My Hobby

I came across a rather cool post by @anomadsoul today about a competition he is running where we have to talk about our hobby is. But really it goes further than this, it is what our passion is, and where our heart lies. I saw this post and thought that it was a really cool idea, and a way to relate my hobby and interest of it to others. Today I want to talk about my hobby!

What is My Hobby?

Anyone who knows my profile here on Steemit may imagine me saying photography is my biggest hobby. But actually you would only be partly correct. Photography is one of my hobbies, but it works together with editing, writing, and creating to make my biggest passion. My passion and hobby is blogging!

Blogging!

I started blogging with photos around three or four years ago now. I went on a holiday with an aunt of mine to the South Island of New Zealand, which was a big event for me because it was the first time I had ever been to that part of the country. At that point I only had a phone, and next to no experience or knowledge about creating content that others would find interesting.

I know this post isn't about photos or examples of my hobby, but I can still show them right?

Looking back on these photos makes me realise how much I have improved, and how happy I am with what I have learnt and experienced. Sometimes it is hard to measure our success or improvement, but looking back on these photos has shown me that success isn't always about money or attention

These two photos were both taken on that first trip to the South Island, the trip that inspired my passion in blogging

The beginning

Blogging has always been something I have been passionate about, ever since my first post on Facebook many years ago. I can’t say why it appeals to me so much, except that I love showing the world through my eyes. I also love to share and blogging allows me to share my photos and stories with not only my friends, but the world. This is a very strong drive within me, and it always inspires me to try my best, and to create better quality content. This in turn makes me even more passionate about taking photos, editing, and writing (all the steps of blogging!). Further, blogging allows me to create a personal diary. A digital diary that holds my memories and will never be deleted. It is something that I will always have, and it’s something that I hope can also benefit others through learning or travel recommendations (or through seeing beautiful pictures!).

Here is when it really started for me, when I first became interested in sharing my photos and writing with others (on Facebook… I’m sorry!):

Camera!

When I visited my father a few months later the next big thing happened to me, something that would propel my hobby to the next level! I got a second-hand DSLR, my first real camera that I had owned and the first I had actually wanted to use. I had had a few cameras before in my life but I had no interest in using them once the excitement wore off. A DSLR really changed the game for me though, there was so much to it. Using a camera on automatic is great for lots of people, but for me it was missing something.

My first Camera! The Canon 400D | Source

The difference between a point and shoot and a DSLR is that a DSLR requires knowledge and skill to even get a usable image. Any camera can take great pictures in the right hands, but using a DSLR showed me that getting a good image is actually an art, it isn’t something everyone can do.

Obviously this increased the quality of my photos a lot as well as bringing me a lot of joy. I learnt how to edit photos, and from there I felt like taking photos was something I could happily live off of.

This was one of my first images with the DSLR. It isn't perfect, but I thought it was, It was when looking at these pictures on the computer that I realised how cool it is to take photos

Big Changes... South Korea and Steemit

In August of 2016 I moved to South Korea (from New Zealand), and this was the perfect opportunity for me. I wanted to share my new life with everyone, at home or otherwise. I began to take more and more photos, I traveled because I wanted to take photos to share and write about them. I carried (and still do carry) my camera everywhere. It is pretty much like my child!

The next big step for me was finding out about steemit.com from @betelzeus around May last year. Steemit was a platform where I could finally post all the content I had wanted to, a place where people could view my work and I could interact with others. But further, it was free and offered a way to make money without having a large audience.

My first breakthrough post was The Beauty of Seoul. This post was one that took me a long time to create as every image was so different and unique to capture. This encouraged me to create more and more, and it also made me realise that at least some people really enjoyed my posts.

Since then the rest is basically history here on Steemit. While I love photogrpahy, it is only part of a larger hobby that is my passion in life. My dream one day is to be able to travel and blog, without having to be hindered by a job that requires me to stay in one place. I want to be able to live off of the content that I produce. Steemit has given me a platform that enables me to at least try to reach this dream.

Even when posts aren’t successful though, I still feel a want to post. I don’t care if my post makes $0.01 or $100, it’s a nice bonus, but I will post anyway.

