What drove you to do photography?

mrshaleyberg · Sep 8, 2010

I'm just curious what made people really want to get into it. I've always been into photography. Since I was about 12. I bought my first camera when I got my first job at 15, and since then I've loved taking pictures..

But what really got me into photography was when I went to a photographer to get pictures of my son taken. I didn't feel at the time that I had a nice enough camera, nor the ability to take professional like pictures..Until I saw her work..And got screwed over! This woman charged me $100 dollars for an hour shoot..Ok..She took about 200 pictures.

I was so excited to see the pictures! I paid her, got the cd, and when I went home to look, boy was I MAD! She gave me 15 pictures..Out of the 200+ that she took. Mainly all she did was change the color to black and white, or sepia. She put a vignette around several and pretty much called it quits. Now when I see her work, there is so much wrong with what she does! High contrast, overexposed pictures is all I see. I feel so bad for the people that actually go through her! But thanks to her, I decided to do all my own pictures of my son, and others.

So...What drove you to do photography?

white · Sep 8, 2010

mrshaleyberg said:
So...What drove you to do photography?

so i can make teh arts

LCARSx32 · Sep 8, 2010

For me it was Journalism class in high school. They sent us to all of the football games and I had a blast taking shots of the team (not that we ever won, lol.) That was my first experience with a SLR camera, an old Nikon (sorry didn't pay attention to model or lenses, lol). I couldn't believe I could take pictures that looked like that. It was amazing. I've been hooked ever since.

Good thread, btw. :thumbup::thumbup:

White: You mean so you can try to "make teh arts". lol j/k. :mrgreen:

BKMOOD · Sep 8, 2010

I went to film school. Once upon a time one of my screenplays was made into a horrific movie. That day I vowed that the next movie with my name on it would be directed by me. If it was going to suck, let it be my suck instead of the suck of a no talent director.

I took up photography to sharpen my visual eye (planning to direct). People started paying me. I started shooting more. More people started paying me. The cycle goes on. Now I have 14 cameras. I shoot digital and film. I shot Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus... I lost track of the lens number.

I'm still planning to direct my feature, perhaps in the spring of 2011. In the meantime, people keep paying me so I keep shooting.

mrshaleyberg · Sep 8, 2010

BKMOOD said:
I went to film school. Once upon a time one of my screenplays was made into a horrific movie. That day I vowed that the next movie with my name on it would be directed by me. If it was going to suck, let it be my suck instead of the suck of a no talent director.

I took up photography to sharpen my visual eye. People started paying me. I started shooting more. More people started paying me.

I'm still planning to direct my feature, perhaps in the spring of 2011. In the meantime, people keep paying me so I keep shooting.

Ha ha! Can't complain about getting paid!

Sam6644 · Sep 8, 2010

the money.

definitely the money.

I heard somewhere that newspapers are where the money's at and I've never looked back.

DxAxN · Sep 8, 2010

No real event that drove me to it...it just interested me.

sovietdoc · Sep 8, 2010

being able to see a great picture, and share that experience with those who werent there

LaFoto · Sep 8, 2010

Maybe it was because for all my life I'd seen my dad and uncle take photos - of us, on commission for others, I had access to their darkroom, could watch the photos show up on paper in the developer and all ... though it took me MANY years after that to really start to LIKE photography and begin to feel mildly confident with my own. It's a favourite pasttime, I've never been in it for the money. I don't make any money with it, either. But I like to express myself, and since I am no good at drawing or painting or rhyming... hm ... it turned to be photography.

crimbfighter · Sep 8, 2010

When I was growing up, I always used to peer over the counter of the old 60's vintage Nikkor lenses and Nikon Bodies my dad had, and just gaze upon them in amazement. After years being absent from that environment, I decided to pick it up and see why I was so fascinated with my dads stuff. I eventually figured it out. I now use photography to capture moments in time that were amazing to me, so every time I look back at them, I am struck with the same emotions I had when I clicked the shutter button. That's what does if for me. I'll never be in this for the money, that only ruins a good hobby, for me anyway.

dak1b · Sep 8, 2010

my creativity and passion for images and beyond!

Buckster · Sep 8, 2010

When I was about 10, I saw a neighbor looking down into the hood of a fancy looking little box with two lenses on it. He was a retired Navy veteran, and had already showed me how to braid rope and tie various knots, which was really cool for me (I was a boy scout at the time).

Gabby and inquisitive, I had to know all about what he was doing, and he was kind enough to fill me in. He let me look down into it and gaze with wonder at the image on the ground glass of his TLR (I wish I could remember what brand/model it was). Then he spent probably a couple of hours with me tagging along, explaining about focus and aperture and shutter speed and so on. He was one of those folks that's a natural teacher, and made it easy to understand the basics, though I wouldn't fully understand them for years.

In any case, that was the trigger, and soon after that I bought my first camera. I've had the bug ever since, and I'm 51 years old now.

Blake.Oney · Sep 8, 2010

Oh lord. Faced with the question, I honestly couldn't tell you how early. The earliest I remember was maybe when I was about 5 and got my Ninja Turtle 110 film camera. I took pictures of everything. It had a static Ninja Turtle that would be in the corner of every picture. A few camera's and about 5 or 6 years later I got a Kodak 110 camera. It was flat and the flash folded down and clipped on the front of the body. I don't remember the model, but I remember that it was auto wind and that made me feel like it was a big deal haha. I really started getting into then. I kept getting camera's and when I was I think 15 or 16 my mom got me a Kodak point and shoot that used that Advantix film. That's when I *started* learning about composition and shooting moving objects, along with film speed among other things. I didn't realize how much I learning, or what exactly it was at the time, but looking back I really did learn a lot about what makes a picture look good. That camera was also bulky and looked like an SLR. I wanted an SLR, but didn't know why. I just knew the pro's used them, but my mom got me that one. I was kind of bummed, but excited too. After that I got into film. I had a couple video cameras and a Canon Gl1, but ultimately I wasn't very good at it. I sold my stuff and bought a DSLR. I started researching and learning more and now I'm here. Sorry for the book, but it was the only way I could really explain where it started, which was when I was about 5 I guess.

ceomom703 · Sep 8, 2010

I've always been fascinated with the ability to capture a moment in time. Even as a child, looking at photographs would stir different emotions and memories.

Looking at other people's photographs allowed me to see what they saw - a little slice of their experience. Two people can take a photo at the same time yet capture completely different things. How can two people take the same shot and yet one is a snapshot and the other a work of art that stirs emotions -- this amazes me!

I started taking snap shots when was about 12 and have never stopped. I want to document my life and everything around me. I've not quite gotten pass the snapshot level but I keep trying.

AgentDrex · Sep 8, 2010

As a kid, my grandma would let me use her camera. It was some 35mm film camera and I must have used hundreds of dollars of film with that thing. My uncle was into (and still is) Pentax cameras and so I got to use that on occasion. But no one of them knew how to use a camera themselves and I didn't use the cameras for much more than a summer of my childhood. Come early adulthood, I went to a small community college and ended up becoming a workstudy in the computer lab. They had a small p&s that I would use every now and again. Still I learned nothing. Then in January 2008, I found out about TPF. That's when I really started developing a passion for photography. Its this place that holds special significance in my life. Thank you all for helping me grow in this hobby of mine.