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davengo's picture
Submitted By: davengo
Location: New York
Joined: Apr 4 2006
Posts:
How did you get into photography?
Posted: April 4, 2006 - 10:19am

Hello everyone. I'm very young but I've already made up my mind in what I want to spend the better part of my life doing. I took a basic photography class about six months ago which taught me how to develop my own black and white pictures. I fell in love with photography as soon as I was able to look at my contact sheet and then later being able to make full 8x10 exposures. About a month ago I was able to collect some money and bought a D50 with a kit lens.

So anyway, After browsing this forum for quite some time, I've decided to register and introduce myself. I guess I'm pretty lucky since there seems to be a lot of experienced photographers on this board with a lot of different opinions on things.

Now what I would like to hear is how everyone got into photography and what was it like? How long was it before you decided you wanted to make it into a career and/or what keeps you motivated? Also, if its at all possible, I'd like to view pictures of your best work that you have handy.

Look forward to hearing your stories
Dave

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Anonymous's picture
Submitted By: Anonymous
#1
Re: How did you get into photography?
Posted: April 4, 2006 - 9:43pm

Dave,

Welcome to photography and to this forum. I got into B&W photography when I was 15 years old, some 48 years ago. I had always been fascinated by the physics of light. I never became a professional, but have been quite active in photography. Six years ago I started scanning negatives and slides, edit them in Photoshop and then print them on an Epson inkjet printer. About 1.5 years ago I bought the Nikon D70 dSLR and I've had a blast ever since. Of all my years of photography, the last 1.5 years have been the best, because I now control the whole process from start to finish and can achieve images that I have never been able to do. I've attached a photo of the steam engine in Roaring Camp in Felton, California where I lived for 13 years before coming to Washington State in 1990.

Frans Waterlander
pixographer

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andylaiphoto's picture
Submitted By: andylaiphoto
Location: Dallas
Joined: Feb 23 2006
Posts:
#2
Re: How did you get into photography?
Posted: April 5, 2006 - 8:08pm

Needed a required art elective a couple years back in college and things have changed over since then.

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Larry Berman's picture
Submitted By: Larry Berman
Location: Pittsburgh
Joined: Mar 7 2005
Posts:
#3
Re: How did you get into photography?
Posted: April 5, 2006 - 9:20pm

Here's my history of how I became a photographer.

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roteague's picture
Submitted By: roteague
Location: Kaneohe, HI
Joined: Jan 20 2006
Posts:
#4
Re: How did you get into photography?
Posted: April 6, 2006 - 5:41pm

I picked up my first camera in 1973, and have been shooting steadly ever since. These days, while I still shoot my Nikon F5 occasionally, I primarily use a Toyo 45AII. I don't shoot digital.

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doctorsid's picture
Submitted By: doctorsid
Location: Gatlinburg, TN
Joined: Mar 5 2005
Posts:
#5
Re: How did you get into photography?
Posted: April 26, 2006 - 6:35am

The Main and only real answer is... Promote Yourself.... I have my own Studio?Gallery in Gatlinburg, TN. And since there is a 13mil a year tourist factor, I get lots of exposure. Most Art Photographers will tell you that they got there mostly by getting their name out there time and time again.

When I first published photographic age, which I have since sold to someone else, I interviewed Rick Sammon, and that was his method... Self Promotion.

You can start by getting into art shows, that is an inexspensive way to tell if your work is what the public wants. And yes there are books that list photo buyers, but you may be a bit dissapointed when you find out how much they pay.

To be right frank about it... If you are trying to sell "Straight Up Photos" by which they are not altered in some major way, they will need to be very very perfect and of a subject that you could vision being on someones wall. I personally have lots of images that I think are great but would never make it to someones living room.

There are a lot of different avenues you can take, but they all revolve around promoting your work.

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