Firstly I’d like to apologise if this rambles a bit but I’ve not done anything like this before, so expect a collection of thoughts rather than a quality bit of wordsmithery!
I can think of a couple of times when I was younger when I was keen to get into photography but it never really happened. Looking back, it’s almost as if I was waiting for a change to happen, which of course turned out to be the digital ‘revolution’. The birth of my son in 1998 made me upgrade from a film compact to an SLR, but still the bug didn’t quite get me.
Only when I sold the SLR to get an early digital compact did I really start thinking of it as something I could properly get my teeth into. In late 2007 I decided to sell my modest Kodak and buy a refurbished Canon 350D thinking that if I didn’t enjoy it I could just sell it for a small loss and go back to a compact but needless to say this didn’t happen!
The past 3 and a bit years has seen me learn a fair bit, but I have no desire to become an expert on the technical side – I know the stuff that is important to me but don’t have the brain to start thinking about the science of it all. Depth of field is something you see not calculate as far as I’m concerned! I see many photographers become obsessed either with technical issues or trying to keep up with every little upgrade that they seem to lose sight of the actual photography.
One important thing that I couldn’t foresee is knowing the style I would like, and what kit I would need to shoot it. A macro lens and 28-135 have come and gone, and I’ve settled down now with a mere 3 bits of glass and a good compact for when I don’t want to lug the SLR around. My longest lens is 50mm and the only manipulation I do is the occasional crop and levels adjustment. I now have a passion for black and white and I see myself shooting mono more and more often. Few things annoy me more than a heavily retouched shot or horror of horrors – HDR!
One thing I didn’t think I’d do again is buy a roll of film, but a friend gave me a Trip 35 a while back and I’m about to run a black and white film through it. I’ll be surprised if I’m pleased with the results but you never know – whatever happens the Trip is a stunning camera to hold and use I can’t just leave it on the shelf.
I’ve included 2 of my favourite shots which I hope you like, and I’d love you to visit my gallery (http://timallenphoto.co.uk/) and maybe leave a comment. When I look at it myself I can see I’ve improved over time, which I suppose is the main thing. Thanks for reading.
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