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What first got you started?
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With all the new members joining the site daily, got me wondering what first got
them started on the photography route? There doesn’t seem to be a particular age at
which people decide, there seems to be a lot a younger people joining in which is
really great to see, and hopefully they will find a life long hobby that brings much
pleasure.I was lucky in that my Dad was well into photography and there were always cameras
in my life, it was not unusual and we were always encouraged to take photographs, my
Dad loved to tell us the workings of the cameras in great detail which went right over
our heads but planted the seeds of interest all the same.When I was growing up in the 50’s a lot of my friends had never seen a camera!! Let
alone owned one and it was a big deal when the family was dressed in their Sunday best
for a trip to the photographers for a family portrait……god that makes me sound so old!I think with the digital age it encouraged more people to have a go, especially when it went
hand in hand with computers, even more so today with cameras being so much more affordable.So I guess my ponderings lead to this……….What first got you started?
It was my cousin’s wedding a couple of years ago. I had bought my first digicam a while before, for general family and travel use.
At the wedding, I took quite a few impromptu shots, spending some time shadowing the professional tog. My cousin lives in England, and she was returning back three days after the wedding, before they were due to go on honeymoon. I arranged to have the best of my shots printed and put on a videoCD before she left Ireland, otherwise she would have gone back to London wih no evidance the wedding except the ring!
Anyway, the day that she was to fly out, she dropped over to my house to collect the shots. She ended up crying because the pictures were much better than expected and she could not believe that she had something so good to bring back to show friends and neighbours. At that point it hit me that here was something I could do that could give great pleasure to others.
To finish off, I photographed her younger sister’s wedding in October 2008. The same pro ‘tog was there and I made sure I ran my intents past him first. This time around, I printed the best shots into a book and presented this to them, with the same results of wet eyes. That’s great motivation to keep at this hobby.
I’ve always loved capturing the moments. and having quite a few friends saying that I’m quite good at makes me just feel better and more confident about it. I suppose the feeling of gratitude you get off people when they are looking at the pictures and can’t stop looking at them! Sounds very vain probably but that’s what friends are for, to make you feel better! Love putting myself to the test all the time to come up with good pictures for that! :)
I couldn’t draw for s**t but wanted to create images. When digital became a viable option I took the leap. Still can’t draw though.
Alan.
PS – no tears I’m afraid :cry:
Well I got started a few years back now after doing
a charity cycle ride from my village to Malin Head
I was cycling along a road that I would have travelled on
at least once a week in the car and never noticed the
scenery that I was passing buy.I said to myself I was going to
get myself a decent camera and photograph all these places
that are on my own doorstep.
Then of course I joined PI and met up with the Arrow
and things have gone down hill from there :lol: :lol:It is really interesting to hear how and when the bug bit, without a doubt the digital age
has created a whole generation of people that own cameras, and be it someone badgering
you to take pictures, wanting to create art, capturing memories or even just trying it out
of sheer boredom!Keep them coming I love to hear your stories :)
Hi Jenny,
That’s an interesting question.
I cannot remember a time when there wasn’t a camera in our family.
The first camera I can vividly remember was the Box Brownie and I
seem to recall small square black and white photographs.A Kodak Instamatic is the next I can recall and what I seem to remember
is a cube flash that caused an explosion to create light.The first camera I remember owning was a tiny thing with 110 film in a
cartridge.
The negatives were the size of a small fingernail.
I think it was an Agfa and I still have a few of the negatives.I worked in Gorey during the 80s and I met an excellent photographer
called Sean Leacy.
He procured for me a Pentax K1000 with a 50mm lens that was an unwanted
present. 50 punts.
I added 28mm and 135mm lenses, polarisers, developing tanks, trays, developer,
fixer, stop bath, enlarger, safe light, millions of magazines and a library of books.The house kinda filled up then and trying to earn a living took over.
I continued to shoot colour negatives but was constantly disappointed with
the prints I got back from the chemists.I 2003 we bought a Sony 3.2MP compact digital camera and this little gem
got me restarted in the joys of photography.
