Do you shoot a type of photography you never desired to when you started?

oFUNGUSo · Oct 21, 2015

not yet........but weddings sounds about the worst to me.

However, the first time I get offered money to shoot a wedding my thoughts will probably change :345:

The_Traveler · Oct 21, 2015

Please read this thread about, another contest that will allow you to tell why you love/like what you shoot.
Why do you photograph what you do? | Photography Forum

Village Idiot · Oct 22, 2015

PJoneil said:
I'm sure this may sound like a funny question to some of you and I'm new here so this is my first ever thread started, whoohoo! But I was thinking back on when I first picked up a camera with an interest besides snapshots. Back in 2011 I was a doorgunner on a UH-60 black hawk helicopter in Baghdad, Iraq and I bought a fujifilm finepix s3300, lol. It was all I could get on base and I had no clue back then. But anyways I would take all kinds of pictures on my adventures from the countryside to just random shots. But one thing I repeatedly told my friends was that I never wanted to mess with portrait photography because I thought it was boring. Well I realized earlier today that now portrait style photography is actually my favorite type to capture. I don't mean the typical sit in front of a backdrop and say cheese. Those really are kind of boring. I like portraits with personality. But I never thought I would be shooting that over other types of photography. I know some on here may not be big fans of certain types of photography, but "to each his own". I guess you never really know where photography will take you. I still want to learn more about the other areas of interest though like wildlife, nature and landscapes and it seems we have a lot of talent in those areas in these forums, so I am in luck. I was just curious if anybody else has found themselves in a similar situation like mine.

Hi friend!

When I first starting shooting in high school I had a Minolta film DSLR my parents bought. I shoot a lot of frames of people but with nothing more than ambient and nothing more than a passing interest. I was just into general photography shooting this and that and my main interest was wasting a lot of film.

Fast forward to my first DSLR, a hand me down Canon 300D. I wanted to shoot cars and what not. I did start photographing people more, but they were just doing their thing. I kind of got an itch to shoot "street photos". At this point I still knew nothing of lighting and figured that flashes were for chumps who couldn't master natural light.

Eventually I was able to afford my own brand new 30D with my new government contract job. I distinctly remember being at a good friend's house while her and her sorority sisters were getting ready to go out on for my Birthday on St Pat's. I was photographing them and enjoying the process. I also ended up taking photos of mostly people that afternoon as we were walking from bar to bar. At some point one of the girls asked me if I wanted to take photos of her so she could send them to her husband in basic training and I unwittingly obliged.

One evening we met up and I started shooting. I was slightly nervous as the poses were disastrously awkward and the photos were turning out terrible from crappy ambient in a 100 year old house. I ended up turning the photos over and thinking that there has to be a better way of doing this and that maybe those flash kooks were on to something.

From a mutual photographer friend who I asked about lighting, some online research, and the drive to do good at everything I do, I found Strobist. That was about the time that Strobist had first started and before it was a world wide phenomenon. After reading the blog and purchasing about $150 worth of lighting gear on a limited budget, I learned to light. After that it was all over. All I wanted to do was shoot people and light things. Ever since that day I've pretty much considered myself a portrait photographer.

And then there's weddings...don't get me started on those.

Village Idiot · Oct 25, 2015

oFUNGUSo said:
not yet........but weddings sounds about the worst to me.

However, the first time I get offered money to shoot a wedding my thoughts will probably change

I was in the same boat until one day I woke up and asked myself how I became a wedding photographer. They can be fun if you get creative.

The_Traveler · Oct 25, 2015

Essay contest open at Official 'Why I shoot what I do' essay contest - open now, closes Dec 1 | Photography Forum

JDB1911 · Oct 25, 2015

I never really thought I would shoot sports, but I have found myself shooting a variety of different types of athletes ever since that 100-400mm Canon lens landed on my doorstep.