I can see how you would think this a weird post title for someone who writes a photo blog and occasionally makes money from taking photographs. But truth be told, I have not been in love with my camera much of late. I find this with a lot of the creative areas of my life, that there are seasons of fullness and productivity and seasons of quiet when not much happens. Come to think of it, my life in general is often like that. There are periods of busyness and stress which are often my most productive times of the year. Like the summer when I'm all about meeting up with friends and taking the kids places, going on new adventures, planning trips and generally packing as much life as possible into the few sunny days we have.But these times are balanced out by the times when I like to be quiet, stay at home, light candles and read magazines and just be, without doing. And while these times are often not productive, they are just as necessary as the ones that are.It's the same with my camera. There might be months where I am barely to be seen without it. The boys do not like these times! I'll be capturing everything we do with the intention of turning all the images into scrapbook pages they will cherish in years to come. I know in my heart that most of them will never see a scrapbook page, but the dreaming and planning is half the fun. 'Oh look, Conor is shredding pieces of paper with my paper trimmer and there's amazing light shining in that makes it all look magical - that will make an great layout!' Translate - this picture will look awesome and will spend the vast majority of its life in my photo library on my laptop! But that's what drives me to take pictures. So I do. Lots of them. More recently I haven't really been feeling the camera love. And I think that is totally ok. In the past I've tried to force myself to take photos when I haven't really been in the mood. And you know what? You can tell that from the images I produce. So more recently when I've been feeling out of love with the camera I've decided to let it have a nice rest in its cosy Crumpler bag and wait until I'm ready.The magical iPhone really comes into its own at these times. As my previous posts have shown. Because often I still want to capture a moment but I just can't be bothered thinking about ISOs and f.stops and all that technical side of photography.But yesterday, the love returned! Hurrah! As we got ready to head to Mount Stewart for a walk, I grabbed the camera, just in case. And I'm so glad I did. Because look what my lens helped me see . Colour. Shape. Light. Magic. Aside from the beauty of the gardens and lake that are always inspiring, the end of autumn has never looked so alive to me. Which is a bit odd considering that all this colour pretty much signifies the end of a cycle of life. But it was everywhere I looked. And I must have taken hundreds of shots. Which will most likely never see a scrapbook layout! But that's what this blog is for, so I will share a little of what I saw with you.Who knows how long the love will last this time? But while it does I will snap away merrily and witter about the lovely things my lens is showing me right here.