It came with Photoshop Elements 2.
My first efforts at processing and printing were crude but being able to
make photographs from start to finish was exhilarating.In 2004, after serious research, I got the Canon EOS 20d which I considered
to be the best camera of its type at the time.
It proved to be every bit as good as the reviews and I loved every minute I used it
until I purchased a second hand 40D through the for sale section of this site a few
months ago.I joined Wexford Camera Club in 2008 and Photography Ireland in March 2009.
Even though the seeds were sown many years ago I think this is what really got
me started.I have to say that the last year has been the most enjoyable time for my Photography.
I thank the members of Photography Ireland for helping to make that statement true.
Ta for posing the question Jenny.
John.
In 1993 I got my first taste of taking pictures and darkroom printing them while doing a crappy Architecture course.
Had no money at the time so didn’t continue taking pictures as I was broke (39 pound a week part time job in Dunnes Stores…)Around 1997 I bought a compact APS camera. Enjoyed taking pictures with it. I then saved up after a few years and bought an SLR. Have been shooting since enjoying it more and more each year
M
Ahh John the Box Brownie….my two older sisters got Box Brownies for their birthdays
and I remember every opportunity I could get I would sneak a hold of one :D and the
little flash cubes I remember them one flash on each side and it was sods law that you
would run out of them just when you needed one!! Great memories thanks for reminding
me :)I remember telling my mother when I was 16 that I wanted to be a photographer, even though I’d no experience or didn’t even own a camera. After a few sobering words, I went on to do computer programming in college.
But a few years ago I took my fathers very old digital camera to Milan (A point and click that didn’t even have zoom capability. The camera that is, not Milan). I said to myself “I’m going to give this a real go, try to take good photographs, not just snapshots. I liked what came out and it went from there.
I got started after a trip across America in 2008. We drove from New York to LA and stopped off at places like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. A friend gave me a lend of his bridge camera and I got hooked instantly. I just wish I could have another go at those locations now!
My Mum got me a camera for my birthday in about 1962 when I was 12 years old. I spent ages trying to creep up on birds to photograph them (the feathered kind!). I did my first darkroom work in the school camera club, then drifted away from photography. Always had a camera handy of course, but I was disappointed with the lousy results from postal photo companies. I know now that the ISO was suited to sunny conditions, but didn’t know that then. Came back about seven years ago through digital, got interested in film again too and video as well. Decided to do things properly this time round, so I looked for a course to do and ended up doing HND Photography. Did an iMedia course too, started a website and I’m now studying for a degree in Creative Imaging. All from my little camera with the Magi-cube X flash bulbs! Thanks Mum!
Living in small town with no gallery, no magazines or no influences, the most accessible form of high quality photography to me then was album covers. I loved the big 12″ sleeve and inserts, sometimes gatefold covers. The artwork of U2’s Unforgettable Fire really struck a chord with me when I bought it in 1984, I was 16-17 years old then when it was in the charts. The front is lovely but the rear and insert really blew me away.
I got a Halina 2000 compact camera, then ‘upgraded’ to a Zenith 12XP and then learned to use a darkroom. We were lucky to have one in my secondary school but I used my parents bathroom mostly. I experimented doing night scenes, blurred and abstract stuff. Probably a load of crap. Then I bought a Nikon FM after a long time saving. It was a magic camera and a magic time for me moving into portraits.
My Dad has been a photographer since i was a kid so there was always cameras about – in my teens i would borrow them but with film you couldn’t click off 100 shots so i guess i left it there for a while – he was probably half broke paying for the dud’s I was shooting could be another reason :) Since then had the odd point and shoot in between. A few years ago borrowed my dad’s digital Slr and been hooked since.
:D Really enjoying these stories! Seems parents had quite an input on some of us too.
bigalguitarpicker wrote:My Mum got me a camera for my birthday in about 1962 when I was 12 years old. I spent ages trying to creep up on birds to photograph them (the feathered kind!). :lol: …… All from my little camera with the Magi-cube X flash bulbs! Thanks Mum!
Aww nice!
Keep em coming!
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