What started your photography?

[Levina]

I'm curious how other people started with this great hobby or profession.

For me it started late 2008 when I bought my first digital camera, a humble Canon Powershot SX100. Looking for subjects I started to shoot the birds and that was it, I was hooked. It didn't take me long to realise that a point-and-shoot camera was not exactly up to the task of shooting birds so a few months later I bought the Canon 40D. Not much later the lenses followed. After 2 years I bought the Canon 1DIIN and stayed with the Canon 1D bodies although I also added a Canon 5D classic for non-birds.

In 2020 I made the switch to mirrorless when I bought the Canon R6. I now shoot with the R6 mark II.

So what got you started?

 

[Darren75]

I started a long time ago, back in college. With film. Turned a big closet into a darkroom, took a course. Then life got in the way and I turned to other things. Picked up a DSLR a few years ago to shoot family stuff, the kids mostly. I'm in a bit of a photographic dip at the moment. Hopefully more folks will join so the weekly challenges can get started. Those always used to motivate me to pick up the camera!

 

[Bryn]

It all began in 2004 where I wanted a camera just to take photos of my friends back then... it didn't happen but ended up taking photos of what's around me since.

 

[Levina]

It all began in 2004 where I wanted a camera just to take photos of my friends back then... it didn't happen but ended up taking photos of what's around me since.

Do you do street photography? I suck at it. But love the images.

 

[Bryn]

Do you do street photography?

No, not really... but I did some portraiture in recent times (not anymore though, due to lack of confidence).

 

[Levina]

but I did some portraiture in recent times (not anymore though, due to lack of confidence).

It's funny that the people who say that are usually pretty good at what they do.

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

When I was 10 years old my dad allowed me to use his Baby Brownie, I still have it and it still works. He then bought me a Kodak Instamatic 104. I used to take plenty of snapshots. In high school still enjoying photography I got a job filming the high school football games with a 16 mm Bell and Howell 70KRM. Loving photography and needing to grow up I joined the US Navy as a Naval Photographer. Attended photo school in Pensacola Florida and did 4 years as a working photographer in Pensacola at the Naval Air Station and on the USS Independence CV-62 a super carrier. I got out of the Navy to help my dad in his business and became a computer programmer, more money in it than photography and did that until I retired 6 years ago. In the meantime I have continued to enjoy photography and astro photography as a hobby.

 

[Jan1977]

When I got injured and was standing aside the rugby pitch in the early 2000's, with the internet and digital cameras upcoming, I started to take some pictures during the matches to put some on the club website using a compact camera from Canon. From there I evolved and bought a 450D around 2006 and a telephoto lens (Tamron 70-300 non-IS) in addition to the 18-55 kit lens. Also brought the camera on holiday to (a.o. Switzerland). From there I evolved further adding a 70-200 2.8 a 17-55 2.8 and from the 450D to the 7D and then 7D mark ii.

Stepwise upgrading and expanding the gear collection and expanding my knowlegde on photography and post-processing. Becoming more and more a photographer I started taking photos of more than just rugby. Partially just for fun and partially for development as doing different genres contributes to ones development overall. And sometimes I almost feel guilty not going out taking photos, having all that tremendous gear.

I see my photography strictly as a hobby and do not want to get into paid gigs as that would add pressure to deliver. For that I have a regular job, that has helped me pay for my gear rather than the gear having to pay for itself.

 

[rojam1000]

I started with point and shoot than after a trip to china in 2004 i decided to get a better camera so bought canon 60d with kit lens i moved on to canon 5dsr with some L lens
not long after canon bought out the r5 i got it and some rf lens to go with it and my latest new camera is the canon r5 mark 2 i use the camera for a hobby and give me something to do on weekend while i am living on groote eylandt to stop me going crazy

 

[Levina]

Great stories. I find it fascinating to read how we all came to pick up a camera for different reasons. And yet, here we are, sharing the passion (as I think it is a passion for most).

 

[Mike]

I'm actually not a photographer. I may be the only one on the site who isn't. I'm just someone who has always been fascinated by photography, and love looking at other people's work. I did try it once, though. So, one my favorite things to do is watch high school football games. I go to quite a few during the season, and almost always go to the state championship games here in Texas. One year I decided I would like to photograph the game(s). After all, the games are played at AT&T Stadium, so I thought it would be neat to be able to get photos there too. I rented a nice camera and a nice lens, thinking that they would both magically turn me in to a photographer somehow. I even got a crash course from a few friends who do photograph football games on a weekly basis.

So, here I am, taking hundreds of photos, thinking I'm doing great. I can't wait to get home to scan through these pictures, knowing I've got some great moments captured, and I did! The problem is, most of my photos were out of focus, or I was actually behind the target (photographing moving targets is harder than you'd think). After going through all my photos I found out a few things 1) I had absolutely zero "good" photos and 2) I'm terrible at photography!

For those wondering, the camera I rented was a Canon EOS R6 Mark II and the lens was a Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS.

The moral of the story, one that I really already knew but thought I could prove wrong, is the equipment doesn't make the photographer. You can have the best equipment in the world, but it really doesn't matter if you don't know how to use it. I'm amazed by the work you all do. One day, when I can afford to get into this and have my own camera to use all the time, I'd love to get into photography. But, for now, I'll just admire what y'all do and be happy with that, just like I've been doing for years now.

Keep up the great work, y'all! I look forward to seeing more of your photos!

 

[Levina]

The moral of the story, one that I really already knew but thought I could prove wrong, is the equipment doesn't make the photographer. You can have the best equipment in the world, but it really doesn't matter

This is absolutely true, Mike!
What good equipment does do is make it easier to get the shot. But it will not make a bad photographer a good one. Nor will humble equipment turn a good photographer into a bad one.

And photographer or not, it's good to have you on board!

 

[K9Kirk]

I've done photography on and off since '83 when I joined the Army to be a Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Specialist. Or, NBC Specialist for short. At the time, I figured that might be my one and only trip overseas to Korea, so I wanted to document my journey, and I got myself a popular camera of the day, a Canon AE-1 Program with a nifty-fifty lens. Man, did I get really good with inserting rolls of film, ha! Honestly, I didn't know much about cameras in '83. I always bought 100 ISO and shot almost everything @ 1/60th, which explains the lack of sharpness in many of my pics back then.

After getting out of the Army, I lost interest in photography and ended up getting married. When I became bored with marriage I got back into photography. Then I bought another Canon AE-1 Program (good used) and started doing a little trick photography. Double exposures, light painting, and trick macro shots. I haven't done those things in a while, it seemed no one cared much for it and it seemed like a lot of work to get one good pic so after a while, I lost interest again and I got into other things, like motorcycles, kayaking, and smoking meats in my smoker. Anyways, when I moved to Florida to be a caregiver for my mother back in 2014, I needed a hobby and I thought to myself, (you guessed it) "Hey, why not photography?!"

So, I ended up getting a Canon 80D and gradually collected better and better lenses for it. then, one dark, dreadful day, I did "The Stupid" and ruined it with a bottle of water. I ended up with the camera I have now, A Canon R7 with an RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 lens. and I'm loving it so far. It's all just as a hobby to keep me occupied and I have to say, it's a fantastic hobby! I don't think I'll ever give it up ever again and I don't drink much water anymore.

 

[Levina]

You had quite a journey in life, Kirk.

NBC Specialist

Sounds serious.

Double exposures, light painting, and trick macro shots.

Interesting. I wouldn’t mind seeing some of thatI

How did you get into shooting birds?