And I love fiddling with a camera.
Composing the photo. Getting the right shot. Trying to capture what your eyes are seeing -- there is no substitute for the human eyes! Bringing an image to life. Being able to share that beauty with other people. Invoking in them awe or a different perspective on things that are often seen as very mundane. Photography is capturing life itself.
I think I've always liked photography. I just didn't have the tools and didn't focus on it till I met Roy and moved to HK. It got me through some of the loneliest times in HK. Weekends alone were spent walking around HK with a camera. Seeing the city through a lens is a very very very different experience. It makes you see things differently so you could capture a good shot. It also forces you to go to certain places you wouldn't normally go to just to get good pictures. It's a different kind of challenge. A different kind of high.
No wonder it's one of the most cliche art forms nowadays. It's addicting.
I really really really want to get better at this.
I won't abandon writing. Too many thoughts in my head and they all need to go somewhere. Like this very moment now. I'm not sure how many still read this blog. But it's not dead. I'll try to make it more colourful and add more images to the stories. This is me shyly saying, Please don't abandon the blog. Hahaha!
Sample photos below! Please don't steal them.
*I've broken it down to very basic terms. Which one makes things brighter or darker, move things slower or faster, makes things stop or have motion. Photography skill is all about experience, in my opinion.
P.S. I made my own watermark because a friend warned me of photography thieves. Photos are mine!
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