biomed
Veteran
I tend not to read long dissertations on the philosophy of photography or the importance of developing a photographic style. If you don't like to read long posts then skip mine.
I like to think I enjoy photographing anything with few exceptions. I grew up liking anything mechanical and had aspirations to be a garbage man because I thought garbage trucks were very cool. I was enthralled with airplanes, trains and cars. Not too different than many other young boys.
My first photographs were taken with a Kodak 127 Brownie of some sort or another. I was fascinated with some Asian styled concrete lanterns in our local park. They were standing in a pool filled with water lilies and surrounded with large ferns. I think I shot at least two rolls of film from different angles. I don’t really recall any specific shots. When the film was developed at the local drug store I couldn’t wait to see the glossy deckle edge black and white masterpieces. I was proud of the photographs. The concrete structures looked like they were emerging through the canopy of a tropical rain forest. I was king of the hill…until my mother asked to see the photographs. I was admonished for wasting film. There were no people to be seen anywhere. Film should not be wasted on photographs without people in them!
I was allowed to draw all I wanted to. I was pretty accomplished with a pencil and a blank sheet of paper. It may run in the family – my late sister was very artistic. Other than art in public schools I never pursued it. I do recall that all of my notebooks were liberally decorated with sketches and doodles. I did keep up with photography in an undercover manner. I bought my own film and paid for processing with money saved up from birthdays and Christmas. It was supposed to go into my “college fund”. The volume of my work was small. Close to nonexistent. I experimented with filters using various colors of cellophane. I even took some “telephoto” images with my father’s 7x50 binoculars. This went on for years using a variety of cameras. Usually variations of Kodak Brownies. When I enlisted in the Air Force I purchased my first “real camera”, a Yashica fixed lens rangefinder. I eventually bought my first SLR, a Minolta SRT-101. Beside the 50mm lens that came with the camera I purchased two Vivitar T4 lenses, 28mm and 200mm. I also started developing my film and making prints.
Eventually I migrated to medium format. First a Kowa Six then a Mamiya RB67. I also begin to dabble in large format with a 4x5 camera. I begin work at a small studio doing portraits, publicity photos, photography for private investigators and weddings. After a while I was getting burned out with studio work and sold the RB67 to the studio. After a brief stint with a Spotmatic II, I started buying Nikon gear. I also sold my 4x5 camera and enlarger. I had settled back into the 35mm world. The Nikon cameras and lenses served me well for over 20 years. I still use them occasionally.
The journey to digital began with a Minolta DiMage 7. It was a good camera with an insatiable appetite for batteries. I purchased my Canon 10D three years later. After a bit I had the inclination to shoot film again. This time with the excellent Cosina made Voigtländer RF cameras. In six more years I had a Panasonic GF1. I was hooked on the u4/3 system. I bought the Panasonic GH3 a few years later and thought this is the last camera I would ever need. Eventually it was time to sell my unused Canon gear. To get an idea what it was worth I boxed it all up and headed to a local camera store. I was thinking I would be lucky to get five or six hundred dollars. I was pleasantly surprised to be offered enough to pay for a Panasonic GX7 and still have over one hundred dollars in my pocket. That is how I arrived at my present location of my photographic journey. And just where am I now?
In my mind I am back to where I began the odyssey. All of the cameras I have used have not changed what I see. The cameras I now use are very comfortable and have a natural feel to them. My photographic skills have improved over the years due to the sheer number of photographs taken. The subjects of my photographs are not far removed from the things I photographed as a youngster. I am still attracted to the isolated abstract elements in my subjects. I feel a deep satisfaction when I can capture the play of light on reflective surfaces. I do photograph people and have dabbled in street photography – not “the stiff in the center of the frame, Ok Jim and Sally trade places and let me take one more” photographs. Sorry mom it just doesn’t work for me.
Thanks for reading my babbling. I am not a writer. This is in response to a question put to me - Why do you photograph the things you do?
Mike
I like to think I enjoy photographing anything with few exceptions. I grew up liking anything mechanical and had aspirations to be a garbage man because I thought garbage trucks were very cool. I was enthralled with airplanes, trains and cars. Not too different than many other young boys.
