How did you all get into photography??

i started through my love of Cars & Car cleaning. with going to lots of shows all over and cleaning the cars i got sick of taking pictures with my phone, i wanted more from my pictures.

so ive gone for a Canon 350D and its a slow learning curve so far :(
 
No, life begins at 50 (Well 51 really!)

Saw some of the pics my mate steveinspain took, bought one of his prints at an exhbition then tried to use his inspiration with my fuji finepix and quickly realised both I and the camera were rubbish! He loaned me his 30D with the 17-55 IS lens in January and I was hooked. 2 weeks ago I got my own 30D with a kit lens and realised that I really want to learn how to use it well. And, guess what - I want the 17-55 IS as well (and a macro lens and .....)

I've entered both rounds of POTY and want to do the whole year (and I got 10 votes in January - beginners luck methinks)

So, thanks Steve for the inspiration, the loan of the kit and for calming me down when I thought the computer had eaten your Sandisk III 4G card!!!
 
I got in to photography sometime just before new year and i am loving it.

My dad brought the whole family an FUJIFILM FinePix S6500fd which i sort of picked up and started really liking taking photographs of different things and wanted to get my skills up.

I was first really in to landscapes but now it is 50/50 with city life and that sort of stuff.

I got photoshop which made me go "BOBOWARWARSMEBOB" with enjoyment and i love playing around with that :)

That is me really :)

T_G
 
Started life in electronics, then moved into Audio engineering, then radio then concert production (yes, I was a roadie for a while) then into TV camerawork, which I did for about 15 years or so (also worked as a director).

I always wanted to work on the F1 scene, which I did, but after about four years of F1 (plus BTCC on alternate weekends) I jacked it all in and moved to stills.............which is where I am now.
 
I was an aircraft geek when i was a kid, I wanted to be an RAF pilot (which, clearly never happened!) and used to go to 10+ airshows a year. I wanted to take shots of the planes and its not really possible with a little point and shoot, or at least it wasn't in the early 90's!

I saved money from my paper round for over a year and bought a second hand Minolta XG-SE SLR. I had no clue what I was doing, but it got me closer to my beloved aeroplanes so I was happy! Then, when I got a bit older I realised hat there was a little more to it and started to read a few books on the subject, I upgraded to an EOS 300, (thus starting a relationship with Canon). I was asked to cover a friends wedding, informally - which was scary, but i agreed and got some great shots which really pushed me on and gave me confidence. Then, last year I bought a 30D and have since spent just about all of my spare income on bits of kit!

In fairness, there are some who would say that very much like that 13 yr old with his Minolta, I still don't really know what I'm doing - still love learning and trying though!

K.
 
Darryn said:
When i was 20ish, i bought a Kyocera S4 iirc, to take photos of things to sell on eBay or QXL. Then in 2000ish I attended my first British F1 GP, i got some really bad photos from the grandstand, the year after i again attended but took a MiniDV camcorder and shot some really bad video footage...

From these 2 years i decided i enjoyed taking photos and video wasnt fun to shoot, so i decided to upgrade my poxy old Kyocera compact... this took the form of saving January-June to buy an new piece of kit to take to the July F1 Event. :) This has continued year on year to form the following pattern.

2003 = Canon IXUS V3 Digital
2004 = Canon 300D + Canon EF75-300
2005 = Canon 300D + Canon EF75-300 / Canon 20D + EF100-400L
2006 = Canon 20D + EF100-400L / Canon 1dmkII + EF300f2.8IS
2007 = Canon 1dmkII + EF300f2.8IS +1.4xTC / Canon 5D + EF70-200f2.8IS

This year im taking

2008 = Canon 1dmkII + EF300f2.8IS +1.4xTC / Canon 1dmkII + EF70-200f2.8IS

And next year im hoping to be taking, unless of course Canon finally either fix or discountinue the 1dmkIII and release a 1dmkIV which i may be forced to upgrade too.

2009? = Canon 1dmkII + EF400f2.8IS / Canon 1dmkII + EF500f4IS +1.4xTC
Click to expand...

Oh to have money !!!! :razz:
 
Always had a camera for snapping and holiday pics - instamatic ones with the flash cubes, APS film, and then a compact digital. My motto was (and still is) "never take one photo when five will do" - but I was ruthless about discarding all the prints that didn't make it into the albums.

Anyway, when planning our first African holiday to Namibia, in October 2007, I realised I'd want something with more scope for the landscapes and wildlife. So in January 2007 I got a 350D with the kit lens, and a Tamron 70-300 - figured that would give me plenty of time to get used to the new kit which all seemed very complicated and strange.

