Photography- My Background

The Camera that started it all

The city was Boston, the camera was a Nikon Coolpix 4300, and the time was the summer of 2005.  Boston was the city of choice that year for one of our family vacations.  Best I can remember, we began to go on a hop-on hop-off city tours when one of the stops was a harbor cruise my dad asked me if I wanted to use his camera to take pictures while on the boat.  I remember thinking, “this might be a good opportunity to take a few pictures to use as background images on my computer.”  And so it began… the rest of the six days we were in Boston, I was the resident picture taker; snapping  pictures of what I thought might turn out to be good computer-background material.

Picture taken while on the harbor cruise (Computer-Background Material)

It wasn’t until I happened to stumble upon an internet site, Digital Photography Review, later that August, when the idea of taking “computer-backgrounds” sounded like it might be fun.  I remember I scoured the web site for hours looking at point and shoot cameras.  Then I remembered, after traveling with my youth group earlier in the summer, that my high school cheerleading coach had a Canon Digital Rebel.  So naturally I wanted what I had seen, a Canon Digital Rebel.  I decided that I was going to tell my parents that I wanted the camera for Christmas.  Like any logical-minded parents they thought that was too much for something I had shown little or no interest in before and they told me to re-consider.  After much whining and complaining, like an only a only- child can, I talked them into the idea of considering getting me a camera for Christmas, only a lesser camera (what I thought at the time) than the Canon Digital Rebel, the Nikon D50. The D50 was a 6 megapixel camera (2 fewer than the Digital Rebel) that shot with an SD card (Rebel used Compact flash.)  At the time I felt I was getting gypped, but now I realize how blessed I am to live in a family that was financially capable to fulfill my every need (not as if a camera is a sustainable necessity.)

When Christmas arrived I found myself owner of a brand new Nikon D50, my first Digital SLR and my first digital camera!  As a “desktop-background” shooter I found it hard at first to find visually stunning or compelling scenes locally.  Since I was still in high school there were really no means to travel and/or fund this hobby.  I quickly became discouraged about my ability to take good photographs (not realizing how limiting I was making my subject matter).  Jump forward a year to the summer of 2006.  This is when I first began to take shooting seriously.  It was our family vacation to the western United States.  This is when I start getting really into shooting for reasons other than pure enjoyment and try my hand at actually attempting to compose shots.

Shot while in Las Vegas at the Luxor Hotel and Casino

After that summer, I went to my first semester of college which was not very productive in the photography area (for me), since my parents were worried about my camera getting stolen, I did not have it with me at school.  When I went back in the spring, I was able to talk my parents into letting me have my camera.  It was at this point that I started to take pictures on a semi-regular basis.

By February (2007), I happen to be on a random photo website when I found out about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.  I downloaded the 30-day trial and found it to be the program of my dreams.  Up until that point I had been editing my raw (.NEF) files one by one in a pirated version of Adobe Photoshop CS2.  When I saw how amazing Lightroom was, and knowing that I might attempt to make money from selling photos one day, I decided to buy Lightroom.  Some people say that you should buy better lenses before you waste your money on frills but, after buying 3 lenses, 2 SLR camera bodies, a flash, a tripod, many accessories, filters, and 2 photo backpacks; I can honestly say Lightroom was by far the best purchase I ever made.

Once I had purchased and installed Lightroom, taking photos became much more fun and exciting for me.  The centralized and concise design of the program really simplified my workflow (the time and post-processing spent after shooting the photos).  By this point my main subject matter was (and still is) in-animate objects. Meaning, I take pictures of things are not human.  Most of the time its architecture or places that I take pictures of.  The next real advancement I made was when our family went on vacation to Germany.  This was the first trip I could really make use of the accelerated workflow that Lightroom offered.  Besides getting a 2^nd lens (55-200 f/5.6-3) no real advancement took place in my work or accessories.  After returning to the United States, I began an internship in downtown Charlotte.  I tell you this to say that I began taking public transportation which lead to the purchase of reading material.  More specifically, a book by Chuck Delaney called Photography Your Way.  At that time I was just getting curious about how exactly you turned a hobby into a source of income.  The book told me about the laborious process of getting a clientele and how to make what you love into something that would be able to make you money.  Unfortunately I did not have the time to begin the arduous process of acquiring people or businesses interested in what I shot.  Never-the-less the book peaked my interest in photography books.  I purchased several book and began to read them to help better understand of what exactly makes a compelling photograph.

Since the summer of 2007 I have replaced my Nikon D50 with a much more serious model, the Nikon D300.  This camera was at first over my head with its deep bank of features and settings.  Since purchasing the camera I feel I have made some of my best work while acquiring an understanding of the uses and features the camera has to offer.  Please continue to read my blog as I delve deeper into the world of photography!!

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