Greetings everyone! Today there is a topic that is running through my head, and I felt like I need to write it out before I even call it a day as for today. The topic in discussion today is “happiness”. As a human, it is normal for us to seek happiness in everything we do. If not, then there is no point for us to find it. As for my other-half Belinda, she is happy when she can dance, as she is a dancer. For my friend, Marvin (marvininspire.com), he is happy when he can sweat and doing his workout while preparing for the next Spartan race at Johor Bahru on 9th December 2017. Some people is happy when when they can sing, like my friend Mark Julex (MJ), who is a talented singer and I still think he took the wrong line of business, not engineering, but music industry. I hope he is reading this part.
Me and my colleagues at work.
Anyway, back to my topic, one can’t help to wonder, in what way photography makes someone happy? Have you ever seen someone unhappy when they took pictures? Maybe yes, when that person was capturing a group photo, but he was not in the group. In that instance, with the correct placement of camera, or a selfie – invented by Mr Bean back in the 90s, he can include himself in the photo. Of course it is always better to use a tripod to take a group photo.
Capturing the Decisive Moment
For me, how photography makes me happy is very simple. I am a man of mission, and every single time I am wielding my camera, I have an aim, which is to capture a moment unrepeated, or decisive moment. When I managed to capture this decisive moment, I am happy. When I am not, I will not be unhappy either, but it is rather a challenge to look for more opportunities.
The Lutong Beatles
Immortalising Memories
During my assignment, I always look forward to capture the best part of an event. For example, in a wedding, the best part is to capture the moment when Priest announced that the groom may kiss the bride; in a birthday photography assignment, is when the birthday person blows the candle. These are the things that is not meant to be repeated. Years of honing my street photography skills helped me to prepare for this kind of event, but there are still a lot of room for improvement. However, like life, it is not about the destination, but the journey itself. For me, joy is also when I see others in joy. I love to capture the happiness in every single photographs I create. The joy is then doubled when I receive heart-warming feedbacks from my clients. For me, that is happiness.
Smiling Hulk Hogan
Exercise!
For me, photography is also an opportunity for me to exercise. What is a better thing to do than to capture the event or moment while taking the time to exercise your muscle and arms? When I am doing my assignment, particularly event photography, I will always walk around. If you saw me sitting at the guest’s table, that means I am not hired. That is all. Otherwise, as part of my code of conduct, I am always on standby mode, since I am still on duty, so it is very important for me to give my all until the event is over. I do not believe in partiality, such as giving my 50% when I am being paid less. For me, it is either you hire me or not. That’s it. Plain and simple.
Running Man
BONUS:
It is also surprising when people recognises your name but not your face. Well, most of the time, exposure to my works happen only via social media, and photos get shared around. So this is not uncommon.
So to summarise, for me, happiness in photography came from capturing the decisive moments, immortalising memories and exercise. If you have any comments, you may leave it below. Have a good day ahead!
Regards,
Claudius
