I am afraid that I am addicted.
I am a camera fiend, a compulsive shutterbug, a paparazzo. I cannot spend a day without taking pictures.
If I do, I will experience withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, restlessness, irritability, insomnia, headaches.
Right now I have 11,226 pictures on my hard drive and I cannot stop.
I HAVE to take pictures and wherever I go I tote a little camera that allows me to satisfy my cravings.
Like all addictions this one started innocently enough. It began a long time ago when I elected to take pictures on special occasions or vacation trips.
Photography was then a cumbersome and expensive process.
You had to buy films, load, shoot, bring everything back to a processing center and wait.
And the results were often disappointing.
But once the digital age came into being, everything changed.
No need for films anymore, and limitless number of pictures. It was like going from a bolt-action riffle to a Heckler & Koch submachine gun.
My favorite subjects are living creatures. People or animals, preferably caught unaware. The minute people become aware of your presence, their demeanor changes drastically and Mr. Hyde disappears to make room for doctor Jekyll.
The secret of taking good pictures is to take 3 or 4 shots of the same subject in a rapid succession.
If somebody blinks on the first shot, chances are that he won’t do it again on the second or third shot.
I could use my wife as a model, but she is too fussy and too expensive.
And that’s probably why I adopted the Princess. To serve as a cheap model.
She absolutely does not mind and I take advantage of her photogenic qualities.
She is a natural. She never poses and she leaves whenever she pleases.
The mark of a true prima donna.
To me photography is life narrated in images, and as long as a picture is candid and focused it is a good picture.
Alain
PS: You can see all the above pictures full size just by clicking on them