You tend to pick up a camera because you are doing something or are somewhere that generates the thought "Oh! I WISH I had a camera with me!" So, you get a camera for 'next time'. Then you start snapping stuff with it. Becomes a habbit.
Then, you start looking at your pictures, and thinking... bad move... and I think this is about where you are in your photographic progression at the moment.... and you start thining... oh... that's dissapointing.... how can I get something BETTER.... and its down hill from there on. You have lost the nievity; nothing will quite deliver the same joy, as when it just happened.
However... from there, you start getting more enthusiastic about your photography, and theres a lot of push and shove. You do something, get a picture, wonder how to do it better; learn something or buy something... makes you wonder a bit, and you try something new... and you go round the cycle, re-iteratively, developing your craft and expanding your kit. Ultimately, and synically... there's two ultimate conclusions.
First, the enthusiasm burns out, and you go back to being a casual photographer; OR you find a specialisation, often taking photo's for thier own sake, or for the sake of persuing your favoured activity, rather than, as you started, because there was something 'interesting' you wanted a photo of.
My Bag? Well... um.. I think I have gone around the houses a few times... and still am!
I started out, conventionally, given that little Olympus XA2 for my tenth birthday to take Holiday Photo's. My parents had divorsed, & my Dad's Canadian, so was about to be jetting half way around the world every holiday, seeing stuff my Dad, thought I might like pictures of.
When I went to Uni, my Dad then gave me a hand-me-down Olympus OM10 SLR, which he thought would be useful if I wanted to get a bit more 'interested' in photography, and to photo all the stuff I would be getting up to as a student.
So, I have done and still do a bit of rock-gig photography. Here you go:
Scanning lets it doen; but College Band, back in 1992 ish.
Taken couple of weeks ago; a Thin-Lizzy tribute act at my local. Taken, BTW on an old pocket compact.
I have other photo's from my student era I just cant post.... well... I COULD... but I dont really want to trigger the NSFW flag! Plenty of Rag-Week High-Jinx. But? Other things we did, just randomly; from deciding to go bungee jumping, to rock climbing or whatever.
I'm a bloke. Motors? Well I'm a biker and I studied engineering; we were all into our bikes and or cars. I actually raced. So more photo's of bike and car 'stuff'; shows, rally's races, whatever.
Early outing with my first SLR; The British Motorcycle Grand-Prix at Donnington 1990, That was the 500 class winner Keven Schwantz
A little more recently, 'Bike Night' at the Vic with my O/H.
My little bothers school play, I think about 1993
My daughter & her freinds ice-skating a few weeks ago.
And thats six... all the pics I can put in one post..... but... capturing 'interesting stuff' (to me at least) when I've been there and done it.
THAT is 'My Bag'. My camera is my companion in what I do.. not what I do!
I do have hundreds, maybe thousands of photo's I have taken, exploring the persuit; portraits, landcapes; still life's; macro-photo's; I even have a hoard of pre-digital dark-room manipululations; montages, multiple exposures; tinting & toning experiments.... and even more in digital since the desk-top-dark-room has made it so much faster and easier!
I have explored an awfully wide range of photographic avenues, 'playing' seeing what is possible, what I like, what works for me; but ultimately... I keep coming back to taking pictures of the stuff I am doing or what interests me from whats going on around me; getting back to why I first picked up a camera in the first place, trying to rediscover that simple 'joy' of a 'Snap-Shot'.
Although... suppose it is worth a mention. Ran out of photo's to illustrate it though... probably just as well.... but the inevitable collission of interests; as an engineer, doing mechanics, repairing or renovating my bikes and Land-Rover's, offering advice on the forums; when Digital came along, I had this brain wave... "Why dont I just take a photo and show them?"... which lead to doing photo-essays, to illustrate service procedures or to record complete projects... BUT, really still just snapping what interests me of whats going on around me!
So I'm a generalist; a very enthusiastic 'casual' photographer.
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