What pulled you in?

[John27]

1. What got you into photography?

I have several family members (two in particular) who are excellent photographers. The shots they took were awe inspiring, and I was always captured by how well you could preserve a memory with a capable capable and a capable photographer. My grandfather in particular, who has some amazing pictures from his vacations. You know, just simple vacation snapshots, only his are breathtaking high quality images shot with his dust old Minolta 35mm film SLR!

My then-girlfriend (now wife) has been behind a camera as long as I've known her. When we first started dating, I bought her this little point and shoot camera at Circuit City, a fujifilm. She never let it go. She shot and shot and shot, but I also noticed how talented she was and how much she loved taking picture. Not the usual 'take pictures of my food and post it to facebook' stuff either. She was reading articles and stuff on framing photographs, rule of thirds, and trying to learn to use Photoshop as well. (Well, the GiMP, didn't have Photoshop yet). Well, I kind of had a desire, and she definitely did, so I figured she should have better tools for the job. So, for one Christmas, I got her a T1i (with 18-55 kit lens), bag, extra battery, filters, SD cards, and my grandfather gave her his favorite aluminum manfrotto tripod. It's been fun ever since, for the both of us! We've been learning together, and shooting together. She shoots a lot more than I do, though.

2. What was the first picture you took? (Once you got into it)

Well, that T1i was our first DSLR. Once we got it all setup we took pictures of the box it came in, her aquarium, and a stray niece that she was babysitting for her older brother. Just snapshots, getting a feel for the controls of the camera. The first picture I'm proud of? That would be a panorama I shot at a river. It's not very good, and it was in the middle of summer (harsh lighting and plain, green leaves), but it was the first time I sat down with a tiny bit of knowledge and intentionally 'made a photograph'.


3. What was your first interest? (Landscape, People, Sports, ect.)

I love landscape and wildlife photography. I love nature, and I love observing nature. I REALLY enjoy sitting under a tree with plain colored clothing on and waiting for hours to see what wildlife might trot by and not notice me. Even if I never get a good shot, it's a lot of fun. I used to hunt, but it's an expensive hobby and I have too many expensive hobbies, and I have just as much fun (if not more!) shooting with a camera as I would shooting with a rifle (and then needing to pay to have the animal processed, plus tags, etc.) I'd actually love to one day get a better wildlife lens (one with a silent and fast autofocus, and a good sharp telephoto), and climb in one of those old wooden deer stands I used when I was a kid, don my camouflage and scent-free deodorant and shampoo, and spend the weekend hunting with a Canon!

My wife prefers people and portraits though. People doing things, candid shots, portraits, that sort of stuff. Ironically, she is not much of a people person at all, she is very shy. I, however, have zero stage fright (never have, I've talked in front of some very big crowds before and it didn't bother me a bit), love people, get along with almost anyone, and absolutely love interacting with and talking to new people. Yet I prefer to take pictures of the animals, and she prefers to take pictures of the people!

4. What brand do you prefer? (Canon, Nikon, Olympus, ect.)

Well, I'm not much into brand-bashing. Canon vs Nikon, Apple vs PC, AMD vs Intel, Harley-Davidson vs Metric, it's all silly and it hurts competition. If nobody was loyal to any brand, then companies would be even more forced to push for newer and better things. When is the last time a major politician campaigned in a really hardcore Red or Blue state? They don't, because they cannot win their vote no matter WHAT they bring to the table. They either have it or they don't. There is a demographic out there that will stick to ONE brand and ONE brand only, no matter what, and so those companies do not have to compete for their business, they simply 'have it', and will focus more on demographics OTHER than them.

THAT SAID, I shoot Canon. One piece of advice I got was pick a brand, and stick with it. That way you don't have to maintain two lens collections, or rebuild a collection after switching bodies. If, one day, when I'm ready to upgrade to a full frame body Nikon had something that was so excellent it would be worth throwing away all of my lenses and accessories (or, rather, selling them on craigslist for a sharp discount over what I paid), I would consider it. I simply chose Canon because that's what my aforementioned family members all shoot, and so they can be of better help to me if they know what I'm shooting. (I've also had the privilege of mounting some of their L glass on our camera.. WOW!)

The only caveat, is that I tend to stick with brands that are more popular. The reason being, those brands have lots of support and accessories available. If something goes wrong, it's happened to someone else before and you can probably find a forum post somewhere on how to fix it. If you need a weird niche accessory, you aren't going to find it for a barely-known third-party. That's within reason of course, things where those same truths might not hold I'll freely pick from any popular brand (like things that I wouldn't NEED accessories or support for!)

-John

 

[onelove]

1. What got you into photography?
When I was 8 I found a camera in my parent's closet, a Kodak Brownie. I had fun taking pictures and seeing them after they were developed. Processing and printing the whole roll cost a dollar and Kodak sent you a free roll of film with the finished pictures.

2. What was the first picture you took? (Once you got into it)
Same year, same camera but the first one I developed and printed my self; a badly processed, poorly exposed, very blurry 4X5 print of my neighbor trying to shoot a basketball. I still have it from 52 years ago.

3. What was your first interest? (Landscape, People, Sports, etc.)
I was drawn to the darkroom. I didn't care what the image was, the magic happened in the dark. I loved the quiet, the smell, the process...everything about it. I'm exclusivly digital now, but I still miss the darkroom.

4. What brand do you prefer? (Canon, Nikon, Olympus, etc.)
In reality, it is not the camera, it is the image that counts. Right now I work with a Canon DSLR but over the years I've used everything from a 110 instamatic to an 11X14 view cam. I still have a Mamiya RB67 kit that I used for studio and fashion work. I should sell it to someone who would use it.