How2 Series: Just for the fun of it! by Matthew Jordan Smith

Photography is your business. Each day you wake up, go through your morning routine and at some point your business days takes over. You’ll check your email and respond as needed. You’ll answer a few phone calls, possibly book a few new clients. You’ll have appointments and sessions scheduled and at the end of the day you’ll wind down, hopefully relax with family or friends and get ready to do it all over again the next day.

If you’re working part time as a photographer, then the profile of your day really isn’t that different except that there’s another career field dominating that stretch of the day when you’re not thinking about photography. At some point during the day you’ll focus on your passion with photography in the spotlight. The day will end and you’ll prepare for tomorrow.

But, when was the last time you just picked up your camera for the fun of it? When was the last time you photographed with no purpose whatsoever, but the enjoyment of the process?

I’ve spent a lot of time hanging out with Matthew Jordan Smith. He doesn’t go anywhere without a camera, including a little Sony Nex-3. Matthew is the ultimate storyteller, whether it’s capturing images for a client or just for the fun of a lazy afternoon with his girlfriend. 

A while back he posted these images and the story behind them. The best part of the post is the story, essentially there wasn’t one. He was just having some fun with a camera in his hands. 

It’s his last line that says it all, “Always Dream Big and remember why you first started making photographs.”

Sometimes it’s just fun to pull out your camera and take photo’s for no reason at all but to have fun. I recently photographed my girlfriend with my Sony A900 and then took a few images of us together. This was how I first started taking pictures and the images remind me of my first moments with a camera in my hand.

The lighting is daylight through the window and I’m using an 85mm lens wide open at 1.4 for the single shot. I love shooting with this lens wide open as it’s very flattering and soft. The second image is taken with a 35mm lens at 2.2 and it’s my standard lens. The 50mm lens is considered a standard lens by most, but I find the 35 is more a standard everyday lens for me.