Which comes first? Pictures or Text

So are you the type who picks up her camera or phone to take some shots that illustrate what's written? Or vise versa, you are the type who firstly takes photographs and then writes down words and sentences to back the visual story up?
Or you are of that rare creative type when those two go hand in hand, in a perfect balance? Wait, is that even possible? :)

I am sure it's easy for you to answer that question to yourself.


Let me share with you my point of view, my present answer to it. And my personal story, when it comes to Photography.

My journey in Photography started almost four decades ago when my father brought me a present from one of his many business trips abroad. It was a small, entry-level film camera.

We were not rich back then. That small camera was fully manual, nothing electrical or electronical inside it. From these ones where I had to rewind the film with my thumb. Color films were way too expensive for me so I could only afford to buy Black & White films. Not to mention the prices of the films development and later copying the best frames on paper.

The learning curve was very expensive and all this made me pay a lot of attention and be very careful with the shutter button!

Modern photography is quite the opposite though. While I am writing this, millions of snaps are taken and uploaded online. The best part of this progress is that now everyone could be a photographer. But let's get back to my story now :)


After shooting for about four years with that small film camera, I was forced to abandon that hobby. My country was going from one crisis to another, photography became unaffordable for me. At the same time, at school, I got unlimited access to computers and I quickly walked the path from gaming to programming.

Quickly rewinding two decades and here I was, managing for a few years a small-to-medium team of software developers for a huge international company. Great salary and colleagues, but I was calling that all a "golden prison cage".


Then in 2012, I was given as a present, a full offline photography school course. I bought my first DSLR camera, finished the course and got my certificate. I found some new friends, started to travel a lot and all that made me feel happier and free.

It didn't take long and I was off that IT job, now fully devoted to Photography.

Some good years, some not-so-good passed. If you ask me what my best photo is, or what my best achievement is, I cannot tell.

Here today I am sharing with you three collages of some of my favorite photographs...

During those years, I have traveled to amazing places, documented some stunning festivals and apart from the services I provided, I sold some photos along.

It is awesome to know I have customers in countries, that I will probably never visit.

I am not the type who writes down all his achievements and frames his diplomas and certificates on the wall. Perhaps that's one of my weaknesses but hey, that is what family, school and life have taught me.

For instance, I don't have a list of all the photo exhibitions I have participated in. I have placed two solo-exhibitions and tens of shared ones. I don't keep track of the contests I've won either :)

By the way, when I was a teenager, I won the 2nd place in a regional literature contest, with a "tuple" entry of a poem and a short Sci-Fi story, I was competing against more that two hundred other children from the county. Can you guess what the prize was? A camera, LOL. Back then, I couldn't read the signs that Universe was giving me :)

Did I developed my own photo-style? Well, while some of my friends claim they can recognize my photos, I am not so sure about that. I don't want to focus only on "travel" or "portrait", or "stock", because I get bored too easily. Off the tracks is much more interesting, isn't it :)

Take for instance that "Lonely Planet" photo from the top, right-hand side of the collage above. This is an ancient occult Thracian place, called Harman Kaya, a composite 360 degree panorama that I created by combining a dozen of photos. Can you believe it was printed and showed at a photo-exhibition to more than 200,000 people on one of the Glastonbury Wilderness festivals?

The third photo on the second row is a solargraphy. The exposure time is approximately nine months. Can you imagine? Those green lines are the Sun trajectories ;) The other green photos around, you know what this is, right? :)


During those photo-years, I also invested a lot of time into Stock photography.

I was also working for a few NGOs, supporting social and ecological initiatives.

I even placed a couple of charity auctions for people in need, by selling prints of my photos.

I have been a photo-travel guide a few times, abroad.

I have been a member of teams, who organized "offline" photo contests, exhibitions and other miscellaneous events, related to Photography too.

I have been sharing and giving away my knowledge and experience to everyone who asked. I love to do that.

Let me sum it all. Today, with a hand on my heart, I can say that for me, pictures come first. Call me the visual type.