Well, the photography bug bit big time!! By the time I went to Namibia in October I had a 30D, Sigma 17-70, Canon EF24-105L IS, and a Canon EF100-400L IS. And since then I've acquired an EF70-200f4L IS and a Nifty Fifty.

It's a steep and long learning curve. I'm not naturally creative, and it's hard work, but I'm definitely improving. I love looking at the work of others, both on TP and in other photography websites and books, and hopefully some of what I see and read sinks in.

Cathy
 
I always had a passing interest in photography, and when I got my Sony Ericsson K800i (yes, I know :p) I found myself snapping anything and everything.
I decided to do a photography course when I went to college, and convinced not only my Dad, but myself, that I needed a digital SLR. I never once owned a compact camera.
I bought my digital SLR and that was it.
Hooked.
I love using my camera, and sometimes I forget that when I see a photo that I've taken thats crap.

To me, its all about the using the camera.
 
Well, about 9 years ago, my dad showed me his old Miranda film SLR. Went to the royal international air tatoo and a great time taking a few shots. Few years later, I decided to do an A level in it, along side my other subjects, and really enjoyed it. Bought my first SLR for that: A Nikon F65. 2 years later I came to uni and bought myself an F80. I really regret selling this a few years later to aid in funding for my D50 as I really want it back!

Anyways, I'm here now with all the enthousiasm and no damn time! Been into it on and off since I was 14ish, untill about 2 years ago when I got into it properly and love it now :D
 
My father collected cameras and took shots on his beloved Canon A-1. Meanwhile, I played around with my first camera, a little plastic Supasnaps thing where one roll of the 126 cartridge stuck out the side, and the viewfinder was a little plastic rectangle that hinged up at the top:

CRD00618.jpg


Later I tried a Hanimex 110.

My father died nearly ten years ago and I needed something to take to Rome with me on a school trip when I was 14, so I took the A-1 and the Vivitar Series 1 28-70mm. I had no idea what I was doing, and, despite some previous success with the camera and perfectly good loading and unloading, I hadn't loaded the film right this time and nothing came out. :(

(I've still got the A-1, power winder, and Vivitar Series 1 lenses: 28-70mm, 35-85mm f2.8, 70-210mm f3.5.)

I lost interest, but got my first digital camera, one of those horrid VGA things that cost £15 in the supermarket (then £50). It didn't last long! I replaced it with a webcam that took better pictures, and finally decided I wanted something that took nice pictures that I could carry around. I spent just under £100 on my first decent camera, a Nikon Coolpix 2200, in about 2003. At last - I could take nice pictures!

It wasn't good enough - when I was 18 I upgraded to a Coolpix P3, new, eBay, a bargain at £140 (came off my student loan). But I started being really interested in the technical aspects, dSLR envy got the better of me and last summer I went and bought my K100D on Tottenham Court Road.

The rest, as they say, is history. I'm 20 next month.
 
A bit random for me really, but I did it through skydiving. Just had a back operation so my skydiving days are over so have invested in all new kit.
 
When I was about 10, a neighbour who was a chemist showed me how to make contact prints from all the family Box Brownie negs. That was it then - cursed for life. :D
 
well firstly i love all my pets and what i love even more is to record them and take pictures of them. i have only been using a digital camera up to now but it produces some cracking images. anyway i have always liked how slr cameras are and have always liked their bulky proffesional look.

last year i had a look around some forums and found this one and registred but due to some issues i forgot all about it until recently......well yesterday. im really amazed at how much i have learnt in two days and that just drives me more and more into the hobby.

so ye my pets this forum and the craftsmanship of the cameras
 
I bought a Praktica LTL3 in about 1977 and, when I started work, I bought a Nikon FM. Quite why? I don't know. Just enjoyed it I guess.
 
Father took loads of pics whilst serving in the RAF in India and Burma during the war and his albums fascinated me in my early years.Given a Kodak when about 9 year old and caught the bug.I climbed the dizzy heights of getting myself a Zenith 35mm which was I think a 42 mm threaded lens job.Went to Africa for a couple of months in 1982 and up graded to a Canon A1 and a couple of lenses.This is still in use today but have been using digital for a nearly a year now having bought a Nikon d80.For the amount of talent I`ve got or haven`t I should say;this could be the last I`ll ever need.Or so I tell her indoors any how.
 
