It’s is amazing to me what a camera can do for me. It also is a shame that I lost all that I used to do in terms of photography. Back when I was really into photography I took pictures left and right, you would never see me without a camera. For the past 5 years now though, I was often seen without a camera, I just didn’t seem to care.
From 2000 to 2004, I would estimate that I took somewhere around 7000 photos. That may not be that much for some photographers, but I was never in the professional level, for me it was always a hobby. Alas from 2004 to 2009, I only took around 2000 photos. This is quite a change for me, because I always felt at home behind a camera lens. For me photography is a way to see the world as it should be seen, the true emotions captured on film, and I am the conductor, I have control over that. When life itself has spiraled out of control, I at least know I can still control what I see and how others view it.
For a backstory on my photography, it really all started with a really old Nikon Point and Shoot 35 mm camera, a Nikon L44. This camera was given to me by my grandmother when I was visiting florida back in 6th grade. It was then when I started taking a photography course (the only one I ever took) in middle school. In 7th grade, I took a picture, and this was the picture that started everything. This picture, won 1st place in all of Baltimore County, and 2nd place in all of Maryland for Black and White Life Studies. The picture was a total fluke accident, I was taking a picture of my dog after she had just ate a bird, and I snapped this, sheer fluke. It was at that point, I realised just how amazing photography can be.
My next camera was a Nikon 4004 my parents old SLR (Single Lens Reflex) that they had since they had been married, I was the one who inherited it, and I put it through it’s paces. It was with that camera that I learned how to roll my own black and white film, and learned more about composing the proper shot. I used this camera for a good 2 or so years before the Nikon N80 was about to be released. I was quite excited about this camera for all the features that it did have to offer (in hidesight, when I look at the features that Digital SLR’s have nowadays it seems so trivial.) I was so excited I called up Coopers Camera shop every single day hoping to find out if they had the camera in stock. One day I stopped in with my mother to get some more film, and the Nikon Representative was at the store with a couple N80′s that he was able to sell. I begged and pleaded with my mother to let me buy the camera and she let me. I was one of the first people on the east coast to ever own an N80. I probably took a good 2000 pictures with that camera, including shooting a Bat Mitzvah and a Birthday Party.
Alas as time went on, I realised just how expensive film processing was, and my film based photography started to die off. It just wasn’t cost effective. I kept telling myself that I wanted to get into Digital Photography, but it was never cost effective. I simply did not have enough liquid cash to purchase a new camera for myself. It was around 2004 when this realisation happened, right when I moved to Florida. It was at this point that my photography started to teeter off. Sure I had point and shoot digital camera’s but they never accomplished what I really wanted, a large sturdy camera to be able to take photos, near and far with fully manual abilities, and fine tuning over every little aspect of the photo. They did accomplish tasks of making it easier to carry a camera with me and documenting the small acts in life, but it was like trying to use a pea to cork a wine bottle, it just never would work. There was a giant hole in my life that was missing and over time, I forgot what filled that hole.
Lately I came to the conclusion that I needed to find what will fill that hole, and make me more complete, and it was with much thought process that I realised what was missing. I decided by my birthday of 2010 I would have myself a new DSLR to utilise. I was on a phone call with a customer while teaching him about Aperture and Raw file formats when I brought up my desire to buy a DSLR by my birthday. It was mentioned in passing and nothing else was brought up about it. Later in the lesson, he commented on how he had multiple DSLR’s. I asked just how many he had, and as he was counting them he mentioned that he was going to mail me one for the holidays, just as a gift, no questions asked. Clearly I was floored, I didn’t know what to say, or how to show my appreciation, here is a customer who has no obligation to provide me with anything at all, who is just going to give me a Camera for the holiday’s. Now I have my chance to fully get back into my photography and I couldn’t be more thankful for such.