SteveW8703 wrote:
I'm old lol, I started in high school back in 1977 work with film and only B&W. I still have all my work. My camera back then was Minolta 101. Then moved to Canon A1. I was a lucky student, my dad was a photographer with a dark room in the garage. I sometimes finish my HS projects at home. I did take up digital photography right way. I'd love to read other members history in photography
I started as a pawn. During family gatherings, they found I was good at following instructions and quickly adapt to situations. So who ever brought a camera would pass it on to me to document the event.
That got extended to events they go to, like graduations etc. Nobody minds a little kid with a camera entering off access areas, so I tend to get close and get shots they will not be able to otherwise.
An aunt bought a video camera, and for some reason, I became the default operator on all the family & friends get together. From baptism, to marriages and to funerals, this kid lugs around a beast of a camera. Been at it long enough I learned how to swap dominant eyes and keep peripheral info while focused at shooting.
Suffice to say, because of the exposure, the love for photography grew on me as I too grew. My father who was an architect is pretty much into the classic forms of art, like painting, sculptures etc, which he tries to pass on to me but he wasn't much into photography and only own a Kodak 110, which I'd use whenever I can. My best friend, now deceased, used to say I loved photography too much, that I'd use my last coin to buy film.
My very first camera was a gift. A 110 spy camera. Getting the correct lighting for it was a gamble so i made a light meter from a cardboard box and bond paper. It was rudimentary but it worked.
During my teens, I often borrow a friends' Yashica SLR, but the very first 35mm I saved for was a Vivitar. Later, as life goes on, I managed to have other still, action & video cameras and a drone.
I've never had a hand on developing film, but to some degree was privy to the knowledge. One of my best friends family business was video rentals & photography. They have a studio and developing room. We hanged a lot in his place, sometimes helping out with sales.
Presently I'm working as an in-house Graphic Designer for a large retail store. We used to have a lot Nikon & Canon so we got good training and updates on those although presently that part of the business have mellowed out. Product photography and documentation is the majority of shoots I do at work, but other aspects like modeling also props up every now and then.
Outside, I click whenever there's an itch, and as a hobby, that would be shooting anything under the sun,
mainly running a D610 & a D7200