If you could turn time back what would you change about your photography?

Kodachrome....I would have shot a lot of Kodachrome when my kids were young, and when we were taking our early marriage trips in the 1990s. I wasn't shooting 35mm when it was going away, so didn't start shooting it like a mad man the last few years of existance. Wish I had.
 
1) I would have controlled my interest in cameras from the start

2) I would have made the effort to take more 'everyday' pictures, and many, many more pictures of people.
 
giganova said:
:D I guess my wife wouldn't like having these images around the house.
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I don't have them hanging on the wall but she's cool with my keeping negs and prints. After all she's the one that wound up with me. All of the images are nice and artistic though. :D
 
After getting out of the army after three years in Germany I would not do the safe thing and return to my old job, which paid well. I would have taken my M3 and my tear sheets from three years working for the division newspaper and tried to make a living from photography . . . Somewhat easier in 1962 than in 2015.
 
I should have saved my money and invested in Leica cameras rather than my Canon LTM's. Then again maybe I just waited too long. Lest-wise sure do enjoy using my Leica iif & Leica IIIf red dials. My Canons are just gathering dust these days.
 
Join the Camera Club in High School right away and follow the craft from there. If I'd started then in 1960 perhaps I'd be getting to where I make a decent shot more often by now.
 
I would give the following advice to the my younger self:

1. Get closer.
2. Find a place with good light and geometry (interesting shapes for composition). Then be patient and wait for serendipitous situations to occur in front of you.
3. Smile more, and be friendly.
4. Be courageous.
5. Don't apologize for being street photographer.
6. Practice hyper-focal shooting. Especially from the hip.
7. Shoot much more.
8. Be ruthless in editing.
9. Get someone else to critique work.
10. Invest in good glass.
 
Talex said:
I would give the following advice to the my younger self:

1. Get closer.
2. Find a place with good light and geometry (interesting shapes for composition). Then be patient and wait for serendipitous situations to occur in front of you.
3. Smile more, and be friendly.
4. Be courageous.
5. Don't apologize for being street photographer.
6. Practice hyper-focal shooting. Especially from the hip.
7. Shoot much more.
8. Be ruthless in editing.
9. Get someone else to critique work.
10. Invest in good glass.
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pretty good advice!
 
I wish I hadn't joined the pathetic local photo club in the early 80s when I was young because they sucked all the enthusiasm out of my photography and made me sell my Leica.

I'd come to the photo club as a 16 year old boy, showed them some b&w street photography and they'd just look at me and say "Why would you make photos of old people you don't even know??" and showed me the importance of composition and the rules of 1/3 instead, which ruined it for me.
 
I would have bought FSU RF cameras and lenses early on, as I enjoy using them when they work properly and when they do not spontaneously self destruct.
 
I would show this Fan Ho photo to my younger self:

6968015_orig.jpg
 
harpofreely said:
This, down to the specific years (Ko, are we the same age?)
I even had the opportunity - had a girlfriend in 92 that shot, deved and printed her own b&w.

Plus:

Abandon color film sooner - I've never going to do anything with those negs.

Not waste time with holga, diana, expired film, or large format.

Shoot more of everything around me.
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Well, three out of four. I don't regard LF as a waste of time. Then again, I used it professionally and it still suits some of the pictures I take.

Cheers,

R.
 
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