I saw in a discussion how someone said they would not consider someone who shot 5 yrs or less "one of the best" and while I believe there is a learning curve, I think some have it and some will work their hardest and learn but never get to the same mastery. And keeping myself out of that(I have a long way to go), I was just curious how long you guys/gals have been shooting. I'm curious because I would say this community of photographers is definitely on the better half of the average.
Don't worry about dating yourselves, if you really don't want to give it away just say 10+ years. =)
I myself shot some in high school only to have something to paint. Our AP Portfolios all had to be from original work. I didn't shoot for the pictures until I bought my 20d in the summer of 05.
Got my first SLR in 1969 while in Vietnam. Used it on /off for about 12 years, then just stopped taking pictures. Never was well studied on it, but my instincts were better than they are now. Now that I have been using DSLRs for the last two years, my technical skills are muchbetter, but lacking the instinctual feel.
I started almost 3 years ago. Bought a D70 as a "reward" for pending surgery and a long time off work so that I had something new to do and learn during that time. Never looked back.......
Ute
I got my own camera a little over 2 years ago - in summer 2005. Before that I was shooting a bit (1-2 years) with borrowed cameras, but it was nothing serious. Apart from landscape shooting which I enjoy tremendeously, I also like to shoot sports and this year I had a bit of success in that department - I was one of the accredited photographers for the Federations Cup (tennis) tie between Slovakia and Serbia in the summer, and I also got into a smaller ITF tournament that took place 2 weeks ago.
My first upgrade from holiday-snap-and point-and-shoot to a real camera was in 2005 when i bought the rebel.
It felt like the most amazing thing, the sad thing was I loved the sound when you pressed the shutter button.
I had the camera for about 6 months taking snaps on automatic when i realised I wanted to take my image making further, then I posted some images of my last holiday on FM, for advice about what I needed to do to improve my photography before I went to death valley, I remember Martin was one of the responders .. and everyone was encouraging about how I should try and make improvements and think about compositions more
here are the images i posted, a bit toe curling but here they are .. it didn't occur to me that mid day light wasn't such a good idea until I saw others images on FM that looked great
I learnt a lot from the posts on FM and that really makes you improve fast by just being receptive.. so time isn't the only issue
Personally I don't think its how long you have been shooting, its the intensity of your learning curve you have.... I joined a photography club and noticed that besides some core of talented photographers there were a lot of members who had been doing photography for 10-40 years and still hadn't progressed much.
here is one taken recently hope you can see the improvement. I feel like my whole approach and outlook has changed so much, I have really benefited by going on photography tours, where I can devote my time completely to photography, forget about family commitments and work and gain inspiration from the leaders .
So I suppose I can't totally agree with the time aspect although it does play a part. I am really looking forward to getting more experience and hope that the direction I am moving is still forward year by year.
I've had a camera since college days but it was only for casual snaps. For me it was November 1, 2003 when a friend invited myself and another buddy to join him for 2 days of photography in Yosemite National park. I'd never been before, nor had I set the alarm for 5am to get up before. Quite a shocker in both cases.
I've been shooting for about 10 years now. I got into photography via my grandfather when I was 15. I used little point and shot 35mm cameras, and didn't take anything too seriously. I just loved taking pictures. My hobby/obsession grew from there. I moved onto various Nikon 35mm SLR's, then the bulky (by today's standards) digital point and shoot cameras. The Nikon D70 was my very first DSLR that I purchased, but I primarily learned shooting 35mm film for the most part. Although my grandfather taught me the basics of photography, I have read many of books and wasted lots of film to get where I'm at now. I'm still constantly learning, but I feel as though the more I read and actually photograph, the better I will be.
I started with a Pentax K1000 over 15 years ago. My dad still has the camera but never uses it, he even bought a second one a few years ago. I need to talk him out of one of them
I got my first camera in about 2003, a Canon powershot A70 that stayed in auto all the time. I never really got into it properly until April 2005 when I bought my D50 when I decided it was worth the extra cost over a prosumer P+S camera. Since then I think I've come on a long way and now go out specifically to take pictures rather than pictures being something you just so happen to snap. I still haven't really gotten into a routine of getting up early for the best light because I get up early enough during the week to get into work, sod doing that on my days off!
I've been shooting with SLRs for the past 8 years... started with a Pentax K1000 in college and moved up from there while working for the local newspapers. I think that most of the time, mastering photography is something that takes a long time to do... but it's all dependent upon how deep you get into it and/or how much raw talent you have to start with. My sister-in-law, for instance, has a great eye for photography but no real knowledge about using a DSLR (spent this past weekend teaching her the basics of her Canon 400D). I've picked up a lot of technical knowledge over the years but I like taking photographs of things that are a little... different. I'm hoping that if I can teach my sister-in-law some of what I've learned over the past 8 years so that I'll be able to lower her technical learning curve significantly.
Don't be discouraged by the idea that great photographers have been at it for more than 5 years... there's always exceptions to the rules!
First camera was a Pentax H1a (used), in 1966. Signal school in '67 with a Speed Graphic. Weddings, etc. with a Mamiya C-330, until about '75. Put everything down in 1980, and picked it up again about two years ago. In between, worked as a printer, and process cameraman, with a very large Brown unit.
Never could make any money at it, and won't even try, now.
