When did you take up photography?

[AT06]

Simple thread really. Just say when you took up photography, why you took it up, what camera you started with, and what camera you have now.

I started January 2013. My Dad bought a 400D in 2007 but it didn't get used so one day I just decided to pick it up and start using it. Since then, I have bought a 50mm 'nifty fifty' and Aperture 3 and I'm saving up for my first L lens and eventually hope to go FF.

Be as detailed or as brief as you like - I just thought it would be nice to hear the different stories people have.

 

[nburwell]

I gained an interest in photography while working at a photography store during my senior year of high school. That was 13 years ago. I started out with a Nikon F60 body, and probably the standard Nikkor 28-70mm lens at that time. I had all Nikon bodies up until the digital age when I finally purchased the D70. Once I saw that Canon released the EOS 20D, I was enamoured by that body for some reason. I promply sold all my Nikon gear, and bought the 20D with the 18-55mm lens. As I became more passionate about my hobby, I started wanted more expensive glass. Eventually I upgraded my 20D to the 5D, and you can see what I currently shoot with in my signature.

There was a period of time where I had to sell the majority of my photography gear since I was laid off from work. Thankfully I was lucky enough to replace the gear I sold once I was able to get back on my feet financially.

 

[WRP]

I've always been into photography but never seriously. I bought an old Nikon D50 and used it a handful of times. As a video person it just never took. Once they started making video capable in affordable DSLR's (t2i) I figured I would get one of those.

Once I started shooting video with it, I found I was shooting more photos as well. With that I started buying good glass. It snowballed into a 7D, 5D and 5DmkII with lots of L lens. I no longer own the 5Dc or 7D and mainly shoot with the 5DmkII. Nowadays, even though video is my field, I find I shoot way more pics on my camera than I do video.

I use camera RAW 7.0 and PS CS6.

 

[eawmp1]

Canon AE1 Program in the 1980's. Shot the heck out of that thing. Photographer for HS newspaper and yearbook. Did own darkroom.

Got back into photography in late 90's and still held out for film with a Nikon N80. Lensed up. Carried around alot of compact digitals until getting my first DSLR, a Nikon N7000.

 

[jaewon]

I've always had a love for photography. I started out in the 90's using my dad's Canon EOS Rebel (EOS 1000 QD). When digital photography started becoming more mainstream (cheaper), I switched from an SLR to point and shoot cameras.

It wasn't until 2008 when my wife surprised me with a Canon 450D for Christmas that I really started feeling the urge to get back into shooting. It only got worse from there, I ended up upgraded camera bodies three or four times before I found the right fit; the same went for lenses. I currently shoot with a 7D and use a T4i (650D) as a secondary.

During the day I have a 9-5 job, but at night I shoot all things nightlife (shows, concerts, red carpet events) around Vegas.

 

[Designer Dale]

You asked for this, so don’t pick on me.

There were always cameras around in my family for as long as I can remember. We had those neat fold out Brownies and various Polaroids. I even remember flash cubes and individual bulbs that burned your fingers if you popped them out too soon!

My first camera of my own was an Exacta 35mm with interchangeable lenses. It had a pop up waist level viewfinder. I used this camera for my first gig as a track photographer at a local drag strip in the mid 1960s. From this I moved up to a Nikon F with an f/1.2 50mm that I swear could shoot in total darkness. I used it to shoot concerts during my college days in Ohio. I got interested in macro and added an f/2.8 105mm Nikkor that was my favorite film lens.

I sold all of this to raise money for my move to the Seattle area in 1978 and went without a camera for a couple of years before my girlfriend/wife’s mom bought me a Canon AE 1 for Christmas. Still in the film era, folks. That camera with a 1.4 50 and a 70-210 zoom (not a Canon) lasted until 2005 when the shutter gave up the ghost and I decided to see if digital had anything to offer.

My first digital was a Panasonic Lumix, I don’t recall the model but It’s still in my truck. It did OK, so I decided to try this DSLR stuff after watching all the good people in this forum post their wonderful photos. If John can survive the transition, so can I. I did a ton of research and wound up with a used Canon XSi with the kit lens and a Tamron 28-300 super zoom from my local camera shop. I used this camera from 2008-11 before moving to my current camera, a canon 7D, which I just love to death. My lens bag - actually I have four lens bags - hold a Canon 1.4 50mm, 2.8 100mm macro, Tamron 2.8 28-75mm and Sigma 120-400mm.