My first photographs were taken with a Kodak 127 Brownie of some sort or another. I was fascinated with some Asian styled concrete lanterns in our local park. They were standing in a pool filled with water lilies and surrounded with large ferns. I think I shot at least two rolls of film from different angles. I don’t really recall any specific shots. When the film was developed at the local drug store I couldn’t wait to see the glossy deckle edge black and white masterpieces. I was proud of the photographs. The concrete structures looked like they were emerging through the canopy of a tropical rain forest. I was king of the hill…until my mother asked to see the photographs. I was admonished for wasting film. There were no people to be seen anywhere. Film should not be wasted on photographs without people in them!
I was allowed to draw all I wanted to. I was pretty accomplished with a pencil and a blank sheet of paper. It may run in the family – my late sister was very artistic. Other than art in public schools I never pursued it. I do recall that all of my notebooks were liberally decorated with sketches and doodles. I did keep up with photography in an undercover manner. I bought my own film and paid for processing with money saved up from birthdays and Christmas. It was supposed to go into my “college fund”. The volume of my work was small. Close to nonexistent. I experimented with filters using various colors of cellophane. I even took some “telephoto” images with my father’s 7x50 binoculars. This went on for years using a variety of cameras. Usually variations of Kodak Brownies. When I enlisted in the Air Force I purchased my first “real camera”, a Yashica fixed lens rangefinder. I eventually bought my first SLR, a Minolta SRT-101. Beside the 50mm lens that came with the camera I purchased two Vivitar T4 lenses, 28mm and 200mm. I also started developing my film and making prints.
Eventually I migrated to medium format. First a Kowa Six then a Mamiya RB67. I also begin to dabble in large format with a 4x5 camera. I begin work at a small studio doing portraits, publicity photos, photography for private investigators and weddings. After a while I was getting burned out with studio work and sold the RB67 to the studio. After a brief stint with a Spotmatic II, I started buying Nikon gear. I also sold my 4x5 camera and enlarger. I had settled back into the 35mm world. The Nikon cameras and lenses served me well for over 20 years. I still use them occasionally.
The journey to digital began with a Minolta DiMage 7. It was a good camera with an insatiable appetite for batteries. I purchased my Canon 10D three years later. After a bit I had the inclination to shoot film again. This time with the excellent Cosina made Voigtländer RF cameras. In six more years I had a Panasonic GF1. I was hooked on the u4/3 system. I bought the Panasonic GH3 a few years later and thought this is the last camera I would ever need. Eventually it was time to sell my unused Canon gear. To get an idea what it was worth I boxed it all up and headed to a local camera store. I was thinking I would be lucky to get five or six hundred dollars. I was pleasantly surprised to be offered enough to pay for a Panasonic GX7 and still have over one hundred dollars in my pocket. That is how I arrived at my present location of my photographic journey. And just where am I now?
In my mind I am back to where I began the odyssey. All of the cameras I have used have not changed what I see. The cameras I now use are very comfortable and have a natural feel to them. My photographic skills have improved over the years due to the sheer number of photographs taken. The subjects of my photographs are not far removed from the things I photographed as a youngster. I am still attracted to the isolated abstract elements in my subjects. I feel a deep satisfaction when I can capture the play of light on reflective surfaces. I do photograph people and have dabbled in street photography – not “the stiff in the center of the frame, Ok Jim and Sally trade places and let me take one more” photographs. Sorry mom it just doesn’t work for me.
Thanks for reading my babbling. I am not a writer. This is in response to a question put to me - Why do you photograph the things you do?
Mike
__jc
Well-known
Thank you, Mike, for sharing this. I really enjoy reading about others' journies, and in this case it is especially interesting because photography is such a large and important part of it.
I will suggest one thing, though:
Having said that, the photos of yours that I've seen are damn good already!
I will suggest one thing, though:
I think the large number of pictures you have taken indicates you have always had a determination to be better; to live up to an ideal you see for yourself that you don't believe you've reached yet. I feel this is why you consider that you've improved and will continue to do so. I think this is true for all of us who love something they do and want to be good at it.
