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Loving all the replies, thanks for sharing!
What's your photography background?
- Thread starter WarrenB
- Start date
My first camera was a hand me down Brownie Holiday which I used at the '64 NY world's fair. A year or so later graduated to a discontinued Brownie Auto 27 and started developing my own film. Then came an Argus C3, a Nikkormat and a couple of used Leicas with old glass in the '70s.
Along the way I got a film degree. I worked in TV news for a couple of years. Went on to work in film and video production for a non-profit and have been there ever since.
I still shoot some film but mostly digital for my personal still work.
Along the way I got a film degree. I worked in TV news for a couple of years. Went on to work in film and video production for a non-profit and have been there ever since.
I still shoot some film but mostly digital for my personal still work.
Here is my progression based on the cameras I have used and still own.
35mm Fuji PS Gift from dad
35mm Nikon N50 Gift from parents
2x3 Galvin monorail (Used) -First purchased camera just before marriage then Wanted bigger format
4x5 Busch Pressman D (Used)- Love that camera But not enough control
4x5 Sinar F (well used). Loved the system didn't love the weight and difficulty in carrying into the field
4x5 Prinzdorf (Used)- Won it in a photographic article writing competition
Kiev 88 Modified by Hartblei (New and the last K88 modified by original Hartblei)
5X7 Kodak 2D (about 100 years old) Fell in love with old view cameras
8x10 Kodak 2d-The 5x7 needed a younger bigger buddy
Digital Nikon d80 Bought it just cuz
4x5 Cambo SC (Used) my dad gave me his LF system to add to my collection after the stroke made using it impossible
Digital Nikon D7100 because My D80 died
As you can see I have a number of cameras and use most of them. I am sure there were others in the progression but these define who I am as a photographer. I grew up around cameras and just sort of migrated to it. Dad was and still is quite the enabler. I took a couple photo courses in college in order to use the darkrooms. Declared myself a pro and quickly gave myself an ulcer because I am a perfectionist. Nothing would go out unless it was absolutely perfect. Doc said quit, so I did. I started to really enjoy it again after that.
At this point in my life I am happier with the process than the final outcome with the digital camera. I detest working on images with a computer. I am plenty content to find, frame, and shoot. Large format, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. I have been messing around with the idea of carbon printing because I no longer have access to a darkroom. This past summer I discovered how cheap 8x10 x-ray film is. Now I have 500 sheets in the fridge to use, developing tanks, the making of an Alt processing light box, and The future looks good.
35mm Fuji PS Gift from dad
35mm Nikon N50 Gift from parents
2x3 Galvin monorail (Used) -First purchased camera just before marriage then Wanted bigger format
4x5 Busch Pressman D (Used)- Love that camera But not enough control
4x5 Sinar F (well used). Loved the system didn't love the weight and difficulty in carrying into the field
4x5 Prinzdorf (Used)- Won it in a photographic article writing competition
Kiev 88 Modified by Hartblei (New and the last K88 modified by original Hartblei)
5X7 Kodak 2D (about 100 years old) Fell in love with old view cameras
8x10 Kodak 2d-The 5x7 needed a younger bigger buddy
Digital Nikon d80 Bought it just cuz
4x5 Cambo SC (Used) my dad gave me his LF system to add to my collection after the stroke made using it impossible
Digital Nikon D7100 because My D80 died
As you can see I have a number of cameras and use most of them. I am sure there were others in the progression but these define who I am as a photographer. I grew up around cameras and just sort of migrated to it. Dad was and still is quite the enabler. I took a couple photo courses in college in order to use the darkrooms. Declared myself a pro and quickly gave myself an ulcer because I am a perfectionist. Nothing would go out unless it was absolutely perfect. Doc said quit, so I did. I started to really enjoy it again after that.
At this point in my life I am happier with the process than the final outcome with the digital camera. I detest working on images with a computer. I am plenty content to find, frame, and shoot. Large format, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. I have been messing around with the idea of carbon printing because I no longer have access to a darkroom. This past summer I discovered how cheap 8x10 x-ray film is. Now I have 500 sheets in the fridge to use, developing tanks, the making of an Alt processing light box, and The future looks good.