And this is what you get when you ask a detail man for simple…

The family Brownie

My Exacta

A film Nikon seeing in the dark.

Did I mention I learned Real Photography on one of these?


Dale

 

[Phrasikleia]

I first caught the bug in 1990 while working in the prepress department of a large daily newspaper. I was simultaneously learning to dodge and burn on a stat camera and to make more complicated edits in this software program called "Digital Darkroom," which was superceded that same year by Adobe Photoshop 1.0. The latter had the advantage of supporting color, and Adobe frequently sent representatives to show us how it worked, since we were the first newspaper in the United States to explore digital prepress solutions. So my darkroom/processing skills actually preceded my experimentation with capturing images, not counting a long period of stagnation with various film point-and-shoot cameras.

I got my first digital camera (a Casio QV-10) in 1995 and used it while I was in art school to create material for graphic design projects, but never for photographs as end products.

After progressing through a series of increasingly sophisticated fixed-lens cameras for many years, I finally invested in a Canon XSi and a couple of lenses in early 2008. I joined this forum that year, posting a motley array of photos that only a mother could love. I'd like to think that I've made some progress in the five years and three cameras since then (I'm now using a Canon 5D Mark III), but I look forward to finding out what I'll be producing five years from now.

 

[AT06]

You asked for this, so don’t pick on me.

Nice post and an interesting story - I enjoyed reading it. I really want to shoot film some day - an art in itself.

----------

I joined this forum that year, posting a motley array of photos that only a mother could love.

Sounds like me! But it's the effort that counts. I'm a very keen golfer (since the age of 5) and one thing it has always taught me is that to get better you need patience, time, and a lot of practice - no doubt photography is very similar, as neither can be perfected but both can have their moments of greatness.

 

[Oakbridge]

Got my first 35mm in 1976, a Pentax SP1000.

I had planned a trip to the Montreal Olympics (I'm from Toronto) and had saved up my money to buy the camera in the spring. It was replaced by a Pentax ME around 1978-9 and then I switched to a Nikon F3 in either 1980 or 81.

Shot mainly slides. Lots and lots of slides (I was from the school that suggested one roll of 24 or 36 exposures should give you at least one or two great shots but you shot lots, bracketing exposures, etc.)

Used an Apple QuickTake in the mid 90's, then an HP point and shoot digital.

Bought my Nikon D80 in December 2007, and added a D7000 in 2011.

 

[Cheese&Apple]

OK, I'm going to date myself here with this post.

I started as a teenager 40 years ago with a Lordomat C35 (circa 1956) that I inherited from my grandfather. From day one I was hooked on photography and constantly blew my allowance on film developing. I used that camera religiously for at about 15 years.

I'll tell you that I still have numerous albums of photos from that camera buried somewhere in the basement. I keep telling myself that one day I'll dig them out and scan them but I never seem to find the time.

After the Lordomat C35, I went through a very long period of point and shoot film followed by point and shoot digital. I don't know if it was me just be lazy or not having the time or a combination of both perhaps but the passion was still hiding there somewhere buried in all the junk that life can throw at you.

Which brings me to where I am today. Last September, with a little extra cash and time to spend, the passion for photography was reignited with the purchase of a Nikon D600 and some awesome lenses.

Without doubt, I'm enjoying photography now as much as I did 40 years ago. Actually, I think I'm having more fun now given the advancements in technology and the extra time and cash at my disposal.

Thanks for starting this thread AT06...it was a great idea and, for me, an interesting journey down memory lane.

