Taking photos makes you happy... right?

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

An interesting statement to open with. The question of whether photography makes you happy is not that easy to answer. The word 'can' is very important here. Let's take a closer look.

The picture below already shows that experiences can turn out very differently from what we expect. I certainly recognise myself in this example. I (also) struggled with all the ups and downs in this photographic learning curve. For a long time, there was no happiness involved.

It may have something to do with the fact that I always looked up to better photographers and marvelled at all the fantastic images I came across on the internet.

But even when I applied all the tips, the images on my computer looked rather dull (I photograph in RAW). Disappointment was often the first emotion that came up. Sadly, neither joy nor happiness.

I reached my first flag marker up the curve after studying software and discovering the endless possibilities that photo editing can offer.

It was not long before I joined Photofacts Academy to take a crash course in Lightroom and Photoshop. I learned that what I saw online would rarely, if ever, come straight out of the camera without editing.

Fortunately, my self-confidence got a boost and I was much better able to put the images I saw on social media into perspective and assess them. I became more skilled at editing. Sometimes, photos were good enough to publish. But did photography make me happy then? Hmm, not really yet.

Looking back, I was far too focused on the end result instead of enjoying taking photos in the moment.

I clearly suffered from a lot of self-criticism mixed with too much perfectionism. My photos were never good enough in my eyes. My photographic recipe was far from ideal, really.

A video by Micky Hoogendijk put me on the trail of The Artist's Way written by Julia Cameron.

Lessons to free yourself from external sources telling you how things should be, to try to silence your inner critic and to clear away blocks. All of this turns out to be necessary to give the child within you, your dreams and your enjoyment priority again in your creative process. I got to work on it. It was quite confronting, but it did move me one or two flag markers further along!

Oh yes, looking back through your photo database a lot is also a good way to realise that you have made progress without noticing, through all the knowledge and experience you gain along the way. You become aware of the upward trend that has invisibly built up behind you. Hey, you suddenly think, did I take those lovely photos??

Beautiful is, of course, subjective, but what matters is that you are happy with it. You alone. Unless you work for clients, in which case you have to compromise a little from time to time.

Another thing that triggered me was the word flow. Do you recognise this when people say: "I'm really in the flow"? It means they become so absorbed in what they are doing that they forget everything and everyone around them. They are highly concentrated and focused, and everything seems to happen effortlessly. A genuine feeling of happiness, or so they say.

Very interesting and enviable, but how do you get there? I wanted to know everything about it and subsequently spent weeks sleeping with the book Flow - The secret to happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on my bedside table. Super interesting, but also quite challenging reading.

I learned about the science behind influencing and invoking your own state of Flow (and your personal growth), as long as it is in line with what you really want. I will limit myself to improving photography for now, but of course it can be applied much more broadly.

In short, Flow is activated by continually adding a realistic challenge to your photographic journey of discovery, causing your skill (and intense enjoyment) to increase proportionally.

But only if you can test what you have learned afterwards. And digital photography is ideally suited to this!

Successfully dealing with challenges such as a new technique, photo editing or your camera gives you a great deal of satisfaction and self-confidence. This makes you less dependent on the opinions and likes of others, allowing you to enjoy making images that you like more.

And oh yes, what also helps you is the belief that there are only good mistakes.

Back to the question: 'does photography make you happy?' I can now answer with an emphatic Yes. Am I standing on top of that mountain? No..... but that is no longer important to me.

Giving expression to an inner urge to create is what makes me happy, especially when it works after a few attempts. For me personally, that means continually raising the bar a little and regularly taking on new challenges.

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