The Importance of a Hobby You Enjoy

I think that it is very important to enjoy every part of your hobby. I couldn’t imagine even wanting to blog if I didn’t enjoy the writing aspect. Or if I didn’t enjoy taking photos. The reason I love blogging so much is because every aspect of it is something that I can enjoy. I have a passion to take photos, then to edit them and write about them.

Another important part about a passion and hobby is that in my belief it must be something that never gets boring. Even if I just focus on the photography aspect of my hobby, I know I will never get bored of it. I learn something new every day (really!), and there is so much to experiment with and try. It is a never-ending process in which I can always get better and grow. On top of that though, there is also writing… Another thing I can always get better at. Both of these parts of my hobbies are something that I will never grow bored of, no matter what happens.

Rain or shine, night or day, summer or winter, it is always a great time to make a blog

Aspects of Blogging

Blogging is something that I do largely by myself. Recently I have had some friends join Steemit (Thanks @Kaushikp1997!) and it is cool to have someone to talk to and relate to (even if we post completely different topics!). Before this though, everything was by myself. I don’t really have any friends that enjoy photography, and I also don’t have many friends using Steemit and/or blogging elsewhere. Recently I am trying to remedy at least part of this by joining my universities photography club. I love doing things by myself, but sometimes I wish I could share my hobby with others.

Sadly this does have some major downsides too. I love my hobby (of course!) but no hobby is perfect and mine is no exception. It is both expensive and time consuming. I don’t need the biggest most expensive camera (although I certainly seem to have obtained one…), but I do need something that fits my needs. Anyone who knows cameras knows how bank-breaking they are. A single lens can cost $2000+ depending on your wants.

This is one of the reasons I was attracted to Steemit initially. I thought it might be a way to finally pay for my hobby, through my hobby. This was my dream.. To be able to afford to fund my hobby through the hobby itself. While Steemit has not allowed me to do this, it has given me some nice bonuses and a platform to share my passion with others. I hope in the future I can become more successful though!

Blogging is also very time consuming. I am a student who works, often my weekdays are 9am-11pm at university and working. A single post though often takes me over an hour… This means I have little to no time to do other things. But it’s my passion, and something I always want to do… I can’t help it! Besides these two expenses though, I believe blogging to be a perfect hobby. But whether or not it’s perfect, it’s mine.

From New Zealand to Korea, the biggest change in my lifetime. A change that inspired my hobby and made me take my passion to my next level

Even after around four years, I would still call myself an amateur. I don’t believe that I can call myself professional until I can live off of it if needed. While I believe that my own skills are decent, I think that my writing needs a lot of work and I need a way to attract more people to my posts. Maybe one day when I have 10,000 followers here on Steemit I can call myself a professional. Until then I will try my best, but it isn’t proving easy so far. But of course I will stick to it and preserve until the end.

Blogging - An All Weather Friend!

I love my hobby because it is something that I can do when I am stressed, bored, happy or angry. It is something that makes me explore and try to better myself, and it is something that always entertains me. Further, it is something that feels beneficial to me… Many times I feel like I am wasting my time, but with blogging I never feel that. I can’t waste my time blogging, it’s impossible. I love being able to show people the world through my eyes, and I love that I can share my stories with others.

Last Words...

I guess this brings me to the end of my post, but before I end I want to write a bit about my hopes for the future, and my dreams to achieve. I am a believer that there is no limit or cost to dreams, and I want to be able to dream big. In the future I want to be able to make blogging my job. I don’t want to be super-duper rich from blogging and be able to buy every camera in the world along with a mansion. I just want to be able to turn blogging into a job that can provide me with a comfortable lifestyle. I want to be able to travel from money that I make from blogging, and I want to be able to have a steady audience.

Possibly the most realistic dream (or maybe the most unrealistic!) is that I want someone to be able to share this passion with me. Someone or a group I could travel with, take photos with, and possibly even write with. Right now these dreams all seem a long way off, but I have hope that something might happen tomorrow that allows me to live these dreams :)

This post is almost 2000 words, and if you read this far then you are amazing. I am not the most interesting writer or the funniest writer, but I hope that you enjoyed my post and gained something out of it.