My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic for Xmas. I bought my first SLR in 1974, a Minolta SRT101. I also got A Mamiya 645J which I still have. The Minolta was stolen & I replaced it with a Minolta XG1. I had my own darkroom - D & P B/W film. When I moved house, I had no darkroom then my Minolta equipment was stolen so I lost interest for several years. Dec 2000 I bought my present camera Casio QV3000 3MP camera for the princely sum of £499, & vowed my next digital camera would be an SLR. The QV3000 has been a great way to get into Photo Imaging. So here we are, I am now in the market for a new camera, loooking to get a Canon 450D, Sony A300 or A350, maybe a 40D with cashback ( only £30 more than my Casio for the body ) :beer:
 
kmlc said:
Anyone notice a pattern emerging?
lol
:0)
Click to expand...

:D

Lets just say I've got the feeling my son may take up photography at some time. :LOL:


For me, it was the a part time job in a chemist shop that also doubled as a film processor/camera supplier that initially got my interest, sometime around '76 I think ...that and a Zenit the following birthday, closely followed by a dark room under the stairs complete with Zenit enlarger... :love::LOL:

Friesian cows occupied a large part of my first collection like others here, that and rusty old farm machinery. ... not much changed since then then.
 
My friend Michael bought a D70 ages ago, and kept raving about how much fun it was. I was in the midst of paying for wedding and found I had a spare £8K (**** knows how), so I blew the lot on a Camera and now im trying to get to grips with it :)

Loving it so far, but very envious of all the great shots I keep seeing, I want to learn faster!
 
I had kids....bought a fuji something for my son's birth, six years ago, followed by a Sony DSC F717 as an upgrade about a year later, then a Canon 10D while in Singapore about a year after that. That lasted me until it got stolen about a month ago, and now I've got a 20D as filler until I can get my hands on my 5D.

I started with portraiture, but really love urban and pattern orientated shots.
 
My Dad bought me a Canon Snappy 'S' for my 9th birthday, and I soon realised that I quite enjoyed taking pics and that they weren't half bad ;) It's only in the last couple of years that I've started to take things more seriously... :) Still have lots and lots to learn - just bought my first dSLR and can't wait to get playing. :D
 
over the years,i've had a few cheap camera's,then my wife bought me a kodak CX6330 digital compact,which i used on a regular basis.then last year,we went on holidays with some friends,and chris had just bought a sony alpha100 DSLR,which he took on our hols to cornwall.we(me and chris)went for a walk around trevose head with our cameras,shot various pics,then compared his with mine...what a difference!

so we came home from hols,and within a week,i was the owner of the sony alpha100.....

just need to get the best out of it now ;)
 
i'd fancied a dslr for a couple of years but never had the cash to buy one. fast forward to last october, the purchase of a d40..........then the sale of the d40 for the purchase of the D70s :)
 
First SLR was a Cosina CSM1 off my old man in a great hard case with a 2xTC and a Kangaroo flash with a little slave that sat on the front. Sadly I got burgled in the early 90s and lost it.

Had a couple of Ixus' in the meantime and then got a 300D off my old man again and ran that for a year or so while he bedded in his 400D which he upgraded for a 40D and I sold the 300D and then got his 400D which I use now.

I like taking shots of my daughter and any old random stuff I can find but most of all I just enjoy taking pictures. :)
 
Originally because I'd go to motorbike events my dad would ride in, and he'd hand me his OM10 and let me have a go at taking some photos. Eventually I had a manual 35mm SLR of my own, and then later a better Pentax one. I took lots, but rarely got round to developing the films.

Later, in 2004, I bought a digital camera, and in 2006 a DSLR, as a tool for documenting places I 'explored' in my free time. Whilst I always enjoy taking photos, it's usually for the above reason that I use a camera now. On the whole I just don't feel inspired to take pictures at any other time. I bought a nice Ricoh compact for more daily life stuff, but I've lent that to someone at the moment.
 
I used to work at a University and would ofter walk through the art college and sometimes the photography department. i used to think I could do better than what I saw but never picked it up as I thought oo specialised/expensive.

In the early '90's I went to India for the first time and bought a little P&S film camera and got some great compositions. Then I got really busy so dropped it as a hobby as was also in hi-fi at the time so couldn't afford both.

Then when I went 'around the world' in 1999 I bought a Sigma SA5 SLR, which had stellar reviews, and a couple of lenses, plus a Kodak 2mp digital P&S wih 3x zoom. Both were huge bargains at the time. I paid around £150 for the SLR body and got the lenses second hand. Was nearly £400 for the Kodak and I thought I got a great deal - really ;-)

Again, after we returned I was too busy running my own business so dropped it again. When I got divorced a few years later then I thought I needed a 'hobby' away from work and to fill the space previously filled with the wifes nagging and doing household chores :LOL::LOL: Worked well!
 