Now I hope you understand why I created the "Photographic Society" community :)


If my story somehow touched you, you are welcome to join!

If you consider yourself "the visual type" as well, the "Photographic Society" community is just for you! :)

I know everyone is very busy and this post became way too long to read, so with the time, I will also be sending personal invitations to people, who I think could feel at home here, respected and useful...

Sincerely yours,

LightCaptured

For licensing my photos, please contact me!

lightcapturedbanner.jpeg

Have a great day, stay safe, stay strong and let your muse be always on your shoulder!



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48 comments
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In my opinion, I always have something interesting or beautiful to photograph, but I don't always have the words or want to write about it. I'm one of those who take the picture first.
☺️

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Similar minds :)
Sometimes I just leave the emotions from the visual memory to "speak" through the words coming under my fingers. Sometimes I just use my words to add more info to the story I am trying to convey.

Thanks for passing by <3

!PIZZA

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I'm definitely a writer first. 😆 My photography skills are not great, which is why I started Stock Images.

My daughter is the photographer. She is impressed by your work.

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Oh, so it is you who had that brilliant idea at first :) Awesome :)
I love to write too, given I have enough time and inspiration. I would definitely take classes in English writing as it's not my mother's tongue, I bet you could tell that with one glance :)

I am honored, it's great to find out I have admirers :) Send her my bests!

!PIZZA

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I bet you could tell that with one glance

I actually couldn't. I didn't learn you weren't an English native speaker until I viewed more of your posts and realised you were in Eastern Europe a lot. Then I checked your profile. 😆

Small mistakes can be put down to typos or typing too fast when it comes written work, so native English speakers will have those too. I've neglected to proof read my work properly before and it looks like I can't English. 😅

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To be absolutely honest, proof reading feels boring to me :D
Sometimes it consumes more time than it takes me to write everything down initially. Yet I know, I have to put more energy into it. Probably I will discover at least 5 typos in my recent post if I do that proofreading right :D

Thank you :)

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(Edited)

PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA!

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You can now send $PIZZA tips in Discord via tip.cc!

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Pictures first ;) Then

!BEER

And then text.

That is the natural order of things.

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Hahahah! Beer before the text. I respect that. Deeply :D
!PIZZA

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Oh, by the way, please come join the new community, "Photographic Society". I know you have some hidden gems to share there :)

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I loved to read about how you started and started again the photography journey
i think that for me the photograph is first of all and when I have one, the words start flowing together with my unstoppable thoughts. On the other side - I have no problems with photographs published or exposed without any word said. Sometimes our photographs are much stronger than any text.

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Perfectly said. I think we are like-minded. Sometimes I have the necessity to share everything about a photo or a series and I find myself creating too long texts :)
Other times... I just feel no words are needed. Sometimes word only "dissolve" the message or the story of the pictures :)

Thank you :)

!PIZZA

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yes, i know what you're talking about. they take the attention of the spectator to something else but not to the main subject of your posted image. not easy to balance this. we need to feel the middle or to provoke :-)

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So you wanted to be a writer, but the Universe told you: No, you're going to be a photographer! 😁
Personally, I'm not quite sure what the Universe is telling me. Maybe just the opposite. Although I also start with the photos. First I photograph, then I write. But perhaps after so many disappointments and the conviction that one cannot do anything just with photography in this world, I have now concentrated more on writing.
Yet I'll be happy to follow the latest photography news, events and guidelines through your wonderful community 😊
!LUV
!PIZZA

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Now it seem clear. Or I don't know, it just played games with me. I am not one of those world-known guys.
Don't get disappointed. Try to be a better version of your yesterday self, as they say! :P
I like your writing style, I think you're good and you're getting better at this too.

Thank you!

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Wonderful to read and see @lightcaptured 😎😊 very interesting. The universe certainly guided you. 🤓
Such a beautiful captures!
Sometimes we don’t see it at that time. Glad you ended up capturing photographs again.
I’m the same. For me pictures come first.

