So how did you get started photography?

[vk2gwk]

Sorry to disappoint you, Rick, but I also started with the Box Brownie... First time I can remember was when I was ten on a school excursion to Amsterdam Airport. Apart from some planes on the apron I had lots of shots of planes in the air: little black speck against an overexposed background. After developing and printing at the local chemist I proudly pointed them out to my Mum: "see, that is a DC8 and that a Lockheed..."
My amateur radio hobby - needing some fairly expensive gear to work with - has always interfered, but in the sixties I got my first SLR, an East German made Practika with a 50mm F/2.8 prime. That lasted about ten years until the shutter failed..... But in the meantime I took a lot of photos, developed my own films, printed and enlarged in my own darkroom. Heaps of fun. Then we moved, got another and demanding job and I sold my enlarger, dismantled the dark room and got rid of the brown fingers. After that various point and shoots - easy to carry - while I bought expensive radios. A brief stint in video in the eighties but that never appealed to me.
In the nineties (about 1996) I got my first digital camera, the Kodak DC50 with just under 1Mpx... It cost an arm and a leg, together with the special colour printer the equivalent of $ 3000, but fortunately I could book it on my business account as I used it for the occasional scar shot (at the time I was a PI claims lawyer). Some years after we moved to Australia in the late nineties a friend showed me his new Canon 400D.... It all came back and I got one myself, then a 50D (which I still got) and now the 5DIII.
My main interest is "recording events" - occasionally as a paid assignment - but I love to shoot the odd bird, beast or surfer in the wild (with my camera... ) and take the camera on our travels in Oz and overseas. Since two years I teach DSLR photography at the local community college, encouraging my students to get off the "Automatic" setting... It forces me to keep studying and experimenting to keep well ahead. There is not a day that I do not discover something new or pick up a new idea for our beautiful hobby.

[Lance B]

Early 70's, it was an AGFAMATIC 2000 Pocket 110 film cartridge camera:

http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ag..._pocket_sensor

Went on a 3 week driving trip with my girlfriend, now my wife, from Sydney to Airlie Beach in January 1980 and the resultant quality of photos were rather poor. So, upon return, I invested some funds into my first SLR, a Pentax ME Super which was rather new on the market and the first "Electronic" shutter speed control camera where the shutter speeds were selected via buttone rather than the conventional dial:

http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Pentax_ME_Super

The standard lens I had was a 50mm f1.7. I then "progressed" to a Tokina 35-105 f3.5-4.3 zoom lens, which was actually a very good lens in it's day. Over the years I also purchased some Pentax M lenses in the form of a 28mm f2.8, a 135mm f2.8 and a 200mm f4 and a 40-80 f2.8-4. I kept this kit until 1994 when I upgraded to a Pentax Z50P which was my first AF camera. Traded my old ME Super in along with the M lenses and ended up using a Pentax FA28-70 f3.5-4.7 and a FA100-300 f4.5-5.6. Not really a great set of lenses, I must say.

In about 2001 I purchased my first digital camera, a Canon Powershot G1 3Mp which were labelled as a P&S. Not bad and a quite a revelation to be able to take digital photos and print at home and send photos over the internet!

However, I was not that keen on a P&S camera and so, in 2004, we were about to embark on a trip to Fiji and I decided I really wanted a digital SLR, which were reasonably quite new onto the market. Looked at the Canon 10D, Nikon D100 but ended up buying the Pentx *ist D:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxistd

The Pentax *ist D was a revelation and my desire for photography was rekindled! After the Pentax *ist D, I purchased the K10D, the K20D, and the K-7 and had some of Pentax's finest lenses.

In 2010, I jumped ship to Nikon as I wanted FF and so purchased the legendary D700 and some pro lenses, then added a D7000 for "reach" due to the crop sensor as I was getting interested in birding. In 2012, "upgraded" to the D800 which I sold and now have the D800E.

[meredithb]

I was never allowed to play with my parents film camera because film was too expensive so I never had an interest when I was really young... until my older sister bought a compact digital camera and a whole new world opened! I didn't waste money by practising and I was free to take photos whenever I liked. I discovered the little "macro" setting and set about the garden stalking bugs and insects...

It was only a hobby until recently when I started a photography course at the start of the year. I've always wanted to learn more but the timing was never right. But now I'm doing it and it's awesome.

