Scope, personality and the camera in your hand

An interesting post from Colin Jago today on how he finds himself going deeper. The linked post on 2007's big theme is also pertinent. So many thoughts hit me from these posts. I've had to write my own thoughts down here.

First up - wide or deep? I'm pretty sure I'm a wide person (and not just the ever-expanding waist line). I haven't yet found a location that I want to get into more and more. I get to a certain point and run out of things that seem to interest me, photographically. But that's not to say one cannot mix and match. Why not go deep in one's own neighbourhood (the "block") yet wide on mountain landscapes? I'm sure there's room for both.

That come down to the second part, personality. As I say, I'm a wide person here and I think that is as much a part of my personality as it is of taking the time and oppotunity. I like to get through a subject and move on. This applies as much to my professional life as my personal one. My own experience tends me to think that one is either hard-wired as a wide person or a deep person, in general (but as Colin points out, this is something of a continuum). This dovetails nicely with the ideas I postulated about belonging with a subject.

Part three of my thinking came from Colin's point that

The more time I spend with a camera the smaller is the list of things that I
want to photograph.

Ah, but which camera, I thought. I'm finding that spending time with anyone particular camera (I'm turning into a something of a collector at the moment) tends me towards certain subjects. I'm not going to be rushing around town photographic candids with my 4x5. More of my wide personality coming through, I presume. Each camera allows me to narrow my focus to certain subjects. As time goes on, I might well reduce the range of equipment I use, as I find the subjects that most belong with me. But for now, I'll continue with my peripatetic ways.