skifurthur
9th of December 2007 (Sun), 20:16
...I was trying to make head or tails of my first professional concert shoot. I had a 350D and a 70-200 f/2.8 IS and not a whole lot of knowledge or technique. Somehow, I was able to take a few decent photos in spite of myself.
You see, photography and I have had a bumpy past. I had an old, old 35mm in middle school that I basically used as an excuse to shower attention on the pretty girls and maybe get some action. Since I never got anywhere that way, the camera soon ended up in a box with a lot of junk.
Later in life, I had the opportunity to take a few photos as an adjunct to my job writing about extreme sports. A Fuji p&s was all I needed because they were never used at any size larger than 200 pixel long...most 80 pixels long. I do believe that standing on a mountain at 20 below zero for hours at a time to capture a split second pass by a group of skiers showed me that I *could* take an ok sort of photo.
In an effort to make my photos the best they could be, a few months after the above gig one year ago, I ended up here on POTN. I must admit that I read and read and read some more for weeks before I registered. I looked at all of your photos and thought I was in way over my head. All this talk about shutters and f-stops and ISO, oh my! I had some learning to do and decided to show a few of my photos...knowing in my heart that I would probably be laughed off of the site in short order for being so hopeless.
That didn't happen. Some of you, the ones who obviously needed glasses, actually told me good job...welcome to POTN...don't be shy. So, I posted some more shots and took to the bank the best piece of advise I saw here...something that I knew from other businesses I had been in...network, network, network. And that is what I did. Next thing I know, I'm able to shoot some more acts and, with the other technical advise I read, was able to get a few more good photos. And I got more encouragement from all of you.
So, I took a huge leap...
I decided to make this my livelyhood and didn't look back. I never stopped reading all of the advise that was freely given here and, on occasion, passed some of my experience to other new and not so new members.
So, I sit here now in a new home up in ski country, with a new career that seems almost limitless due to some networking, a few breaks and the non-stop desire to become the best I could be and some great new friends that helped me along that way.
Thank you for all the support and never forget if you can dream it and are willing to do whatever it takes, the future is very bright.
You see, photography and I have had a bumpy past. I had an old, old 35mm in middle school that I basically used as an excuse to shower attention on the pretty girls and maybe get some action. Since I never got anywhere that way, the camera soon ended up in a box with a lot of junk.
Later in life, I had the opportunity to take a few photos as an adjunct to my job writing about extreme sports. A Fuji p&s was all I needed because they were never used at any size larger than 200 pixel long...most 80 pixels long. I do believe that standing on a mountain at 20 below zero for hours at a time to capture a split second pass by a group of skiers showed me that I *could* take an ok sort of photo.
In an effort to make my photos the best they could be, a few months after the above gig one year ago, I ended up here on POTN. I must admit that I read and read and read some more for weeks before I registered. I looked at all of your photos and thought I was in way over my head. All this talk about shutters and f-stops and ISO, oh my! I had some learning to do and decided to show a few of my photos...knowing in my heart that I would probably be laughed off of the site in short order for being so hopeless.
That didn't happen. Some of you, the ones who obviously needed glasses, actually told me good job...welcome to POTN...don't be shy. So, I posted some more shots and took to the bank the best piece of advise I saw here...something that I knew from other businesses I had been in...network, network, network. And that is what I did. Next thing I know, I'm able to shoot some more acts and, with the other technical advise I read, was able to get a few more good photos. And I got more encouragement from all of you.
So, I took a huge leap...
I decided to make this my livelyhood and didn't look back. I never stopped reading all of the advise that was freely given here and, on occasion, passed some of my experience to other new and not so new members.
So, I sit here now in a new home up in ski country, with a new career that seems almost limitless due to some networking, a few breaks and the non-stop desire to become the best I could be and some great new friends that helped me along that way.
Thank you for all the support and never forget if you can dream it and are willing to do whatever it takes, the future is very bright.