[shakes]

High school photography class - took a few photo's, couple of fun darkroom experiences.

10 years later I mentioned in passing how I'd love to buy a nice camera a couple of months later the girlfriend at the time brought me a eos400d... Due to a young family I still havent upgraded but at the same time it's rarely the camera that holds me back.

[Erin]

Ack, just catching up with the forum after a long absence and was delighted to read all of the responses in this thread. It's always interesting to see how folks start up.

Anyway... me personally... I got given an old camera to play with when I was six or seven years old - just something to click and wind, no film or anything like that. I liked lining up all my toys and playing photographer (or what I imagined a photographer to do - I'm sure it was very silly). Then I remember being given one of those disposable 36 frame cameras for a road trip to Adelaide with my dad and I took photos of everything I could... or what 36 frames would allow me to do. Lots of museum photos and pictures from the park. The next I remember was being in highschool and I was given a Kodak camera... the old plastic, fixed focal length things... and used that until it died. Then my photography sort of died off a bit and though I enjoyed my school photography classes, I had more fun with the processing in the darkroom than the actual photo-taking itself (the sign of a bigger addiction to come).

I really got into photography as actual photography when I met my husband. He'd just started learning and it sparked my interest. One thing led to another and I bought his camera (Pentax MZ50) off him so he could upgrade to a Nikon F80. We became very much into landscapey stuff and I cut my teeth on using slide film and awesome stuff like Reala and beautiful Ilford 3200 for moody infrared stuff. After that it was an upgrade to a Pentax istDS and then, finally, a D90 with some decent glass. I'm now heavily into glamour portraits and boudoir. It's gone full circle from posing my Barbie dolls to posing real ladies. LOL

I now spend as much time in post-processing mode and creative mode in photoshop as I do in photographer mode behind the camera too.

[fr33lanc3r]

My girlfriend bought me a D60 for a birthday present and it was all on from there. Loved everything from there.

[seastorm]

Started many moons ago when my parents got me an el cheapo Kodak instamatic film thingy with the disposable flash cube that you can only use 4 times (if I recall correctly). Let that drop a bit because film was just so expensive. Always had a fascination with macro. Even did a elective unit in Photography at uni. It resparked about a few years back when Dick Smith had a special on a Nikon D40 with 2 kit lenses. Since then I've started accumulating all sorts of bits and pieces - gave away my D40 with the 18-55VR kit lens, and bought tons more to replace it

[garthyguts]

always had camera taken photos of mates and cars and when away on trips. then got more into it later, now doing cert 4 in photography plus doing music video's with a mate

[Abeniston]

My daughter got into before me. For her 12th birthday, I brought her a Canon 1000D with 2 kit lenses. From there she got a tripod and I used to take her places to do her photography. I got sick of being the apprentice, so Xmas before last my other half brought me a Canon 600D. I upgraded August last year and now both myself and my daughter regularly trip around the place taking heaps of photos together.

[RobC]

All the stories- as diverse as is Photography!
I started about age 9, in the darkroom of my father's pharmacy, mixing fixer with the hypo in a large wooden barrel under the counter. The customer box brownie films were processed in large lead-lined dip tanks, negs were contact printed, 'glazed' on a steel plate (which I still have!). All this before I started taking pics with dad's Ensign Selfix 820. (which I still have)
Was I attracted by the idea of an attractive shop assistant in a darkroom? no ! I was too young.
My first camera was a Hanimar 35mm (c1951 by Finetta in Germany) that was promptly stolen at high school.
A couple of years intervened until I obtained a Kodak Retinette 1B (type 045).
Joining a camera club started me on the SLR road with a Minolta SRT101- and so the story continues to today.

[NRandall]

My very first camera was a Polaroid given for my birthday in 1967 I think. Dad had an SLR, having been a arial sportier in the Marine Corps in the early 50s.

I remember my first 'real' interest was through my girlfriend in college in the early 80s in the US. I was studying theatre and dance lighting and she had the Nikkor body of the time plus the 85,, 1.4 AIS, and doing B&W prints in our bathroom. We were based in Indiana but also spent some summers in Arizona and California, areas which really love the camera, shooting mainly slides, with 50 ISO film. I also suspect my interest in her also helped. . . .
I have only ever used Nikon since, and now shoot mainly to support my community work related to the people I know and events that we do together. When I have time I get out to shoot landscapes, as a solitary headspace discipline.