Peter

 

[someoldguy]

Took my first step down the long and slippery slope when I was in college , around 1968 or 1969 . Took a photography class , needed a camera and got a 1950's Canon rangefinder ,the one with the trigger advance ( maybe a VT?).After that , a Leica M2 and Nikon F . Gifts from elderly relatives whose vision was going , still have the Nikon and the 50/2 . Someplace in the early '80's I splurged and got a Nikon FM2n , figured I needed something with a light meter . Used that and a 105mm macro on a crappy tripod to take loads of botanical slides ( miniature orchids and such), plus the usual family/vacation stuff . Switched to Canon about 10 years later( time for auto focusing) with a second hand Eos 1 . Used that until I took the plunge to digital with a 5D when they first came out . Now , I'm mostly using a 5D2 and a Leica M9. Still can't get my horizons straight .

 

[AT06]

I'll tell you that I still have numerous albums of photos from that camera buried somewhere in the basement. I keep telling myself that one day I'll dig them out and scan them but I never seem to find the time.

Peter

Hopefully you will find the time to dig out those pictures in the basement and scan a couple in - if you ever do I would love for you to post a few.

 

[Micky Do]

As a kid I had a Kodak Brownie. I saved up my pocket money to buy and develop a roll of B & W film or two during the school holidays. I have no idea where those photos are now.

in the late '70s I picked up a second hand 35mm rangefinder camera that was probably more than 20 years old. I tried different things and got some good shots with that. The camera, photos and negatives are stashed in a box half a world away from where I am now. Although I enjoyed photography, it was not a hobby that fitted into the lifestyle of an itinerant seasonal farm worker.

When I went to work on an agricultural project in NE Thailand I bought my first "modern" 35mm camera, a Olympus mµ. It was a bit too small and automatic for my liking. I used it to take photos of work, and the odd event such as a wedding. I was not too bothered when it got stolen (along with my passport, which was more of a bother!)

I replaced the Olympus with a Ricoh rangefinder, which I enjoyed using. I wore it out. When I went looking for a new camera I came across second-hand Ricoh rangefinder, which I bought without hesitation.

One of the best photos I took with the Ricoh was of the local hunt meeting at the pub where I was living in England. I had it enlarged, and it was hung above the fireplace there. Twenty years on I see from a photo posted on the internet, my picture is still there. Sadly, the landlord is no longer. He died (peacefully) last month..... RIP John.

I took the Ricoh with me to Japan in 2001, and when it wore out I replaced it with a second hand Nikon 35mm SLR. Digital photography was starting to come of age, but still lacked the quality that film had. I found the SLR was a bit bulky for the kind of photograph I enjoyed, so I didn't use it much. In the end, in 2003 I gave it to the brother of my girlfriend at the time, as he was studying journalism, and needed a decent camera.

I resolved to go digital next, when the technology had improved a bit, and I had a computer. I got my first computer, a Mac Mini, in 2005, but it was still several years before I bought my first digital camera. That was an Olympus TG310, at a stock clearance sale in June last year. I found both the ruggedness, and the price attractive!

It was good to be taking photos again. The TG310 soon became the source of most of the photos used in the local press to go with reports of matches in the Phuket cricket league.

Like the mµ before it, the TG310 was a bit too small and too automatic for my liking. However, the biggest shortcomings for me were the shutter-lag, and not having an optical viewfinder..... So last month I bought a Fujifilm X10, which is sort of a digital equivalent of the Ricoh rangefinder. It suits my style well, and produces better quality photos than the TG310......

But after owning the X10 for 3 weeks it developed a problem with the linkage between the optical viewfinder and the zoom. The shop has sent it off for repairs (hopefully under warranty) which will take 6 or 7 weeks, so for now I am stuck with the TG310.

One from each camera here:

 

[Kebabselector]

My first proper picture was in 1982 (when I was 12), but I suppose I got into photography when I got my first camera, which was around 1994. I bought an Eos 500 (with 35-80mm and 80-200mm) kit from Dixons. After this I moved on to the Eos 50E (Elan for the US market) and started to dabble with medium format.

I bought a Lubitel to start me off with MF, then progressing to an old Mamiya - finally moving onto a Fujifilm GA645zi - which was like a massive compact camera, but it took 120 format.

My first digital was a fairly crap Sony - which offered a bit more control compared to other digital cameras - it was a pretty awful thing to be honest and DSLRs were still too expensive and they felt cheap considering the price.

Eventually I decided a DSLR was the way to go and decided on the Eos 20D - however I tried a 5D and my priorities changed! Bought a few more bodies (and sold a few) since.

