in about 1966 I got a Kodak Instamatic 126 and started taking snaps - living in Hong Kong at the time. Then in about 1969 I got a Exa 1a fitted with a 200mm lens, to shoot aircraft at the local airport as that was my thing. The Exa taught me a lot about exposure, as it was fully manual (obviously Dasd actually taught me but I learned more by trial and error). Then in about 1971 Dad gave me my first Pentax, an SV I think, with a separate meter on top linked to the speed dial. That, with a small but growing set of lenses, became the basis for my obsession with Pentaxes and culminated in a large collection, enhanced when I inherited all my dad's cameras. I didn't venture into medium format until after he died in 1988, when I learnt to use his Bronco SQ-A and then I later acquired a Bronica ETRS. I used film cameras exclusively, mostly the Pentaxes but also a nice Minolta outfit, until 2005 when I bought my first digital camera, a Nikon D300.
In terms of processing, Dad taught me B&W processing and printing back in the early 1970's, which I carried on doing until the late 90's off and on, lparticularly when my first wife took an A level, then HND then degree in photography so we built up a pretty substantial darkroom setup. I've not done any processing and printing at home since the early 2000's, but have all the kit stashed in my garage and will do again one of these days.