Back to basics.
October 20th 2017
Do you remember what peaked your interest in photography?
Was it just something you thought looked cool, did you get a camera as a gift as a kid? Did you sit and watch people take photos and wonder what they saw? Did you see a photo of something you’d never realize could be interesting that blew your mind?
Lately I have been thinking back to when photography became important to me, and the times it even slipped away.
Photography is diverse and abundant in our lives more than we realize, it’s plastered on items around our home and we’re never very far from an image of something or someone. It’s interesting to question our inspirations as a photographer because of just how much imagery we see on a daily basis.
This blog is not about where great photographers found their inspiration or vision. It isn’t about how to excel at taking photographs or interesting ideas or concepts to try. It isn’t about originality or the latest and greatest tech, this blog is about remembering where you came from, only then you can map where you want to go.
Do you still own your first camera? And I don’t mean a cheap toy you were given as a kid, I mean the first camera you scraped everything for, saved, worked and probably obsessed about for an extended amount of time before you called it yours? In 2005 I wanted to learn more about photography. Sure I had always loved taking photos, but I didn’t actually own a nice camera, at best a Kodak from a retail store that probably set me back less than $200. So in 2005 I decided the next thing I was going to do is work hard, save every last dollar I could and buy a DSLR. I spent a lot of time looking online at them, trying to decide what I could afford and what would help me learn completely on my own. I found the Nikon D50, which at its time had decent praise for an entry-level camera.
It was so amazing to look through the viewfinder and see just what my sensor was going to catch. I took it everywhere, took hundreds and hundreds of shots always wanting to learn more, get better and find my style. Since other cameras have came and gone and my Nikon has rested in the bottom of a bag like a sleeping dragon from a different time. So recently I have been somewhat obsessed with Fujifilm and the X-Pro 2 body. Once again I am saving, waiting and researching a camera nearly daily as I sell off every other camera I’ve owned to buy it.
This made me think of an idea. Why not return to the basics of 2005, sure it’s so far back and my iPhone can probably out perform the Nikon but it’s more about revisiting those fundamentals of imagery that I learned years ago with that camera.
My goal is to create a collection of 30 images from the Nikon D50 that I am personally proud of nearly 13 years after it’s purchase. I will be shooting only with a 50mm 1.8 because a prime lens really pushes creativity. I will share my collection as soon as it is finished and if you have your own sleeping dragon I encourage you, no I challenge you to pick it up and see what happens.
“A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera” -Dorothea Lange
More soon, keep checking back!! :)