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Thank you! I believe the universe guides everybody. What we really learn during our life is to listen to it. If we get its language at all :D
Great to know you're that visual type, not that I had any doubts in your case, your English is much better than mine though! :)

!PIZZA

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You are so welcome @lightcaptured 😎
It does guide us. It shows signs when we need to change our path.
The changes I have been through the last months, I saw all the signs. I listened to them and all changed. I am rather tuned into it, I also feel energies… but that is a whole other story 😉

Thanks 😊🤓 maybe we artists (included photographers) are visual. Although I do use both brain sides in the same amount.
I sooo do my best to improve my English. I know I still struggle with sometimes the sentence structure and certain words that sound the same in my head but are different. I never had lessons or learned the grammar. I learned it the parrot fashion way since 2011. With music and tv.
So since I started writing here in Hive, I realised words I though in my head were good are so different written and I muddle them up. Like to and too, then and than, heart and heard etc. hahaha 🤣 So I do have mistakes in my writing… but let’s continue learning. 😉🤓

You are doing well with your English. We should write more… and hope others correct us 😎
But if I ask they say, nope they won’t do that hahaha funny thing actually.

!PIZZA
Let’s not forget that 😉

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All I can tell, if you are a self-learner... you've done some fantastic work. The only official language classes I had taken were in... French, let's say for an year and a half. I studied English in High School and one semester in the university, then practiced it for about 16 years, but that was mostly business and related to software development, I was employed by UK & US companies, so my vocabulary is quite limited, or that's my perception of it :)

I find pleasure in writing, I can write much better in my mother's tongue but I guess I like to push myself a bit outside the zone of comfort when it comes to Hive :)))

I don't think many, if anyone at all, will have the courage here to correct any language/grammar mistakes publicly, as let's not forget, money is on the table here, one way or another. :))) :P

So, let's just have fun getting better at these two, the photos and the writing, and get some rewards, eventually, on the road :D

!PIZZA

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Thank you so much @lightcaptured 😊 much appreciated!
I understand, business language is so different than just conversing and writing.
But so far I think you underestimate yourself. You are doing brilliantly with your English. Seen from my perspective.
I wished I could speak French. It’s the country I was born in but my parents left it when I was 2. So many moons ago. My first language was actually German. Still fluent in it though. We moved to the Netherlands when I was 6… and learned it rather quickly as you know… children are like sponges at that age. Than my English rather Kate and now Spanish for the last 6 years. It’s nice to learn a language other than your mother tongue. It opens up a whole different world.

Of course the languages we are fluent in will be better for deep meaningful words, writing about anything. But it is cool, like you say… to put oneself out of the comfort zone 🤓🤩

I asked a few when we were talking about languages… they wouldn’t hehehe even if I asked nicely 😇 but I understand.
I think, just writing and reading a lot will get us there eventually. 🤓
Indeed let’s just do that!

Have a great evening 👋🏻

!LUV

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Oh, being fluent in German is something that deserves a deep respect! :) I've heard a quote somewhere saying that if you're not a born German, a lifetime isn't enough to learn it properly, heheh :)
I have to say though, that the "Western" languages, that are Roman-based, have a lot in common. For instance, in the rare occasion Italians speak slowly, I understand more than the half of what has been said, and that's because of the French lessons I took.
I know people who speak languages from different groups, like Chinese, Bulgarian, Hungarian, English and German at same time. In my humble opinion, geniuses :) Dipping inside a local culture and language helps a lot, indeed :)

Thank you and !PIZZA :)

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Thanks a lot 🙏🏻 I have heard something similar.
I think I was lucky… when we arrived in Germany I was 2 years old. And a neighbour was a kindergarten teacher… of course at that early age nobody should go to school yet. But by the time I was 3… she let me go one day with her and said to my parents I wouldn’t like it… but guess what. I stayed and went very early to school. So I learned quickly the language too, I guess. 🤓 it was also just enough time before we moved countries again when I was 6 years. And had to switch to Dutch.
Somehow that little base there just stayed. And I profit from it ever since.

