Your photo-biographies

I've been wondering of late how Forum members have acquired the expertise they have and over what period of time they have acquired it.

Having come to the Pentax DSLR fold (I did have a nice little Optio with which I used to shoot slide a while back) relatively inexperienced as a photographer, my learning curve over the past couple of years has been pretty steep. However, I do feel I've made a fair bit of progress - even if I'm still often frustrated by my inability to obtain the shots I want, both before and after capture. And I was wondering what the most effective way of advancing my ability might be.

For what it's worth, I'd say the following have contributed to my development as a photographer in roughly equal measure:

a. Reading photography how-to books.
b. Forum participation - notably in the weekly and fortnightly comps.
c. Looking at other photographers' work analytically in books, galleries and on the web - both good (more enjoyable) and not so good.
d. And of course, it should go without saying but I'll say it anyway, taking photographs and processing them.

Other paths I might have followed but haven't are club participation (never was an option in Addis Ababa, though is here in Colombo) and structured courses (online or otherwise). I also haven't used online resources for budding photographers much either. I would be curious about others experience of all of these.

However, this isn't only addressed at those who have come quite recently to photography but also those with many years (even decades) of experience. In fact, I'm probably especially curious about those who have honed their expertise - both in capturing and post-processing - over a long period of time. I'm also curious about how many people built up their knowledge base through use of film cameras, and how many (relative newcomers presumably) though digital phtography.

My story begins with art as from an early age my father taught me to paint and draw. My first Camera was a folding Voightlander Bessa and used a Patterson Developing Kit though i still sent the negs for commercial printing. Whilst in the R A F i used to work on vintage Aircraft in my spare time so naturally i wanted to photograph the restoration progress. By that time i had a Zenit E then in 1975 a Pentax KM followed by two MX`s a couple of years later. It was then a friend encouraged me to join a local club and when i won 1st and 2nd in a club monthly competition on my first visit i was hooked! i later learned darkroom skills with an ancient Gnome Enlarger which i later had modified to take Cibachrom Filters. In 76-77 i enrolled on a fantastically inspirational 12 week evening course at Cardiff Uni with David Hurn and guest speakers like Terence Donovan and Don Macullin and (i think )John Hedgcoe. As i was posted here and there i would join all the clubs that i could, Often 3 or more at any one time plus we used to go out in small groups with our Cameras. I used a Superb Vivitar Enlarger and a motorised (Battery Powered) Cibachrom drum which could produce 16x12 prints. With which i used to demonstrate at the Club nights.I also visited loads of Airshows all around Europe and later USA also Steam Railways and anything else that i could point a Camera at. In the Summer i used 20-30 rolls of Kodachrom 64 every month!
This pretty much came to a halt when i got married and for 12 years i just took family mug shots!. But a number of Years after i was divorced Pentax released an affordable DSLR in the Ist DL, As i had a number of Pentax Lenses and following a bit of research, I found that the image quality would be good enough to sell. So i found a Photolibrary that accepted images from a 6mp Camera and because i already had around 3 years experience in Photoshop retouching my mouldy old Slides (Due to poor storage during the married years!)i was able to begin selling my Digital Images from Frame No 1 and have continued doing so ever since!

Regards - Pete.

Just the ticket, Pete. Interesting you should mention the course organised by David Hurn. I've recently read a book co-written by him which partly discussed this - 'On being a photographer'. Sounds like it was an excellent course. And having subsequently viewed his photos online, I guess he could have been an excellent teacher. He has some really wonderful images on the Magum website.

Hi,
You are right about it being an excellent course, It was more about the way photographers visualised their work and their approach to it. It gave an insight into how each of them ticked rather than focusing on the technical side.Each week covered a different aspect of Photography including some of the less tasteful areas.
I also had a habit of purchasing a lot of Magazines both photographic ans specialist ones appertaining to my personal interests. I would study how the images were taken, and figure out what lenses were used or how many light sources etc and i used to file any interesting images or articles in separate files so that i could refer to them for guidance or inspiration.
I also Found the Photographers Handbook by John Hedgcoe absolutely invaluable and still do now that i have a replacement copy. (The Dog destroyed my original copy¬)

Regards - Pete

The course sounds just as I'd expected. My impression from the book was how it pushed a kind of philosophy of photography more about personal development and engaging with the world than anything technical.

It has completely transformed my perception of photography, My only regret is that i was still a relatively immature photographer at that point and was totally oblivious to how privileged i was to in that lecture hall for those 12 weeks with such icons of Photography. I had heard of them of course but it is only now when i think back i begin to feel overwhelmed!
It was Don Macullin who made the biggest impression on me, I can still see his face as he spoke of his experiences of War photography, And this has been even more vivid in my mind since attending a talk by Philip Jones Griffith only a few months before he passed away.

Best Regards - Pete.

I have that book, too, and it's very interesting.

G

I've been taking photos for many years but only came to digital work relatively recently, in the past three years or so. As a film photographer I learned quite a lot from working as a newspaper reporter alongside professional press photographers and equally from joining a camera club. Listening to visitng judges making their comments on photos, lecturers taking about their own work and visiting print exhibitions was also educational.
For a few years before I bought my first digital camera, an ist DS, my enthusiasm for the hobby had waned quite a lot. I wasn't getting a buzz out of taking film photos any more.
Digital has fired up my enthusiasm again and I'm shooting pictures at a higher rate now than I ever have. Being in a go ahead camera club - Durham Photographic Society has almost 100 members - certainly helps. Some of my mates there have excellent PS skills and when I have a question I have only to ask them to get an answer.
Being on the PU site is also very helpful. I just love the weekly competitions and reading the opinions of fellow Pentax users.
One thing's for sure, no matter how long you have been doing photography, you just go on learning all the time.
david

Thanks for that David. I read both yours and Pete's posts with interest. It's just a shame more people haven't posted here - it would be good to know about other members' experience.

I think most of my technical photographic knowledge came from reading various library books on photography when I got my first SLR (a Pentax ME). Some of these books were better than others, but learning on an aperture priority only camera was a great help, I think. I used to try to record the settings I'd used, & would reference these against the prints to see where I'd gone wrong (or right, occasionally). Thankfully digital capture does away with the need to carry around notebook for such purposes!

Art is one of my passions, and my eye for composition isn't bad, but it took me a while to learn to look through the viewfinder in exactly the same way that I might look at a painting (and, as such, create the picture rather than simply aiming the camera at the subject). I used a standard prime most of the time, and I also think that this was useful in learning how to compose an image.

Of the skills particularly related to digital photography (including post-processing), I would say that I have improved over time largely through the use of this forum (and many thanks to all those who have taken the time to help with my queries, and who continue to post so many informative and generous comments).

Dr Mhuni - I mentioned previously my love of art, but I was lucky enough to get to see the inaugural Colombo Biennale at the start of this month. It was fun to be at such an event, though the quality was, on the whole, a bit disappointing. It was mainly painting & installations, though it included a few photographs. I don't suppose you happened to make it along?

Jonathan

Jonathan, the biennale completely passed me by unfortunately. Have only been here a little over a month, so much of my spare time is still taken up sorting out the nitty gritty like mattresses, insurance, internet connections etc. Though we're getting there slowly.

What were you doing in Colombo?

Dr Mhuni - I was only in Colombo for a couple of days, but chanced upon the Biennale. I was visiting a friend who lives in Trincomalee, and we came down to Colombo from there via Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, and also spent a few days down near Galle.

Good luck with getting everything sorted after your move, and enjoy the dry season!

Jonathan