What's Your Story?

[itsjustbreality]

Ex-sailor. Most of that story's NSFW.
Almost always had a camera with me but really started to get serious about wildlife photography a couple years ago. Still just an amateur.
The largest thing I've had to overcome is my G.A.S. I'm afflicted by it with all my hobbies.

I have GAS too! (Haha). It's so hard to stay realistic and focus on what you need rather than what you want. Thank you for sharing!

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[itsjustbreality]

I bought my first camera, a Kodak 126 Instamatic, when I was about 12. I knew nothing about photography except I liked to take snapshots. When I was in high school, I decided to join the photography club and yearbook staff where I learned the basics of black & white development and printing. I used to borrow dad's Minolta SRT-101, so for my birthday (1975) he gave me a Minolta Hi-matic 7s rangefinder (I still have it). I quickly learned a few basics of setting exposures, and a few years later I got a Minolta SRT-201 SLR, but was still just taking a bunch of snaps.

A few years ago (2007 or so) I decided I wanted to get serious about the hobby and move to digital, so I bought a Nikon D40 (still my main camera) and a kit lens. I found a nice little free online course and picked up some good tips on composition, exposure and basic lighting. Soon afterward, I stumbled onto this place. I also started back to college on a part-time basis around this time. One semester, I wasn't able to get one of my geography classes for the time I needed (I was still working full time) so I took an art class. Then I took two more. Then I took three photography classes: two film and one digital.

I have no desire to make this a business. I have my sights on a full frame body and some decent glass, and hope to get at least one of them this year.

Thank you for sharing! It's so neat to see how people evolve from liking to just shoot photos/capturing memories to realizing there's so much more and fall in love with photography! Great story!

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[itsjustbreality]

I was introduced to photography during middle school where I instantly fell in love with it. My digital photography teacher shot weddings once in a while and we would always go over the images together. She was extremely talented and had an unbelievable amount of passion that instantly transferred to me. My parents bought my first canon dslr for me and from there it took off.

In High School, I joined the Yearbook staff in hopes to put my growing photography skills to use. I met a MaxPreps photographer at one of the sporting events I had to attend and he instantly took me under his wing. He taught me a lot about sports photography and how to produce better images. After that day, I knew I had finally found the kind of photography I wanted to focus in: sports.

Sports photography is pretty damn expensive if you want to get the best results so it took me a while. After two years in High School I had established my own business, was shooting on a 1dx with a 300mm f2.8, and worked for a few papers as well as MaxPreps. Things really blew up for me but I accredit a lot of my success to luck. I graduate from High School this year which is pretty scary because I've established myself quite well in this area. It's fantastic money and most people can't say they got paid to do what they love while in high school.

Well that's about it.

That's awesome! You are so fortunate to have found your passion so early, and find ways to develope your skills! I wish you success in your business!

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[itsjustbreality]

Draw and paint for many years, used photography for snapshots, ideas, and reference for paintings, had no interest in it. No, I am not going to share any paintings, moved on. Put painting down a little over a year ago. Picked up camera, signed up here, and learning. Still stumbling my way through it. I currently like analog photography over digital. Hopefully will be doing wet prints by end of year as the book, Negative, has me jonesing to make the process full circle.

Thank you for your background! Film photography is beautiful. It just makes you feel like you captured a moment and time, and the images draw you back there. It's kind of like LP vs mp3! I wish I had the patience to do film! I wish you success in your journey, and can't wait to see more of your work!

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[itsjustbreality]

Played at photograpy (nothing serious) till after college. In 1972 bought my first weekly newspaper, which quickly grew to 3. I learned on the run, all things photography including darkroom skills. 6 years later I sold out and changed direction. Photography pretty much took a back seat to everything else for years. About 2 years ago I started to dabble and it's now become an obsession (according to my wife).

That's great! Thank you for your story! It's such a wonderful thing to be able to be so passionate about something. I'm similar in that photography also took a back seat for a while, but that fire has been reignited! Great to meet folks here with that same fire!

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