What age did you start

[timmyquest]

The age thread suprised me in that so far there are only 3 people between the ages of 15-19 on these boards, me being one of them.

It makes me wonder how much of an advantage that gives us. I dont know if this is a logical thing to hope for but i hope that as an adult (a teacher) i would like to make some money with photography as a summer job. Sporting events perhaps for my local newspaper...something to that extent, again...perhaps a neive desire.

I know a couple of you do not make money yet are allowed in press areas at races and such...if i could reach that point, all the better.

Just wondering how long you've been here, and what credentials you've obtained in the X years you've been doing this.

I'm 18, i picked up my moms AE-1 when i was maybe five, didnt seriously start taking any pictures with it until about 2 years ago, bought a rebel 2000 put maybe at most 20 rolls of film through it, and then bought my drebel (all my own cash i'll have you know...). Since my purchace of the 300d my skills, at least i think...i know my knowledge for sure, has doubled...trippled. I cant afford the mk-II now but i expect to be getting a new body in the next 3-4 years...it will be of the same calibre, and if that camera can do to me what the 300D has done to me in expanding my knowledge, creativity, and ability then the sky is the limit as far as i'm concerned.

[shelbix2020]

im only 20 but Ill be 21 in 4 months *partaay* I started a lil over a year ago and really got into over this last summer...

...no credentials lol

[Conk]

I started "dabbling" in photography in 1994. I had a Yashica slr with just a couple lenses. I shot a couple hundred rolls through that until one day camping I got some soapy water in the camera. It caused it to click off 3-4 pictures everytime I advanced the film. Never got it fixed and never really took many photos again until my first digi 4 years ago.
Even though I've had 4 other digi's since, the majority of the past 4 years has been more geared towards editing of photos.
I know this isn't really an answer to the question in topic, but I thought I'd reply non-the-less.

One thing I'd like to add is... I have an article from 1994. It tells of the first digital camera's and at that time the camera which was used by the Vancouver Province newspaper was approx $40.000.

[Mount_N_Dew]

18 8)

[IndyJeff]

I started with my first camera, a Kodak InstaMatic back in 1967, when I was 10. My grandma also gave me an old Brownie. I still have both. My first SLR came in 1993, a Canon 10S. Great camera, got my first wire transmission with that camera. Now have a D60 and hope to be getting me a 1D later this year.

[Laziferous]

I didn't pick up photography until last year. I had a pentax p&s, but never tried to take any "pictures", only snapshots. Things like family, or vacation. I got a Canon A10 in 2002. I didn't know about pixel counts, or resolution... or anything.

I realized it sucked pretty quick, being only able to print at 4x6, and those even looked horrid. I realized with that camera though, that I could just snap shots off, and not worry about it, because it was free... so I started taking a bunch of stupid ones. I realized photography could be a fun thing, so figured I had to get a better camera. I definitely wanted it to be digital, because it was so much cheaper, and more convenient than film.

I did a little research, and from what I read, figured the G2 would be a good camera to learn on. I bought it last March on my way home from Virginia. This March marks my one year anniversary, since my plunge into photography. It really is fun. It's one of the many hobbies I'll never give up... only get distracted from to do other things. I think I'll always come back to it eventually.

So in short... I have no credentials, and I've been at this for about a year. I should've just typed that to begin with, huh?

[twl845]

I started taking pictures with my Fathers Kodak box camera when I was about 13. He got it when he was a kid. The camera had no lens and had a safety pin shudder. I can't remember the film size. but I think it was 116 or something like that. It took great black and white pictures and I still have it. I can't get the film any more. When I was 19 I went out with this girl whose Father had a 35mm camera, and I became hooked on it. I bought my first 35mm camera and over time kept upgrading, selling the old one and buying something better. Now I have graduated to digital photography and own a Canon G3 that has 4 mp and all the bells and whistles for a fixed lens camera. I'm not a professional photographer, but I always fantasized about doing it. Professional photography isn't just taking pictures, you have to be a chemist, and able to make math equations etc. I don't have what that takes, but if you do go for it. It's too late for me, I'm 64.

[Idoc]

Started when I was 17- Pentax K-1000 and a Darkroom - Took tons of shots in high school. Still have all my negs.

Took a break for about 1-2 years and picked up an A40, needed more precise shots so I got my G1 about 4 months ago.

I'm 21 and am desperately trying to get another camera since mine died, haven't felt this type of thirst for photography since I graduated from HS and didn't have access to a Darkroom anymore.

I do think there is some advantage to starting early but on the other hand some people just have the gift.

[MediaMagic]

It all began in a dark embryo... well, maybe not that early.