 

[TheReef]

Interesting to hear how you all started!

You asked for this, so don’t pick on me.

Terrific post Dale, great read


Wow you guys make me feel like an infant

I got my first camera in 2003, a (digital) Sony DSC-P32

It was a fun little camera and after that, seeing creative seascapes online and enjoying watching the ocean I attempted to create some of my own.
This prompted me to get my first real camera, a Pentax K10D in 2007 which kickstarted photography for me, around the same time I started posting here.
I chose the name "TheReef" because that's the name the local surfers gave to the break I'd mainly shoot at in the beginning.
Doing the same kinds of pics over again I learnt a lot about the link between composition, exposure and post-processing.
I never got bored shooting at the exact same locations over and over, every day the light, ocean and tide creates a different scene.

I learnt a lot from this forum, for me special thanks go out to Doylem for sharing his wisdom in planning for and capturing the light in his stunning English landscapes. You've helped me and countless others here I'm sure

Fast forward 6 years (that long! ) and I'm now shooting with a Pentax K-5 and Pentax 645NII.

It's been fun to watch some of you grow and try 'compete' with
Here's to another 6 years

 

[VirtualRain]

Good thread!

I've gone through four phases of photography interest in my life.

As a kid I had an Instamatic 110 camera but couldn't really afford the film and processing fees (which my parents wouldn't subsidize) so I lost interest.

I got back into photography after my education was complete and purchased a Canon Elan IIe with eye-controlled focus point selection. It was an amazing camera and to this day, I still wonder why this feature hasn't re-appeared on modern DSLRs. I was constantly disappointed with the dynamic range of prints and the lab processing and preferred slides because the lab had less influence over the output and the colours seemed better - even though they were a PITA to share.

I re-invigorated my interest in photography when digital cameras became affordable around the year 2000 and I purchased an early Kodak DC4800. I realized the moment that I started using it, that film photography was doomed. I never purchased another roll of film after that. I also acquired my first version of Photoshop.

After going through a variety of point and shoot cameras, I ultimate lost interest in photography again around 2005 in part because I was really unhappy with the quality but also because I went through a tough time and wasn't really motivated.

It wasn't until recently (several years later) when I discovered the POTD thread here in this forum and got inspired to get back into photography. In fact, it was Doylem's amazing evening village shots from around 2009/10 that inspired me to go out and get a modern camera and see what I could do with it. I went through a T1i and a 7D before my current 5D3. I'm hooked and at it again. So a special thanks to Doylem for the inspiration! I think I'm in it for the long-haul this time.

 

[ijohn.8.80]

Wow, there has been some great sharing about your journeys getting here from you all.

Mine is a rather short stroll, starting July of last year, when I saw a Canon 1100D on sale and decided it wasn't too much to gamble if I didn't like it. I'd never had a camera prior to this, but did enjoy photography as a class in the early 80's at high school. I am now with a 60D and am starting to get some good crop body lenses together.

I've learnt a lot from Phras. & Doylem's generosity here and get inspiration from many other members here too.

 

[LumbermanSVO]

For me it's a funny thing.

Between the 5th and 6th grade my family took a road trip across the country and before that trip they bought each of us (4) kids a 110 film P&S camera and a few rolls of film. There is still one photo that I took at Twin Falls, ID from that trip that stands out in my mind. But on a $1 a week allowance, it wasn't a hobby for me. That would be right about the time of the the first Gulf War. Yes, I'm a youngin' compared to the stories above

Fast forward to 2006 and I was becoming a father, my girlfriend had a Kodak P&S digital camera and I took a ton of photos with it. She kept telling me that I needed to shoot with it because my photos were far better than anything she was doing with the camera, I passed it off as her just being a supportive girlfriend.

Fast forward to 2007-ish and we have been broken up for about a year, I've been driving a semi truck long haul for about a year and posting on my blog pictures taken with my iPhone 1. (see the "Lets talks trucks" thread in Community Discussion) I spent a three day weekend stuck in Albany, NY and the HD died on my MacBook, so I hopped a cab to the nearest mall and had the Apple Store replace it for me. While they were doing that I went up to the Best Buy and bought a Canon SX110IS and started shooting regularly. Before you know it, I was stopping the truck to take pictures and really enjoying it.

