I took photos mostly for occasions or whenever my parents asked me to take some portraits. To this day, I still do most of my shooting for occasions and portraits. I'm not an artist and I don't try to be one. I rather enjoy seeing the artistic work of others.
Today I have a Canon EOS 5D. It's a great camera for an emphatic novice. But, I want to take good photos of my family and my 9 month old son. So to that end, I got myself the best non-professional digital SLR I can find and have been reading up on SLR cameras and photography. I confess, I approach photography less with a passion and more as a purpose.