Photos that mark an historic moment in your photography (good or bad)

[Dogman]

This is just a not-so-bright idea I just had. I'm curious. Do you have any photos that led to a photo epiphany of any sort?

I was looking at the stack of prints on the desk to my right and noted the very top one. It was not a pleasant memory nor is it a "great print". This was the last print I made on my Epson printer before it refused to take paper. (At this point I went into a lengthy Epson rant but I decided no one wants to read that. However, I feel much better for having done so. I deleted that section of the post. You should be thankful.) Anyway, at that point in time I decided I was no longer gonna print. And if I did decide to eventually print photos again, I would get a lower priced printer and forget about longevity and the aesthetics of the "fine print". So I opened a Flickr account and started posting there. And I'll post here and a couple of other forums. But for the time being, no more prints.

Got a photo that marks your change of direction, etc., in photography?

Here's mine. Nikon D700, Nikkor 35/2 AI lens.

 

[nikon_sam]

This was taken years ago at the Los Angeles Car Show...I was using an Olympus 35-S II with the G. Zuiko 42mm 1.8 lens.
This image really showed me what this lens/camera is capable of producing...its sharp but buttery smooth...
I was so taken by the camera that over the years I have bought and currently own three of the same kind...ya know, two spares just in case.
I'm still very clumsy using a rangefinder, it helps that I have to slow down when using it...
It has caused me to pre-visualize an image while shooting with it, to pay attention to what other lenses produce, what their strong points are and when to use them.

 

[Keith]

When I realised that there was more to photography than just taking photos. With film, the right camera and multiple exposures I was able to move through parts of my life that had previously been very challenging by exorcising the demons with creativity.

 

[JeffS7444]

For me, the modern digicam (Toshiba PDR-M25, circa 2003) with it's parallax-free TTL viewing on LCD and typical ability to focus down to 30 cm was a revelation. In order to capture this image of the city skyline as viewed through a glass brick, I needed to hold the camera at arm's length at some awkward angle. Today, this sort of capability is routine, but at the time, this was a view not readily possible when using typical optical viewfinder.