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Interesting. Is this just left over stock, or are they still producing it for non medical use. Medical use is now all digital.
They still make it, I believe. I think a lot of poorer countries still use film.
This is where I bought mine. Not all X-rays are digital yet. Smaller hospitals and poorer clinics still use film. Very contrasty stuff though. It lends itself to alternate photo processes well. I am still learning it. Scratches real easy, development is also pretty touchy. At 32 cents a sheet for 8x10 I can afford to practice. 
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I didn't do any photography until I went to college. My major was Art History and my advisor told me I had to learn how to use a 35 mm camera. So I got a Canon TL QL that I still have and started taking pictures of the pieces I was writing about. My professors liked my photos and so I started doing things for the university. I worked in a custom B&W lab and at a camera store during college and as a studio photographer after I graduated. I never took a photography class just read and picked up what I could on the job.
First camera was a plastic brownie.
First tripod was a chrome tiltall.
First light was a sungun, possibly made by honeywell. Not sure.
Next cam was a Polaroid Color pack II, year was 1969 I think.
Then some kind of Agfa 35mm, mid 1970s.
First 'real' camera was Canon A1, also had AE-1 and F1 bodies.
First real flash was a Sunpak AP52. I modified it to run on gelcell batteries.
Got a Slik U212 Tripod. Gave the Tiltall back to Dad. Hated that thing.
Pentax digital spotmeter, a few Westons (still have 2-3 of them).
First lights were built by me, out of some wierd hair-drying lamps from an abandoned beauty parlor. I used mini-can quartz lamps and ceramic bases from edmund scientific. Shot my first big freelance gig with them - sewing machine catalog for Consew in Maspeth.
Graflex Crown Anniverary - probably 10-12 of them, many Graflex RB in 2x3/3x4/4x5.
Gitzo 4 & 5 legs, Cambo, Arca and Linhoff heads - can't remember which ones exactly.
Minolta Flashmeter 4 and 4F, then Sekonics - 508, 608, then back to 508 then 358 and 308.
Agfa Ansco 5x7 studio.
Several Zone VI 4x5s.
Littman Polaroid.
Next lights were Miniblitz monoblocks. Then a Novatron pack & heads, Then Dynalght D, then Dynalight M. Also had a rather large assortment of Lumedyne portables and a drawer full of Vivitar 283/285 HV.
Quantum Slaves, replaced by Pwiz when they came out.
Dumped Canon gear, got Hasselblad 500CMs and moved through Nikon F, F2, F3 HP, F3-P, F4, F5; usually 2 of each.
Had an array of FM & FM2n bodies also.
Nikon Speedlights entered the scene when shooting 2 F5s daily.
Minolta Color Meter II (still have it)
Got rid of the Slik, replaced with Gitzo 1228 & Linhoff ballhead.
At some point, I Traded a spare FM for a Leica M2 - that spawned into a flock of Ms....
Moved Dynalite out, replaced by Profoto monolights.
Moved from F5 to D1x - and so on....
I left lenses out of the list because its just too hard to remember them all.
Almost all of the above is gone. When digital became an approachable option for most people, I got the Nikon D1x and started selling off everything that was going to depreciate radically or be 'mothballed' A career change allowed me to really clean house.
Throughout that 'time-line' (not exactly that) - I studied under a few well known photographers at a few different schools; the most notable being Arthur Leipzig.
Camera gear here now
Nikon D7000 & D810, F3-P w/MD-4.
Canon EOS M, Canon P (film/rangefinder).
Lenses - Voigtlander 20mm, 40mm, Nikon 35 f/2 AF-D, 85 f/1.8 AF-D, 105mm f/1.8 AIS chipped for use on the DSLRs.
Sekonic 478DR w/Colorite passport.
Still have the Gitzo 1228, and my Profoto monos are new D1 Air, still use Pwiz but they're current models.
Just picked up a new Gitzo GT2531 for my Arca B2. Might roll out the D7000 for another FF body this year.... not sure yet.
