Daily Inspiration #164 by John Fong

November 5, 2010 Daily Inspiration, News 23

I love gear. I love the feel of opening up a box and taking out a brand new camera for the first time. I love the click of a soft shutter and the zip sound of the rewind lever. I love opening up an old camera and seeing how the parts move. I love seeing how my picture looks on the back of a camera’s gorgeous LCD screen. I use to love camera rumors. I use to love bashing other cameras on forums. I used to love converting others to my camera of choice. I use to spend countless hours reading like-minded posts. I’ve spent lots of money on various review sites.

Then my son was born.

I started to see the world through his eyes. Not everything was tact sharp. Not everything was color perfect. Not everything was in focus. The only thing he needed was love. I want my son to look back and see his pictures through my eyes. I don’t need him to see how film like the files look. I don’t need him to see the magic of ISO12,000. I don’t need him to see the difference between Fuji Pro 400H and Kodak Portra 400. I just want him to see my love for him through my love of photography.

John Fong

Canon S95

Contax G2

Leica D-Lux 4

Leica M8

Olympus Stylus Epic

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23 Comments

  1. Great succinct observation. Reminds us photography is less about gear fetish than it is about capturing precious moments in life.

    Hope more photographers will share their views on photography at this great site!

    Thanks Steve.

  2. Beautiful! Exactly how I feel about my photography and my daughter!! I couldn’t have said it better.

    Wonderful work on the writing and photo’s.

    🙂

  3. John, I love your words of wisdom. I love the Contax G2 shot best. Second is the Olympus Stylus Epic. I just think the one from the M8 is hilarious! They are all beautiful. Plus, the camera you take with you is the best one. You have all small cameras, which you will more likely carry. it’s so much nicer carrying a small camera!

  5. I think the Contax G2 shot is especially good, great colour and composition. It’s nice to see some better ‘Daily Inspiration’ shots, they were getting a bit dull!

    I second the comment about this turning into an elitist Leica site, I hope it doesn’t, even though I use an M6 and love it, you can get just as good shots from a $100 Olympus OM-10 or Pentax ME. I think the recent Holga article proves what you can do with minimal cash outlay.

  6. Inspirational!!! Such a beautiful message and some heart warming shots to back it up. Really great DI 🙂

  7. You said…….I started to see the world through his eyes. Not everything was tact sharp. Not everything was color perfect. Not everything was in focus. The only thing he needed was love. I want my son to look back and see his pictures through my eyes. I don’t need him to see how film like the files look. I don’t need him to see the magic of ISO12,000. I don’t need him to see the difference between Fuji Pro 400H and Kodak Portra 400. I just want him to see my love for him through my love of photography……..

    Almost poetic! And of course oh so true. The love & feeling come across from these shots without any words needed to describe each shot which, well to me anyway, is surely the whole point of what good photography should be about no matter what the subject matter, no matter what the era and as you so rightly said no matter what the gear. i.e.:- No words necessary, as the picture say’s it all. Wonderful stuff!

  9. John, This is one of the best Inspirations. I love the all of the photos, but my favorites are the Contax G2 and the M8 photos. Enjoy your son!

  10. Beautiful in both words and images! John, your words should serve as a reminder of how important real life is and how photography may just be a fractional part of that, and how your son frames your perspective should give us all pause for perspective as well.

    Thanks for sharing with us! And beautiful captures. Your son looks very happy!

  11. Thanks all for the kind words. And thanks Steve for letting me share!

    @chris – M8 photo was shot with 35 Summilux Asph (not the new one). Got an excellent version from Ken Hansen. No focus shift or any issues.

  13. Thanks for sharing this, the artical really reminded me not to forget the love for photography or Leica, or whatever camera brand is all about.

  15. Somehow, childs make things more relative.

    I love the Contax shot, it has an almost surreal feel to it … Thanks for sharing!

  16. I realize that this is probably the wrong article to ask this, but what lens is the M8 shot of your son shot with? That has to be my fav. Good read!

  18. Nice pics (all of them). One has to wonder though why one poster’s “Cat and flower” (no, that’s not the Cat and fiddle) pics are flamed to multiple and painful death, and children’s pics aren’t.

    Oh well.

  19. Dear John, that was just what I needed today! Thank you – and keep on loving your son (and your photography).

    Dear Steve, thank you for posting this! Especially after the hiccups following the L-bashing.

    Dear Leica addicts, I respect your passion for the red dot – however, let’s not turn this wonderful real-life site into an L-only meeting point for the affluent. There definitely is more to life and photography than focussing on the world of Leica. In the past few months I read too much about equipment that I cannot afford (hey Ashwin, Max et al : with great interest I read your contributions – but it still is life on another planet (moneywise) – which brings us back to John.

    What a wonderful world.

  20. just the thing that i need after all the madness that happened at work today. simply beautiful. when the time come, i wish to do the same too. 🙂

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