In 2011 I was still shooting with the SX110IS when a friend who works for a non-profit asked me to do a product shoot for his company. At this point I'd been debating on wether to step up to an SLR or not and this was the nudge that pushed me over the edge. The images I created for him were JUNK, but I was hooked, and quickly learned how much I DIDN'T know about photography. Since then I've been on a mission to learn as much as I can from as many different sources as possible.

These days it is rare that I don't make a photo as I'd rather make a junk photo than none at all. The camera sits on the floorboard of my Freightliner with the 40mm pancake on it and the 300mm f/4 next to it. On the one day I'm home every week the camera sits on the passenger seat of my Bronco with the same lens on it and the same 300mm lens next to it. My daughter is now 6-1/2 and she is immune to the fact that I have the camera in my hand while we are playing. There is a bar I go to in Montana and if I DON'T bring the camera there will be a never ending series of questions from the locals about why I don't have it.

To me, this is the best "hobby" I've had by far as it engages both my technical side and creative side at the same time, and it's pretty damn rare that anything does that. The greatest joy I get from it is when In show someone a photo and their lights up.

 

[Jessica Lares]

My dad works at my middle/high school. The photography teacher at that school actually got me into photography. It wasn't actually anything I had interest in until I actually started doing it. I used to go up and use my dad's computer in his office all the time playing with Adobe PhotoDeluxe and using website builders and stuff, and one time he came over and asked me to go into his office because he wanted to show me Photoshop. A few years later when I entered the school as an actual student, he gave me an Olympus D-100 as a Christmas present which I used heavily. A year later, he gave me a Canon T70 when I actually joined his class in the second semester of 8th grade, which was kinda going backwards, but I learnt a lot from it, like how I didn't like film and still to this day have a hard time sticking it in a camera.

Right now I have a Nikon Coolpix L110. But I would really like to finally get a SLR.

 

[AT06]

I learnt a lot from this forum, for me special thanks go out to Doylem for sharing his wisdom in planning for and capturing the light in his stunning English landscapes. You've helped me and countless others here I'm sure

A special thanks to Doylem for the inspiration! I think I'm in it for the long-haul this time.

I've learnt a lot from Phras. & Doylem's generosity here and get inspiration from many other members here too.

I also have enjoyed Doylem's pictures and would like to thank him for what he's shared.

One thing everyone's pictures on here have taught me is the importance of having a good subject, and that simplicity in an image usually makes it better and more powerful. The viewer should instantly focus to what the photographer saw in the image.

 

[Ish]

Interesting idea for a thread! When I was about 5 or 6 I bought a plastic camera with 6d pocket money and some ‘film’ that developed vague shapes when you took the ‘photo’ and left the film out in the sun to develop! Does that count?

I bought my first camera, a 35mm Minolta, when I started work and had a bit of money (not much!). It wasn’t an SLR but I can’t remember the model. Later upgraded to a Nikon FE. I used this for a number of years, great camera, and took it with me when I went on pilgrimage to the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel in 2002. We were taken on a trip into Akká (Acre) in groups and as I was waiting to get into position to take a photo, there were others with digital point & shoots who’d aim and, bzzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz, they were focused and off. Gotta get me one of those!! I ended up getting a Fujifilm Finepix 810, not a bad camera really but after becoming a bit more discerning I’d notice the colour fringing so I was on the hunt again. By this time dSLR’s had become a lot more affordable.

Next came a Nikon D60 which I bought because I’d had a Nikon before, but after my son bought a Canon 450D I realised I liked the ooc colours from the Canon a lot better so sold the Nikon and bought the same Canon. I see a lot of advice about marrying a system when choosing a camera, and it’s right, but imo if you just start out with a camera and kit lens it’s easy to swop if you’re not happy with it.

Next I traded that in for a Canon 5DII which I still have and am very happy with. I’d always kept the Fujifilm as a lightweight camera, then got a Canon S95. The problem with that was that when I wanted to do a project with photos from both the 5DII and S95 it was very obvious, unsurprisingly, which photo was from which camera. I sold the S95 and bought a Sony NEX-7 with the 18-55 this January. I don’t think this lens does justice to the camera and, not wanting to wait until summer for the Zeiss 32mm, I returned it. I’ve since done some more research and bought a Fujifilm X-E1 and am very happy with it despite former protestations that I didn’t like the retro style cameras.

