How did you get into photography?

I had absolutely no interest in photography until I bought my wife a Pentax ME Super for her Christmas in 1984.
The rest, as they say, is history.....
 
Both parents were keen photographers and back in the 60's, my Dad had a darkroom in the loft. So from maybe 8-years old, I used to 'help out'. It was magical sitting in the red light, watching images emerge from a blank sheet of paper. Was given an Agfa Silette II as my first camera and a light meter to go with it when I was about 10. Still interested, still experimenting, still learning over fifty-years later.
 
just dabbling at the moment, suggested by family and friends for 'therapeutic' reasons, lol!
 
When I was 10 my parents bought me a Kodak Instamatic from Boots. I used it everywhere and one day I took a picture of one of my sisters with a horse, the sun was behind them and when I got the prints back sis and the horse were pretty much just silhouettes. I looked at that picture and thought "WoW" and I realised that the camera didn't just have to capture stark reality, it could be used to create artistic effects too. I was drawing and painting before I got the camera so the thought that I could use a camera to create "art" was the hook.

I still have that camera but I haven't used it for many years.
 
More or less the same as woof woof/Alan above:)! But before that, my mum let me play with a Box Brownie that had belonged to my grandad. It never had a film in it but I loved it and was a 'pretend' photographer. Seeing that I had an interest, my mum gave me a Kodak Instamatic for Christmas when I was 10. I used it for years; sadly, I no longer have it:(!
 
My first recollections of photography as a 4 year old were watching my eldest brother make pop prints out side, of shots he had taken on his box Tengor.
I got my first camera at ten, and never wanted to do any thing else.
 
Got my Canon 400d as my first proper camera. Until then, the best I had was disposable cameras or near disposable quality film cameras. The step up in image quality was sublime and that was me.....
 
I used to work at Bonus Print in the 90's and have kinda dipped my toe in and out ever since.
 
My parents gave me a Brownie 127 when I was about 7 or 8, and a Kodak 120 folder a couple of years later. This must have been around 1963 and it was completely manual, down to the shutter cocking. I eventually got the hang of it, with a great deal of help from the owner of the local camera shop! He taught me the basics of film speed, exposure and focus. Various other cameras followed.

I've done quite a lot of photography, and some B & P developing and printing years ago, but it's always been a secondary interest for me. I'm more 'into' firearms/shooting, history and books; and I keep meaning to have a go at writing. I'm only 64, so there's plenty of time...:)
 
Honestly? The 1998 Pistol ban.

When I was denied the pleasures/challenges of Target shooting I had to look around for something that the UK Government would (hopefully) not ban in the foreseeable future and Photography looked like a good candidate! Since then I have really enjoyed my photography and learned a lot about my subjects - wildlife.

But I do still really miss medium/long range pistol shooting - ah well, life goes on............
 
Seen an excellent photo on a denim forum and asked what camera he used.

Then started to watch youtube vids mostly and ended up with canon 550d.
the 40d, then a d7000, then d700. then a 6d, d5500, d90, 1d mk3, 7d, d300, x100, x-t1 and d7000 for 2nd time.

now bought a d600 today
 
I was always a musician first. When I moved abroad I had to sell equipment and start fresh in Oz. My grandfather was and artist and photographer, though I never had the opportunity to meet him.

I started with landscapes and wild life (naturally for Oz and New Zealand). When I moved back to England I lost the urge to play music, and found a love for street photography.

Flash forward a great period of time, and I am shooting all sorts of film and digital cameras for various projects. Street photography with a wide angle lens getting in close was something that was challenging, therapeutic, and fun.
 
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I was 15 or 16 years old, going alone by city bus to the
Planetarium in Montréal. As always, I found a seat at the
back. At the end of a curve, something rolled off a seat in
the aisle. It was an Kodak Instamatic camera. I figured out
there was a film (126 format) in it and that only four of the
24 frames were used.

I did snap all the frames that morning and the next day I
went to have the film developed. — "No problem, that will
be so many dollars for 24 prints including the C-41."

I never had so much money in my pockets in those days
so the film got lost and never saw my pictures. Neverthe-
less, I was still mentally playing I was framing things and
"hunting" for subjects, scenes and I was looking at the
pictures in the news papers with more attention thinking
if only I had a camera…

It is only once at the university that a classmate introduced
me to his old father who was ending his career as science
photographer. I "linked" somehow with the man and his
personality, the awesome gear at his disposal and my
fascination did the rest of the magic. It was a life sentence.
 
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A friend at school got me interested.

After lots of wheedling and whining, I got a secondhand Pentacon FM SLR for £19-9s-6d, which is about £340 in today's money. That was half the new price and taught me the valuable lesson of letting someone else pay for the first year's depreciation. It was an unbelievably primitive camera by today's standards with a 3-element Meritar lens and without even an automatic diaphragm or an instant return mirror. Still it could take pictures and the first two I sold paid for it completely.

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Hubby bought a canon G6 to play with, we got 3 kittens at the same time.. Hubby never got to play with his camera... I ‘graduated’ from kittens to birds and bugs and flowers, the kit graduated too, Canon 400d, then a 40d, then a 7d and a 1D MKIII, soon to be a 7d and 1d MKIV. coupled with a 70-200 2.8 IS L mk II, a 300 f4 IS L + 1.4 extender mkiii. ......(there is something shorter in my bag but don’t ask what it is)... hubby still has his canon g6 :)
 
Cameras, and photographs, were just around the place - they were ambient. There were family albums, and my dad had an Ensign folder that took 120 film. He sent films off to Will R Rose in Chester for developing and prints - mono, then eventually colour.

Cameras, as mechanical / optical devices, had a certain allure - to want one came naturally. Mind you, I also hankered after an Austin Healey 3000, but that was completely out of range financially and neither was I old enough for a driving licence.

Eventually, aged about 15, I was allowed my own camera. The engagement has fluctuated ever since, but the learning never stops.
 
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Inspiration is very important to start a career in any field. In my case, my parents inspired me to become a photographer. I clicked pictures in my family event and when my parents saw those pictures they motivated me.
 
In 2013 I booked tickets to take my children to Waddington Airshow and thought if I'm going somewhere memorable I want to be able to take decent pictures, so decided to get a beginners camera but to learn how to use it properly. Researched online about the exposure triangle, apertures, etc. and then bought a bridge camera with some manual controls. Soon after that I realised the bridge camera was limiting my control so moved on to a DSLR.
 
my first venture into photography was back in the 60's when i was about 10 years old, the local church had a photography club which took me in to keep me out of mischief
my first photo was taken with a box brownie and processed / developed at the club
i wouldn't say that was the reason i got into photography that came later on in life in the late 70's early 80's playing with a make shift dark room in the bathroom which was great fun at the time
iv'e never been without a camera of one sort or another since then and started with digital in the late 90's but kept hold of my canon SLR until the DSLR revolution around 2005 / 2006

still love the hobby although i don't take any where near the amount of time out to take photo's as i used to
 
The love affair started back in 2004 when I secured a Canon 300X 35mm auto focus SLR and relised that there was more to photography than the prior P&S cameras I had.
Eventually though I got bored of film and had the wife buy we a Canon 1000D for my 30th birthday.

Fast forward to today I and I still loving digital photography but am now regressing back to the days of film with a recent purchase of a Minolta X300 manual focus 35mm film SLR...............I must be getting old!!!!!!!!!!
 
My father appeared home one night from his work with a strange contraption labelled as a Gnome 3 enlarger. He turned out the living room light and showed me a negative image - I was about 12 and I was hooked!
 
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