I was happily oblivious to these thoughts, and the folks over at the Digital Photography Life podcast ruined it all for me. No, it was a good thing; we need to reevaluate the whys of life every once in a while. Scott and Michael, the hosts of the podcast, set “The Joy of Photography” as the theme for their next contest. As I started thinking through how to portray that, I had to think more and more about what the joy really was. Was there any joy? Well, of course, yes.

So, forgetting the contest, I had to think through what about photography brought joy. What I am looking for is true joy, and joy is not just a moment, joy has an element of eternal purpose. So, here are the joys I find in photography. There are more, but these are the core joys.

The Joy of Witnessing
There are two elements of witnessing: seeing and bearing witness to others. There is a joy in taking part in someone else’s life: watching them work, seeing how they do something, learning about their life, understanding their struggles. Then, if appropriate, capturing the essence of what I have witnessed in photographs to bear witness to others is the other half. There is still a joy in the witnessing with or without the photographs, but photography often takes me places and introduces me to people I would not have otherwise witnessed.

The Joy of Relationships
I almost, quite by accident, started explaining the joy of relationships in talking about witnessing. I guess they are close. Maybe they are two side of the same coin.

If the first joy is more relating what I have seen and who I have met to others (bearing witness), then this is the getting to know them part. Sometimes, just having a camera and smiling will spark people to tell you or show you the most interesting things. Something inside them wants it to be known: their pride and joy, their pain and struggle. And sometimes, the willingness to put the camera down is what allows people to open up. Again, it is not about the photographs; there is a joy in building relationships.

The Joy of Serving
Up above, I said I was searching what about photography “brought joy”; notice I did not say “brought me joy”. Sometimes, wild idea here, it is not about me. The best example I can think of here is shooting a wedding. Sure, I enjoy it (for the most part) and I find it an incredible challenge to my photographic skills, but my experience and perspective can produce photographs that will bring joy to the couple for many years to come…well, if I do well.

All my weddings so far have been for food instead of cash, which I think will explain better why this even comes to mind. The joy of serving comes out in taking portraits for folks, groups shots for meetings, family photos, and all kinds of other situations. The best pay is the look of surprise and a comment about this being the best photo we have of so-and-so.

More Joys
Sure, there are many more joys to photography. There is a joy in honing my skills and learning to take better photos, or maybe more often take good photos. Improvement in any area will enhance all the above joys. There is a joy in capturing a moment: a sailor and lady kissing in Times Square at the end of The War (famous photo), your child’s first steps, or whatever. And similar to that, there is a joy in creating something special; it is fun to exercise our creativity muscle.

So, thank you Scott and Michael. It has really been a great few days to think through why I do photography. And just as I was writing up this post, I caught this line from the Strobist which really (accidentally) echoed what I have been thinking through: “One of the joys of being a photographer is the opportunity to spend your life intersecting with a steady stream of very interesting people.” I could not agree more. Let’s get out and meet them, then!

I feel all the more motivated to go out and shoot. And for all of you that read this and feel similarly inspired, go check out the rules for the Joy of Photography contest and enter your own photos. It will be good for your creativity muscle…and you might just win a great Think Tank photo bag!

Here are some tips, gleaned both from experience and a podcast which inspired me to write this stuff down. It has been so long since I have listened to the show, I cannot remember what from my notes was the guest’s idea and what was mine.The podcast was the Digital Photography Show and the guest was James Duncan Davidson. Well, I think it was him, but for the life of me, I cannot find the podcast I listened to in any archives. Anyway, the photographer in question has a lot more experience than I do, but I can attest to each of these points in my own experience.

First, the settings. Do yourself a favor: shoot raw. Many of you will wonder why I should even mention it because you always do anyway…just tune out for a paragraph, then. You will run into wildly different light sources, and raw will give you the latitude you need to very easily change the color temperature back to what it should be. Well, there are more reasons to use raw, but color temperature is a big one.

When you need to photograph speakers, here are some specifics. You will often be shooting in fairly dim situations and need high ISO to get shutter speeds up to 1/125 to 1/250 (we will get to aperture in a minute). You will need as fast as possible. What you will find is that photos look out of focus, but really they are just slightly blurry. I know, these are not high action shots, but especially in the lips, you have to be able to freeze the action. Some speakers are harder than others; you have to acclimate to the speaker.

And this is certainly no place for that f/3.5 – f/4.5 kit lens! You need fast glass, baby! Canon, Nikon, and I am sure the other manufacturers as well, have cheap 50mm f/1.8 lenses. You will learn to love ‘em, I promise. I have a friend who bought a 50mm f/1.8 and now rarely ever puts his kit lens on the camera. You get really used to that extra stop or two of light…think of it, two times the light! In any case, you will be constantly frustrated with your photos with anything less than f/2.8. Even then, you will be riding at the very edge of your equipment’s capability.

Have your flash ready, but do remember how incredibly distracting it will be. You better let the speaker know…that might not be a nice surprise: speakers kind of need the audience’s attention. If you do use flash, it is best to shoot some test shots before hand so you know right where it needs to be set. In other words, get it right the first time.

And think through the kinds of shots you will need to take. Marketing people want crowd and conversation shots. PR and news folks want shots of keynote speakers. You can figure it out for your situation, just make sure and think it through.

And if you really want to put a smile on their faces, find a way to run a slide show or something on site. The audience would love to see those photos; that is the only way most people will ever see them. A good example is running a slide show of photos from a wedding ceremony at the reception. If you truly have a unique vision, you will have a perspective on the wedding that nobody really noticed.

And by all means, get experience just shooting around at your next conference. It is ok to be a photo junkie. Have fun. Play with perspective. Find something nobody else saw.

I certainly wan to give a special thanks to the original photographer and the hosts of the podcast for the ideas in this post.