Yes, I know a few people like that… just amazing 🤩 yep, true geniuses.
Japanese is a language I one day would like to learn. It is fascinating to me. But that’s a maybe… hehehe 🤭

Yes, the Roman based ones do help… and you can relate to words in each of them. French, Spanish and Italian… Pretty cool.
The weirdest language for me was Maltese… hearing that. We lived there a year 2019-2020
It has everything in it. I took a few classes and would have continued but we moved countries again. So no need, and it isn’t on my list to learn anymore.

Once you master another language, all the little intricacies are visible. And jokes and sayings are easier to understand.

You are welcome @lightcaptured 👋🏻😊
!LUV

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Oh, pretty interesting childhood!
Mine was... dull... having to eat puddings and forcedly sleep in the kindergarten between 14:00 and 16:00 :D Thanks to my parents, though, I was able to read independently at the age of four, so I didn't have any problems at school later... up until the university, where my laziness started to kick in, heheh. Interesting... now I realize probably that made me more of an introverted person, as I was reading much more than playing outside with other kids.

Maltese, was such a pleasure for me to listen to... Sounded like an awesome alloy of English, Arabic and Italian, at least that's what my ears were catching :)

I think, if you generally don't mind those dusty demenagements, moving countries is fun!

!PIZZA
:)

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Doesn’t sound so dull… yours. To me 😊
Mine was too eventful. Moving almost every year, changing schools throughout my childhood also every year or two. Didn’t leave me getting friends much. It is how you look at it I think, from which perspective.

Great you read at such a young age… it forms in many ways. To bad laziness come later on. I think we all have that period.

I am an introvert for sure. Hahaha so I can relate a bit there. I hate crowded places, avoid shopping too. Unless it is needed. But I do love to travel. And going off the beaten path helps. Not much people around there.

Really, in my ears it was harsh 🤓 but probably as my background languages are softer I guess.

Moving countries is fun and such an adventure. But I’m close to 50 moves now in 5 countries and number six is coming right up… it would be nice to settle down once. Grow some roots.
I moved a lot with my parents, but when I moved out of their house at 16… I continued hahaha lol
Funny really. And I am still moving at least once a year. 😇🤓

!hivebits

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I know what you're speaking about :) I had childhood friends with parents on military positions moving regularly within the country. Hard to keep in touch and they've always complained not able to have more friends. The quantity was never paramount to me, I virtually have a handful of awesome friends that I could always rely on, no matter what.

I think hivebits doesn't work like this anymore, you can call it only on your own posts :D That's why I haven't used it after the change, lol :) Perhaps I should use it, though :)

So here is a !PIZZA :)

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Yes, it is hard to keep friends. But the “get to the point other children would become friends”… we moved again lol
But all fine, it does shape a person 😉😎 one learns to be self sufficient in many ways.

Oh that’s a shame, didn’t know that.
Only on my own posts, will remember it. Thanks for letting me know. 😊

Let’s share one than
!PIZZA

Enjoy your Thursday 👋🏻☀️

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Ooops, I almost forgot something :)
If you have anything, that feels much more "photographic" than "text", please come join and post in my new community, the "Photographic Society". I created it the other day, still a newborn, but I have some bold plans :D

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Ok, will check it out. I probably missed it due to me moving house and missing days on Hive.
Thanks for letting me know. 🙏🏻 I see this post was posted in it.

Good luck 🤞🏻 with the new community! Will spread the word a bit. 😉

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You really should be proud - especially that you used your talents to help others 🙌 Those are some incredible pictures :) What's the story behind the dog?

This post has been manually curated by the VYB Curation Project

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Thanks so much, buddy :) Sometimes I am, but frankly, not quite often :)))
The dog was the German Shepherd of my father. Very playful and loyal dog, gone long time ago.
I think a customer from the States bought a full-size copy of it. Five year ago, not that it's that important ;)

!PIZZA

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