I was given a Kodak 127 for my 9th birthday (1956), my first shoot was at Cadwell Park ( same year) the prints were small about 3ins x 2ins, you had to look at them with a magnifying glass to see the bikes, (nothing`s changed there) my first upgrade was to an Ilford Sportsman which still use on occasion
 
i tried to blag a free ticket to the champ car race at brands hatch. they told me i could have a free pass if i shoot for them. so i took my sony 2 megapixel point and shoot with me. didnt know a bloody thing about taking photos, but after a while i realised i needed to press the button about 1 sec before the car came into view.
did the same at WTCC silverstone with a minolta point and shoot.
after that i decided to get a 10d and put together a 3 year plan
year 1) get media accreditation
year 2) get published
year 3) (current year) get paid for it

for the first time in my life everything went as planned (although i got slightly ahead of schedule). Although getting most of my equipment nicked almost made me quit.

this was one of my first photos. i was very proud of it at the time. now i would delete it if i took it.
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1974 - Zenith EM
1976 - Canon AE1
1988 - Bronica ETRS
2007 - Canon 350D
2009 - Canon 5D ?
 
First started with Brownie at boarding school. We had our own dark room, which was fun.

Then over the years I never really had time to learn more.

More recently got an interest and was keen to add this hobby to hobby of using my motorhome and early morning walks. The two things go together well.

Regards

Chris
 
I just needed a healthier hobby than World of Warcraft.
 
full auto said:
I just needed a healthier hobby than World of Warcraft.
Click to expand...

So so true!

I was given a camera by my parents along time ago when I was about 5 or something and as I got older my photos started to get abit better. I remember on one trip to supersnaps to pick up some photos from development I had 3 or 4 photos in little blue boredered cover (which is what supersnaps did when they thought it was a good photograph) and that made me think I could do something with my photography.

Then the years rolled on and I also had my love for computers so that took over but now I am working with computers I really wish I could work with photography instead. I went and bought a 400D and a lens or two and now am learning everything I can and trying to find away into Race event Photography as this is what i want to do. So if any of you guys are on the race tracks payroll or how ever it works then please let me know how to get into it. Either that or give me a job! (y)
 
I'm very new to photography, my first D-SLR was delivered saturday. My interest was pricked by looking at the photos on some of the many car forums i go on (mainly the non-automotive snaps strangely enough) and it spurred me on to buy a more capable camera than my exilim p&s.

I'm at the very beginning of the learning curve but i'm keen to gain knowledge and experience with the help of you guys, who seem like a top bunch!
 
Went to watch Formula 1 testing at Silverstone around March 2005 with a terrible point and shoot Sony. Thought it might be good to get a slightly better camera as me and my mate were going round the country that year taking in as many Motorsport events as possible. Bought a Fuji S5500 and took it from there! December 2005 bought the 350d and it's only now I am considering replacing it some 18 months on :)
 
My Stepdad is a Photographer and always tried to convince me to have a go but I rebelled and went kayaking instead!

Years later and I was a bit better with the canoeing and bought a Olympus P&S to take pics for the sponsors. Came back from the Pre-world championships and wrote an article for a canoe magazine who told me that if the pics were just a little better they would have paid me £250 quid for the article.

The Olympus died on me that year so I bit the bullet and bought a D70 for the World Champs got paid my money and never looked back, although having all my kit stolen at Xmas very nearly made me go out and buy another cheap (ish) point and shoot and to give up the DSLR.

In the end - I bought both! and switched to Canon in the process!

Chris
 
I've only been into it for a few years, i met someone with an incredible talent for it, and it went from there. I bought a fuji finepix bridge camera and used that for a year, then got the courage and bought a D80. I did an OU course which taught me the basics, and I've been learning ever since! Certainly lacking skill still, but loving it so much!
 
Kinda crept up on me I think. Always been interested in snapping and had a series of cameras and finally bought a film SLR, cheap and cheerful [still got it somewhere] but found the costs prohibitive.
Bumped into abloke when |I was hanggliding in France and he had one of the first compact digi's. That was for me!
But what really inspired me was a friends photos of our daughter and her friends on holiday, they were really good. And I just thought I have got to learn how to do that and thats what I am doing!

Cheers

Dunc
 
Worked with a guy who was never without his camera (and I still see him about, 86 years old and still snapping(y)) He gave me one of his old Zenith cameras (haven't a clue what model) and I loved it.

Bought myself a Pentax K1000 and built up my kit. Had to let it all go though when money would not stretch far enough:crying:

Hoping to have a bit of time now to get back into it and progress from not very good to reasonable:LOL:
 
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