I wonder what ever happened to those lens?

[__Legion__]

My grandfather, an artist of some renown, had an slr. I remember it was kept in on a special shelf in the hall closet where he kept his indoor art supplies along with half a dozen or so lenses, each in it's own special leather case.

He was primarily a sculptor and a world traveler by nature and design and every year he and my grandmother would jet off for months at a time to Malta, Sicily, random parts of the US and the like.

And yet, the strange thing is....I cannot recall ever seeing a photo he took. There were the ubiquitous family photo albums of dreadful holiday snaps taken by my grandmother. There were horrible and boring slide shows that he had taken and forced upon the family every now and then..which I suppose (and have only just realized upon writing this) must have been his main purpose for his camera.

His home had artworks on every wall, every spare surface had a statue of some kind, life size works covered the lawn and were sat in most corners of the house. The book shelfs were lined his art history and theory texts....and never once during my childhood was I exposed to the idea of photography as art.

holiday snaps, memories, commercial and advertising and (when I got a little older) porn....

fast forwards a few years, past my own disappointing career in the visual arts (honestly, I just didn't have the drive or dedication and allowed myself to be too distracted be sex, drugs and rock n roll) and I slowly began to become more aware of the possibilities. Having moved into audio and recording and being an overly conceptual wanker my interest in the arts slowly revealed what I had missed earlier. Promoting artists online in the mid 90's meant designing websites which meant working with graphic which meant reading tutorials, trawling deviant art for ideas and inspiration and seeing what others where doing. Etc and so on....which leads me to here, trying to recreate what I see in my mind and this time being much more focused and dedicated.

So...what draws you to photography and when did you begin to see the art in it?

Originally Posted by __Legion__

So...what draws you to photography and when did you begin to see the art in it?

Hmmmm.. I started taking pictures of my silly little blonde girl playing softball. I had a digital point and shoot, very early generation when shutter-lag was the biggest concern. As my girl grew, so did my hobby. Then one day, somebody paid me. Then somebody else. The drive to capture the moments really motivated me.

Then one day a friend wanted some portraits for a dating site. Wow, never did that kind of stuff.. loved it. Get the look, get the feel... then I started picturing shots in my mind before I ever picked up a camera, then realizing those shots. It became my passion/addiction/love.

[Sloseph]

i started when i met my other half, she had a 30d which went everywhere with here and she was always taking shots at the clubs we went to, then i got a point and shoot of a friend on the cheap and got bitten by the bug

[UlpilotSC]

Mine started back in 1979....
My parents had a lot of photo stuff. My mother was the main photographer, using an all manual canon that seemed to take forever to set. They had one of the old boxy super 8 video cameras too but I never messed with it, the film was too expensive.
They gave me an old Polaroid, the kind that folds into a box, but expands with bellows and came with it's own timer... I loved watching the pictures develop. Years later my high school art teacher held a photography class my senior year, as a trial run. I took it and used that old canon, when everyone else seemed to have automatic everything, here I was trying to work out apertures and shutter speeds.
But I've enjoyed it for a while. They published some of my pictures in the yearbook that year, I've had a few in an small magazine I subscribe to (anyone can submit a story and photos), so it's been fun.

Originally Posted by __Legion__

So...what draws you to photography and when did you begin to see the art in it?

I started about 2 years ago and thought everything I did was pure gold.

Then I realized that I was a pretentious little sh!t and stopped taking myself so damned seriously. If something awesome flies out of my butt; that's wonderful.

Not everything I do is "art"... nor should it be frankly.

~Eric

[RLucas]

I got it from my dad. He was in to it pretty heavy when I was a kid in the 70's. He had a bunch of friends that had Rollies and Nikkormats. They would do some stunning b/w work that I have always loved. He also turned our only bathroom in to a darkroom. I had polaroids and a couple of 110 cameras that I would play with. I got my first SLR when I was 12 in 1984. It was a canon T50. I kept it up until 2007, when my house burned. I didn't use it much in my adult years, but for about two years in my teens, that is about all I did. I was particularly fond of Tri-X black and white film. I've also always enjoyed drawing and painting( water color mostly), which I still do from time to time.

My interest was reborn a couple of years ago when someone gave me a D40 as a gift. I started just doing random snaps, and that kind of thing, until I found this site, which opened my eyes to the infinite technicalities of photography. I am not shooting too much at the moment, but I am still very much immersed in it.

[daft_biker]

Originally Posted by __Legion__

So...what draws you to photography and when did you begin to see the art in it?

I suspect if you visit the Isle of Skye (west coast of Scotland) you will see what drew me to buy a camera.

It was only after buying a camera that I realised I enjoyed using it. And then a few years later when I got a macro lens and DSLR I remember looking at one picture and thinking "did I do that". Apparently I did

[Jim Bryant]

My stepfather used a 4 x 5 Speed Graphic, processed the film in the kitchen and made 4 x 5 contact prints with a homemade contact printer. Sort of kindled my passion.