Having said that, the photos of yours that I've seen are damn good already!
biomed
Veteran
Thanks! This is still a journey I am on. The amount of photographs taken has made me a better technical photographer which is quite separate from development of one's way of seeing. I think our way of perceiving our environment is developed when we are very young and needs to be refined throughout our life. Our life experience also has a great influence on the way we see. The technical skills that come from practice are the tools that allow us to capture (or at least attempt to) capture our perceptions.
Mike
Mike
lynnb
Veteran
Thanks Mike for sharing that. I like the way you see and the pictures you make. I enjoy looking at your new work when you upload it to the Gallery. I'll look forward to seeing how your journey continues!
Cheers,
Cheers,
biomed
Veteran
Thanks. I have learned a lot form the group of great people here at RFF. It is probably the most mature and helpful forum I have been a member of. I have discovered many friends from all over the world that I never would have known if it weren't for RFF.
Mike
Mike
hepcat
Former PH, USN
Well written, Mike. It is good to occasionally reflect on how we got where we are, and re-examine where we want to go. I enjoyed reading your narrative of the path you've taken so far. Your post has made me reflect on mine. Thanks.
Roger
Roger
daveleo
what?
Thank you, Mike. I enjoyed reading your story.
Of course, I do love your pictures, appreciate your forum comments and envy your photographic skills.
Of course, I do love your pictures, appreciate your forum comments and envy your photographic skills.
Austintatious
Well-known
Mike,
Great story, thanks for sharing it with us. Also enjoyed looking at your work. We should all reflect on where we have been and where we would like to go from here.
Charles
Great story, thanks for sharing it with us. Also enjoyed looking at your work. We should all reflect on where we have been and where we would like to go from here.
Charles
back alley
IMAGES
enjoyed your story mike!
we tend to get more thoughtful with age i have found.
i have already rearked on how much i like your images, especially lately, you seem to have hit your stride…i envy that!
and yes, it's so true, that it's not the gear…we see how that has changed over the years…though it is more fun to play with some of it than others.
we tend to get more thoughtful with age i have found.
i have already rearked on how much i like your images, especially lately, you seem to have hit your stride…i envy that!
and yes, it's so true, that it's not the gear…we see how that has changed over the years…though it is more fun to play with some of it than others.
jesse1dog
Light Catcher
Thanks Mike for posting - I always look at your photos and see that they are so well presented - part of your 'style' and effort to do things well.
jesse
jesse
biomed
Veteran
Thank you everyone for the kind comments. I have been reading several books lately. One that has given me some inspiration Is The Art of the Photograph by Art Wolfe and Rob Sheppard. While it is a book about developing habits for stronger composition it touches on the reasons Art Wolfe is a photographer. His insights have opened my eyes and changed my thinking a bit. In a section called Integrating Your Life, he writes, "If you live for photography but have none of your work hanging on the walls, or if you live for nature but have nothing that reminds you of nature in your home, then there is a disconnect. We all live with stress, the economy, world affairs, the environment - all of these things stress us out. I seek comfort in taking pictures and I have comfort in the way I live. Everything in my house, every view from my home, reminds me of what I am about. You can do the same." I bought a frame for one of my prints and will have it on my wall this weekend.
Mike
Mike
willie_901
Veteran
Great post.
There's nothing like some grueling introspection to help keep us on an even keel.
There's nothing like some grueling introspection to help keep us on an even keel.
Austintatious
Well-known
That sounds like an interesting book Mike. I will check it out. Love to watch Art Wolfe on PBS Television. I have done some reading lately as well. Here are two that I like:
The Tao of Photography, seeing beyond seeing
by Philippe L. Gross & S.I. Shapiro
and
The Practice of Contemplative Photography, seeing the world with fresh eyes
by Andy Karr & Michael Wood
In looking at some of your work, I thought that you may enjoy these if you have'nt seen them already.
Best,
Charles
airfrogusmc
Veteran
Loved reading that Mike. Your are indeed, like the rest of us, on a journey and looks like you've been enjoying the ride. We are all better off for you taking the those first steps and keep enjoying the trip.....
biomed
Veteran
Thank you Charles. I have both of those excellent books. The Tao of Photography had the biggest on me and my photography. Highly recommended reading.