The list could be used to define part or most of my careet as a shooter, but it doesn't define me as a photographer.
I started out having fun, moved to doing the odd freelance gig here/there, wound up shooting local news and branching out to hard news and editorial. Tried shooting weddings, did that for 2 yr, hated it and essentially changed careers but I kept shooting jobs regularly. After 9/11, I gradually stopped shooting for hire, took a while to get 'there' though.
Now, for me, photography is what it was before I started shooting commercially. Self indulgent fun.
First tripod was a chrome tiltall.
First light was a sungun, possibly made by honeywell. Not sure.
Next cam was a Polaroid Color pack II, year was 1969 I think.
Then some kind of Agfa 35mm, mid 1970s.
First 'real' camera was Canon A1, also had AE-1 and F1 bodies.
First real flash was a Sunpak AP52. I modified it to run on gelcell batteries.
Got a Slik U212 Tripod. Gave the Tiltall back to Dad. Hated that thing.
Pentax digital spotmeter, a few Westons (still have 2-3 of them).
First lights were built by me, out of some wierd hair-drying lamps from an abandoned beauty parlor. I used mini-can quartz lamps and ceramic bases from edmund scientific. Shot my first big freelance gig with them - sewing machine catalog for Consew in Maspeth.
Graflex Crown Anniverary - probably 10-12 of them, many Graflex RB in 2x3/3x4/4x5.
Gitzo 4 & 5 legs, Cambo, Arca and Linhoff heads - can't remember which ones exactly.
Minolta Flashmeter 4 and 4F, then Sekonics - 508, 608, then back to 508 then 358 and 308.
Agfa Ansco 5x7 studio.
Several Zone VI 4x5s.
Littman Polaroid.
Next lights were Miniblitz monoblocks. Then a Novatron pack & heads, Then Dynalght D, then Dynalight M. Also had a rather large assortment of Lumedyne portables and a drawer full of Vivitar 283/285 HV.
Quantum Slaves, replaced by Pwiz when they came out.
Dumped Canon gear, got Hasselblad 500CMs and moved through Nikon F, F2, F3 HP, F3-P, F4, F5; usually 2 of each.
Had an array of FM & FM2n bodies also.
Nikon Speedlights entered the scene when shooting 2 F5s daily.
Minolta Color Meter II (still have it)
Got rid of the Slik, replaced with Gitzo 1228 & Linhoff ballhead.
At some point, I Traded a spare FM for a Leica M2 - that spawned into a flock of Ms....
Moved Dynalite out, replaced by Profoto monolights.
Moved from F5 to D1x - and so on....
I left lenses out of the list because its just too hard to remember them all.
Almost all of the above is gone. When digital became an approachable option for most people, I got the Nikon D1x and started selling off everything that was going to depreciate radically or be 'mothballed' A career change allowed me to really clean house.
Throughout that 'time-line' (not exactly that) - I studied under a few well known photographers at a few different schools; the most notable being Arthur Leipzig.
Camera gear here now
Nikon D7000 & D810, F3-P w/MD-4.
Canon EOS M, Canon P (film/rangefinder).
Lenses - Voigtlander 20mm, 40mm, Nikon 35 f/2 AF-D, 85 f/1.8 AF-D, 105mm f/1.8 AIS chipped for use on the DSLRs.
Sekonic 478DR w/Colorite passport.
Still have the Gitzo 1228, and my Profoto monos are new D1 Air, still use Pwiz but they're current models.
Just picked up a new Gitzo GT2531 for my Arca B2. Might roll out the D7000 for another FF body this year.... not sure yet.
The list could be used to define part or most of my careet as a shooter, but it doesn't define me as a photographer.
I started out having fun, moved to doing the odd freelance gig here/there, wound up shooting local news and branching out to hard news and editorial. Tried shooting weddings, did that for 2 yr, hated it and essentially changed careers but I kept shooting jobs regularly. After 9/11, I gradually stopped shooting for hire, took a while to get 'there' though.
Now, for me, photography is what it was before I started shooting commercially. Self indulgent fun.
