Did you get into photography because you liked photos or cameras?

jsrockit

jsrockit

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I was thinking about this today. Obviously, most of us grew up around photos and like photos in some form or another.

However, I feel the camera was more intriguing to me when I took my first photos (around 8 or so years old). It was just such a cool device (Kodak X15). After using this device for many years, then I started to see the possibilities of making my own images that fell outside of the family snapshot (and I got a Pentax K1000 for graduation from high school).

How about you? one or the other (or both)?

EDIT: So, basically, I'm asking what made you pick up the camera in the first place for the FIRST time... the camera or the desire to make a photo? or both? (i.e. I'm not talking about how you feel now)
 
well, even though i had a camera when i was 4 years old (one of those for film cameras for children with a fixed lens and automatic shutterspeed) i didn't really prefer photography over paintings until i started 3 years ago. In fact i hated photography at first because i thought it was only pushing one button (obviously i was totally wrong but damn, i was young and a total idiot at that time xD) to take a scene. I started to take interest in photography after my ex dumped me 3 years ago XD and then my journey into the world of photography started and now i'm one of many who suffer from GAS xD
 
get into photography, because i just liked to take photos. first just to make memorabilias, later also because of the aesthetics. camera was just a tool to do so. then i read a bit in different forums to increase my knowledge. i read there a lot of GAS, and i thought, "huh, what's that?!
about a half year later, i knew it...
 
Neither -- it was life-changing event that got me into photography.

I was an athlete in high school, but became disabled. The most convenient and useful way for me to continue to be around my friends and sports was to shoot for the school paper. So for me, it was neither the photos or the camera that got me into photography.
 
Well fair enough. Chalk me up as a 'both'. My dad always did the photography in our family when I was a little kid. One camera, one lens: an East German Praktica with a 50/2.0 lens. All black and white, printed by Modernage in NYC. When I wanted my own camera, it was to recreate that look. But once I got my 1984 Pentax K-1000 . . .man, it was off to the races. I'm more like a 20 camera, 60 lens kind of guy. But those images . . . Yeah. So both.

Ben
 
Chicken or the egg for me. Camera interest comes from taking pictures and experimenting with images comes from capable gear. Viscous cycle, really.
 
Going all the way back, I got in to photography because taking the picture was the easiest way to dodge being in photos. Later, it was about an opportunity to express myself and share something with people.

My focus on gear started around the point where I could pick up junk cameras and try to fix them. I enjoyed the feeling of making something work and become useful again. I go back and forth with this interest as it is time consuming and not always successful. From there, I realized how much ergonomics and variety there really was in the cameras I was using. I started sampling other gear to improve either the results I was seeing or the mechanical parts that bothered me. And most of what I was picking up was still cheap.

The last 6 months I came across a bunch of good deals on higher end gear than I ever expected to buy and jumped on it. I may swap a piece or two but I think I've generally found the right kits for me. This coincided with taking the first pictures in 5 years that I felt compelled to print - I'm not saying its about the gear but the image quality I'm getting helps.
 
I grew up with parents who were snapshot maniacs, so pictures were a big part of that. I started out loving to make pictures. About 15 years ago I came to look at cameras as beautiful machines (regardless that they made pictures).

Today, I do both (take pictures and fondle cameras 🙂 ) and the two are not related in my mind.
 
Benjamin Marks said:
Well fair enough. Chalk me up as a 'both'. My dad always did the photography in our family when I was a little kid. One camera, one lens: an East German Praktica with a 50/2.0 lens. All black and white, printed by Modernage in NYC. When I wanted my own camera, it was to recreate that look. But once I got my 1984 Pentax K-1000 . . .man, it was off to the races. I'm more like a 20 camera, 60 lens kind of guy. But those images . . . Yeah. So both.

Ben
Click to expand...

Cool. Nice story. I added "both" to my original post.
 
Like many dudes, I like cool gadgets, but there are a lot of hobbies/pursuits involving cool gadgets that I have no interest in taking up. My older brother was the family photographer when we were growing up, but while I thought his camera (Pentax ME?) was cool, it wasn't enough to make me really interested in photography itself. As a child & for most of my adulthood, I was always more into verbal, not visual pursuits (literature, history, writing, etc.).

I ended up not photographing seriously until I was well into my 30s, & that was because I discovered that I enjoyed taking photos on vacation, both the documentary & artistic aspects, & decided to do it the rest of the year. Once I was into photography, it was only natural to get enamored of cameras that were good for travel & documentary work, hence RFs. My theory is that when I became a real adult & more interesting person w/a more interesting life (all relative, I know), I have more things that I want to record & express. Having more money has helped, too, of course. 😉
 
I was always interested in history prior to taking up photography, so once I did that undoubtedly led me to gravitate towards old, & old-fashioned, cameras (outside of any utilitarian reasons).

As an aside to using cameras I have always been interested in old cameras and the history of them, but I never used old cameras (other then the ones which simply became old with me).

I am however intrigued by the hobby of repairing and using old photo equipment, thus my rather voyeuristic interest in the RFF.

I remain personally a big proponent of pre-owned equipment that has been lightly used.
Click to expand...
 
Cameras. About 10 years ago it was next on the list of gadgets to own and play with, as digital cameras were becoming commonly available and my disposable income taking off after graduating college. Up to that point, had avoided photography after growing up with snapshot manic parents.
 
Guess i got into photography for the pictures, got my first serious camera after my divorce, kids were living with their mom and I wanted to shoot their bi-weekendly visits to document their childhood since I knew she wasn't.

Pretty soon after that I ran into some other nice camera gear and found out you could buy cheap and sell at a profit and it was welcome extra income next to my part time job. From there on I got more and more interested in gear, always buying and selling for profit, or trading up. Until I set my eye on a Minolta CLE kit and ended up here.
That's when things REALLY got out of hand... 😀😀

But in my defence, I've always taken pictures with all the gear I bought and sold. It's just that now that I've settled on a kit, my photos start to improve...😱😉
 
I liked cameras. Love the mix of fine mechanics and the jewel-like quality of lenses.

Not so fond of electronics but appreciate its features.
 
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