I got this kodak instamatic camera for my 7th birthday in 1970. I can't remember which film cartridge, maybe 124? It had the rotating snap in disposable flash cubes. Anyway, I about bankrupted my parents with my begging for film and processing, so they put a limit on my monthly alotment.

When I was 12 my dad gave me his Ricoflex and a manual fixed lens 35mm. Both of these he acquired in Germany in the late 50's. Surprisingly enough, I still have both of these cameras and both are fully functional.

Well, the film and processing issues were just as apparent as ever, so when I ran out of my allowance, I set up my pretend studio in the basement and would pretend to take everyone's portraits with the ricoflex, or go walking through the woods and pretend to take shots of wildlife with the 35mm.

So, I've been pretending to take pictures ever since. 8)

[Tom W]

I putzed around as a teenager with a Kodak instamatic. I never really got hooked on photography until the late 1970's when my father got his A1. He offered to "sell" me his FT and a couple of lenses for a nominal fee (essentially, he gave them to me for something like $50). I was about 19 or 20 at the time.

I remember reading his old Popular Photography magazines, and then going out and experimenting. The manual camera with a match-needle light meter is an excellent tool for learning exposure basics.

I never took a formal class, but I did a lot of reading along the way.

Throughout the '90's, I didn't do much in the way of photography. I made good use of an Olympus Quick-shooter zoom P&S, which served my snapshot needs quite well. I had too many irons in the fire with work, school, and keeping the house in one piece so photography wasn't on the top of my list.

That changed in 2000, after I finished school - I took a trip to Moab, Utah with my Exlorer and I found the Olympus woefully inadequate (I didn't take the fT - a big mistake). The incredible scenery on that trip rekindled my interest in photography.

So I started putzing around with the FT again, then got hold of a HP digital about 2 years ago. I quickly traded that for an S-230. In the meantime, I knew that a DSLR was in my future so I made the switch to a used Elan II to get myself set up with the Canon EOS system. That was about 1 year ago and I haven't stopped since.

[mttmrphy]

I took photography in high school as a blow off class. Looking back, it was probably one of my favorite classes. After I graduated I bought an AE1 and being the broke young man I was then, I sold it shortly after (big mistake).

Two years ago my fiance's aunt passed away and left a few things to her, including her T50 with a few lenses. This rekindled my interest in photography. Within that time I have progressed from a 1mp Kodak to a Canon G3 and now my dRebel.

[Ferdinand]

30

[Belmondo]

Originally Posted by mttmrphy

I took photography in high school as a blow off class. Looking back, it was probably one of my favorite classes.

It's really interesting because I have to say the same thing, and we're separated by a couple generations at least.

I took Photography in high school in 1958. Everything was black and white, 120/620 roll film (and occasional 4X5 sheet film in an old SpeedGraphic), and really smelly chemicals that branded all of us in the class as social outcasts, at least until we could manage a clean change of clothes.

What made it especially enjoyable for me was the instructor, Frank Waddingham. He was already in his seventies when he taught me in 1958, and continued teaching for many years after I had long since passed through his class. His passion, like mine, was photographing trains, and he arranged several ‘field trips’ for me and the other train lovers. We had a blast crawling around railroad yards and mainlines, and he taught us an awful lot.

[Bruce Hamilton]

My first camera was a simple p&s 110 instamatic I received as a high school graduation gift at 18. After a few years, I graduated to a Yashica Electro 35 GS, my first 35mm camera. Then came a Minolta XG-7 and several lenses, which I recently sold after purchasing my dRebel.

Credentials? We don't need no stiiiinkin' credentials!

[CoolToolGuy]

My mom and dad always had a camera around the house, so there were plenty of family pictures when I was growing up. I bought my mom a Polaroid one year for Christmas. A couple of years later, when I was around 21, I started going to the races at Watkins Glen. I wanted to capture some of the cool cars I was seeing, so once I hijacked the Polaroid for the weekend. I was hooked, but the Polaroid wasn't cutting it except around the campsite. I didn't have a lot of disposable income at that point, so it took me a year or so to get something decent - a Canon TLb. A lens here and there, followed by an F1 (had to sell the TLb to get the pro camera), followed by another lens or so, followed by an A1, followed by a couple more lenses. At one point I had a part-time job in a camera store. When I got the job I needed it to get along, but a couple of good raises at the day job and the weekly pay at the camera store just went to pay down my account at the camera store. Happy as a pig in slop, although I could have used some longer lenses.

I carried my camera everywhere. Marriage happened, and the wife got a Canon Sure Shot, which was a new concept at the time - a quality snapshot camera with a lens that focused automatically. I still carried my camera everywhere, but she was able to do just as well as I could getting family pictures. When the first child came along, she carried the kid, and I traded the 20 pound camera bag for 20 pounds of diaper bag and kid stuff.

Have Fun
Rick 8)