[pgbphotographytas]

I started back in 2008 after purchasing a Nikon D40. My early photos are still my best, this just goes to show that having expensive gear is not the be all and end all.
Since then I have drifted between various hobbies including photography.

[Liney]

For me it started when I was in my teens and got a Koday instamatic for Christmas. It was great getting to take photos, but really it was very limited in what it could do. I left school and got a job, then bought an Olympus trip as a step up. It gave me a few more options but was still rather limiting in capability.

Mid 80's I finally bought an SLR, a Praktika TL 3 I think, with screw in lenses and I finally had control over what I could do with my photos. I shot hundreds of shots over the next couple of years and got quite handy, the basic controls taught me a lot about photography and how to craft the image I wanted.

One day I'm wandering through my local photo shop and saw an advert for the new Pentax P30. This was another step up, lenses that were easier to change and a greater range of options. With this body I developed further, and it kept me going through the end of my single-man days, into marriage and two kids. Not quite as many photos as the years went on, less money to pay for developing and even the kids got sick of being photographed.

One day I got a phone call from my wife, wanting to know if I was interested in going digital. She'd found a great deal on a Pentax K100d Super which was being replaced with a newer model. With no processing or printing costs, I was suddenly back at snapping anything that moved. Being a Pentax I could use all my old lenses (with some restrictions) but I could cope with that.

That's the story of my photographic history, the future has still to be written

[bitsnpieces]

Mine started just after 2005 new years with the Panasonic Lumix FX-12, took plenty of photos with it until it broke during an Easter camping trip I did with some friends on 2011. One of them recently got the Sony a33, so I got a chance to play around with it a while and since then have been hooked on the Sony cameras - bought the Sony a55 as soon as I could.

Since then til now, I've gone through the Sony Cyber-shot DSC WX50 and WX300, and recently bought my Sony a65, to upgrade from the a55.
That's pretty much my history and quick overview of my current gear, aside from the Cyber-shots which I gave away.

[Crysis]

I got into this hobby as my son was getting married and I knew we wanted a few good shots of our own.
Got on goggle and done a search to see the camera's that were the most popular and then knew what I wanted.
Headed to Hardly Normals as they at the time had a big special on. I seen the camera I wanted and we headed in to get it.
But sadly or maybe not the camera I wanted was sold out and they were not getting any more in for a while.
I knew I had to have one to play with so I knew a little of what I was going to do.
So I bought a Sony A390 with a twin lens kit that I made up.
And that is how I got going.

[MasterOfRoc]

Literally 2-3 years ago, I decided I wanted to take photo's of the local Footy.

Went out and got a 500d kit, and it's slowly evolved from there.


Now have a 7d, 70-200 f2.8, 150-500 big mother, 10-20 f4-5.6 and trying my hand in other forms of photography... Learn as I go sort of stuff.

[enVision]

I started out with a 500D twin lens kit so I had an excuse to escape and be by myself for a bit. That's pretty much it, the rest is history. No stories of childhood dreams, or long passions from me, though that doesn't go to discount my passion for getting behind the camera.

[Mark L]

...... so I had an excuse to escape and be by myself for a bit. ....

Like that.
I've found that it gives me something to think about when I'm by myself, which has been my usual state regardless of how many people are around.

[truthseeker]

I started over 50 years ago with a brownie box camera. I then moved onto a Pentax SLR and, while destroying my mothers bathroom with chemicals, I was hooked by the Photography bug. Now that I have been put out to pasture, I have rediscovered my passion for photography and with a Nikon D7000 lightroom and a few plug ins I am back on track. you will find some of my work on my new website should you care to take a look @ les-boucher.artistwebsites.com

[phild]

I started in the early 60's with a Kodak Brownie 127. B&W film and processing was quite expensive as my poor mother found out. My first SLR was a Praktika in the early 70's followed by a Canon AE1 in 1979. I did the chemical thing under the house, home B&W processing was relatively simple and affordable in those days. Most of the shots taken with the AE1 were colour transparencies, I still have a couple of boxes of slides and a working projector. I eventually hope to scan all my old negs and transparencies.