What Image (that you shot) Got You to Where You Are

Okay the title is wordy, I admit it.

Anyway what image that you yourself have shot - put you to where you are now or helped move you into the direction of photography and get hooked etc. And if you could, explain why? This is sort of a spin on Nando's post about favourite photo.

For me it is this shot here:


I knew I had this shot online somewhere and I spent a few hours tracking it down but I did. As you can see it's from 2005 and it's actually one of the first shots I have from buying the 20D. It's image number 218 on a brand new camera so you can tell I was still new. This was shot 4 days after getting my camera and first lenses in. I always had P&S but knew I wanted more. I believe this was my first outing with the camera and it's from when Domino was still young (maybe 4 or 5 months old). After I took this shot, caught a moment that wasn't posed and have that moment between my girl and my dog just made me happy and made me want to keep learning and shooting more. Sure there's things wrong with the shot and things that could improve but that's not the point. This was a guy with a new camera learning his way - going out and trying things out without really knowing what I was doing or how to get the results I wanted. I still think this is one of my favourite shots that I have taken.

I know some of you grew up with photography so you probably don't have a shot available to post etc but even if you could describe it I think it'd be cool. Or if you used to do all landscapes but now do more people type stuff or architecture etc throw something up that made you switch to that or got you hooked on that. For example let's say you were a landscape guy but when shooting in an urban setting you shot some buildings/architecture and that threw you onto a big architecture course - what was the key image that moved you that way?

Just trying something different.

Great idea for a thread, Curt. There are many defining photographs for different stages of my life and the birth of my daughter really helped me get back into pursuing photography again. If I was going to pick a moment that got me to where my headspace is right now it would have to be my trip to Toronto in October 2007.

I moved to the Soo 3 years ago, for 10 years prior I had lived in Toronto. I had done some work for non-profits, back alleys and signage but never really did any serious street photography (if there is such a thing). I had a film SLR at the start, then an early digital point and shoot and finally my digital SLR gear. I knew what I wanted to do but the SLR wasn't the right tool for the job for me.

After moving to the Soo I found some old fixed-lens rangefinders at Value Village, on was $15, the other $10. I knew about them but had never used one. I decided for my October 07 to leave my digital SLRs at home and shoot Toronto a way I never had before... with a rangefinder and B&W film.

Excuse me as I'm going to post a few pics because they're a series.

Here's mine:



Before I got into photography, I drew. This drawing appeared in the Sault Star. The title is wrong - it should have read "The Rolls". Clearly the editor did not recognize the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament.

This newspaper clipping hung from our fridge for a number of years. My teacher and school principal also cut out the clip and displayed it on their walls. It was probably the first time I realized that I may be good at something. I went into school not knowing a word of English so the first few years were quite difficult. I rarely got any type of recognition early on except in art. I drew until I was around 15 or 16. Drawing took too much time and I found myself wanting to do other things. I picked it up again in a serious way while in university but then moved to photography.

Ken,
I too had some gear-driven epiphanies.

This is one photo from an evening that has a lot of meaning to me. Not only was it the first time I had really put thought into taking pictures and enjoying it, it was also the night I planned my proposal to my now wife Heather. I wasn't feeling all that great from a long day in the sun, so I opted to skip dinner and just relax on the beach by myself. With my little Canon Powershot S400 Digital Elph 4MP P&S camera in hand (my first ever camera), I sat back gathering my thoughts and just took some pictures of some amazing scenery that I've never witnessed before. After that night I've been hooked on taking landscape and scenic shots, but it took about a year or so to realize that it wasn't just a short-term phase. I jumped into the DSLR world not really knowing what the hell I was doing, and have been enjoying it every step of the way to where I am now.

Looking back at these older photos of that night always brings a smile to my face.

Nice story Bryan. It's funny how somethings come together at the same time.



The photograph I took above was the first one that I was reasonably happy with. Up to that point, I was on and off photography. Mostly due to time restraints but also because I was continuously disappointed in what I was getting.

I took the photo below about two years ago in Portugal shortly after a teenager tried to rob my camera bag. In the process, my Leica MP dropped to the concrete destroying my Voigtlander 35mm Ultron that was mounted on it. I stayed long enough to make sure that the kid was going to be ok and to deal with the police. I just wanted to get away from there so I could shoot more. I dusted off my MP took the damaged 35mm Voigt off and put the 50mm Jupiter on and went on shooting for 2 or 3 more hours. When I told my family about the incident they thought I was crazy to keep shooting - especially so late into the night. My mother, especially, went hysterical. I think I realized then that photography was something more than just a hobby. It was more of a confirmation than realization, actually.

I am really fairly new to photography, I did how-ever have a great photographic mentor (my father). While he was never really able to teach me, I learned a lot from seeing his photos.
This is the photo I took where I first realized my potential.




Sadly, my father never got to see this photo in its final form, he died shortly after it was taken.

You can see some of my father's work at this site I created in his memory.
http://sonny-memorial.deviantart.com/

More of my work can be seen at:

http://www.nebey.deviantart.com/

Its a nice tribute to your father that you picked up his passion. My own father passed away last November. His passion was gardening and wine-making. I got into wine-making about two year ago and so far, so good. As my mother is just had a hip replaced, I will now be taking care o the garden this summer. We'll see how it goes.

Sorry to hear about your parents, its rough, I know. Yeah, I guess I was always into the photography somewhat, but never really got into it till a few years ago, bought my first DSLR. I am going to take his old camera out one of these days, see if I can figure out how to use it. Manual focus, film, should be interesting.

There's lots of film shooters on this board so you should have no problem getting advice if you need any.