So I now have the Canon 5DII and the Fujifilm X-E1. We’re going on a business trip to the States soon, to Phoenix, and taking a few days before work starts to visit the Grand Canyon. I’ll take both cameras and do some comparison shots there and at the conference I’m going to. Should be interesting!

I’ve had a lot of good advice from this forum and hope to continue improving for many years to come!

 

[Doylem]

I wasn’t interested in photography as a kid (I was given a Box Brownie... but it was rubbish). I got through art college without taking a single photo. It was only when I started dealing in small antiques that I decided to get a camera. In those pre-eBay days, I used to publish quarterly catalogues. A relative came back from a holiday, having bought an SLR, duty-free, which he sold to me. For a couple of years my trusty Minolta SRT101B sat on a tripod in a spare bedroom, as I photographed glass and ceramics on a home-made ‘light table’.

One day, on a whim, I decided to take the camera outside. My first pix were of urban subjects, urban dereliction, the ‘fag packet in a mud puddle’ school of photography. I worked on a photographic magazine for seven years. Great fun, but my own photography really only got started when I left to go freelance. Having interviewed a lot of photographers, I had plenty of inspiration. When I started selling articles to magazines, it was easier to supply a package of words ‘n’ pix. Better money too.

My photography improved... but slowly. My workhorse, for twenty years, was a Nikon FE, a great little camera. The big change came when I realised that photography was all about light. I slowed down, looked more intently, and adopted a kind of ‘zen‘ approach: making no demands, having no expectations, just going out with my camera (Nikon D200, 18-70 lens) and tripod to see what I could see.

So I was a late starter and a slow learner. I’ve signed up to the photographic adventure for life, though I feel I’m currently in a bit of a photographic trough... particularly as I’m having to stay close to home for the next few months. Before the year is out, though, I’ll be ‘taking to the road’, probably with a new camera outfit, and doing photography (and writing) full-time.

Oh, and thanks for the name-checks, folks. If my pix have given some little encouragement over the years, then that’s fine with me.

 

[MacCruiskeen]

I don't remember my first camera--I think it was some type of Kodak Brownie I got handed when I was six or seven. Shortly after that I got an Argus C3--the ubiquitous "brick". This was likely around 1971-72 or thereabouts. I learned to do darkroom work at summer camp--I still have some of my prints from that time. Then my dad let me use his old Agfa Silette because he just bought himself a Nikon F. He gave me the Nikon for my bar mitzvah. I still have it and the Silette, though the Agfa is no longer winding properly. I still use the Nikon, though now it shares space on a shelf with about a dozen other cameras ranging from plastic toys to 4x5's.

 

[quasinormal]

Kodak instamatic in the sixties. I got my first adjustable camera, a Minolta Himatic 7S in 1971 along with a cheap Vinson enlarger. A couple of years later my parents bought me a Yashica 6x6 twin lens.

When I started work, I bought myself a Nikkormat FTN with a f1.4 lens and 200mm f4 nikkor, followed by a Mamiya 330 twin lens. About this time I started a photography traineeship with a media outlet. My first supplied cameras were a Nikon F with a 50mm, 24mm and 135mm, Mamiya 220 with 55mm, 80mm, 180mm and Metz 502 flash. No meter was supplied- tri-x film was shot in full sunlight at 250th at f16, overcast but bright at f8 etc etc. I used guide numbers for the Metz flash and f8 to f4 for bouncing off the corners and walls of rooms.

I lost interest after about 15 years of working in photography. It was very competitive, especially in the last 5 years i spent as a freelance, and i didn't like the stress. i was more interested in the written word by then anyway. I now have a Canon Ixus P and S for the sole purpose of emailing my elderly mother pictures.

 

[Designer Dale]

With no disrespect meant to the young, it's nice to read that many of us have been involved in photography for a very long time. In the Internet age, 20 years or longer is, like, before the dawn of time...

Dale