Mike
rhl-oregon
Cameras Guitars Wonders
Thanks for the testimony, Mike. It's a pleasure to learn the background of the work I look forward to viewing each week in the gallery, and that story about the stone lanterns has a couple of powerful and enduring lessons, not the least of which is this: if you live long enough with an art and its crafts or techniques, you earn the opportunity to devote the skills and desires you possess to make the images you like for no reason other than that.
I am mindful, too, that your OP includes an invitation for others here to share their compressed life histories in photography, and I hope to read others in this thread, and to take time soon to respond in kind myself.
I am mindful, too, that your OP includes an invitation for others here to share their compressed life histories in photography, and I hope to read others in this thread, and to take time soon to respond in kind myself.
MiniMoke
Well-known
Thank you for this good read, I enjoyed it very much.
The part about your mother complaining that there were no people in your shots made me smile..... I heard the exact same thing when I was young!
And you're right, the tools may change, but we mostly are still photographing the same things we like!
The part about your mother complaining that there were no people in your shots made me smile..... I heard the exact same thing when I was young!
And you're right, the tools may change, but we mostly are still photographing the same things we like!
biomed
Veteran
Thank you, Robert.
Everyone, please do post the stories of your life experiences in photography.
Another person I need to thank is Bob Stahl. Bob is a photography instructor at several community classes in the Seattle area. Besides being a talented photographer he is a great mentor. Bob has guided on my journey with a zen approach to photography. The two books mentioned by Austintatious, The Tao of Photography, seeing beyond seeing by Philippe L. Gross & S.I. Shapiro and The Practice of Contemplative Photography, seeing the world with fresh eyes by Andy Karr & Michael Wood and the book I mentioned, The Art of the Photograph by Art Wolfe and Rob Sheppard are used as text books in Bob's classes.
Mike
Everyone, please do post the stories of your life experiences in photography.
Another person I need to thank is Bob Stahl. Bob is a photography instructor at several community classes in the Seattle area. Besides being a talented photographer he is a great mentor. Bob has guided on my journey with a zen approach to photography. The two books mentioned by Austintatious, The Tao of Photography, seeing beyond seeing by Philippe L. Gross & S.I. Shapiro and The Practice of Contemplative Photography, seeing the world with fresh eyes by Andy Karr & Michael Wood and the book I mentioned, The Art of the Photograph by Art Wolfe and Rob Sheppard are used as text books in Bob's classes.
Mike
daveleo
what?
My photo-art journey is 7 years going.
I'm a retired technoid who never looked back after leaving work (though I miss teaching very much).
It seems now that photography is just a step for me toward something else - "art" ?
Making pictures with a camera is wonderful, but I'm thinking there "are greater things in heaven and earth ....." than I've dreamt of so far.
I'm a retired technoid who never looked back after leaving work (though I miss teaching very much).
It seems now that photography is just a step for me toward something else - "art" ?
Making pictures with a camera is wonderful, but I'm thinking there "are greater things in heaven and earth ....." than I've dreamt of so far.
Paul Jenkin
Well-known
My journey started in 1974 when I was given, at the age of 13, my own camera. I've loved using film ever since and, although I have a couple of digital cameras, film is still my passion. I won't even try to rationalise it as it is so subjective a choice that words can't begin to explain it to anyone who feels differently
The thing I keep telling myself is that the journey is the important thing rather than arrival at some arbitrary destinatiion - unless that destination turns out to be a crossroads. I've been at a few crossroads in my time and, again, IMO, it's not about which route you take, it's about committing to it and giving it your best shot. If it doesn't work, get back to the crossroads and try a different route.
Life is too short and random to paint yourself into a corner. Those of us who take photos for the love of it are the lucky ones as we pick and choose our subjects and our kit. I can't think of much less enjoyable thanm having to try to create art for someone else's tastes.....
The thing I keep telling myself is that the journey is the important thing rather than arrival at some arbitrary destinatiion - unless that destination turns out to be a crossroads. I've been at a few crossroads in my time and, again, IMO, it's not about which route you take, it's about committing to it and giving it your best shot. If it doesn't work, get back to the crossroads and try a different route.
Life is too short and random to paint yourself into a corner. Those of us who take photos for the love of it are the lucky ones as we pick and choose our subjects and our kit. I can't think of much less enjoyable thanm having to try to create art for someone else's tastes.....