When did you get your first camera?

[mila-g]

<p>I received my first camera around the age of 4 and had various ones up until I was 18 at which point women, wine and song intervened and I didnt pick up another in earnest until 18 years later. My father and his sister were both journalists so it was probably no surprise that they would introduce me to one or other aspects of the media - words or images. I had no formal training and whilst Im not earning any money at it, I think my output is good enough to do so.<br>

Im curious to learn other's experience and exposure (pun intended) to cameras in early life and how this affected later development. Also what intervened if anything along the way. <br>

 

<p>Administrator pull this please immediately f it goes against any PN policy. </p>

 

<br>

So...assuming youre shooting now<br>

1. At what age did you get/use first camera?<br>

2. Have you always had a camera around?<br>

3. Do you consider yourself a bit lost when you dont have your current camera readily to hand?<br>

4. Did you have any formal training?<br>

5. Did you have a break from photography or did you stick with it? What caused the break? Do you wish you didnt break away for a while?<br>

6. Do you earn from it or consider images commercial enough?</p>

<p> </p>

[andy_szeto]

13, yes, no, no, no, no

[maury_cohen]

<p>I'd say my first serious camera use was around age 13.<br>

I've gone through phases of carrying a camera at all times and not.<br>

I currently do try to almost always have at least the point & shoot with me.<br>

I earned a BA degree in photography in my pursuit of the profession. <br>

I've taken some short breaks from photography now and then. The longest was about a year and a half after losing my finacee to an accident.<br>

I owned and operated a commercial studio for 10 years.</p>

[KenPapai]

<p>1. My first serious camera was a Minolta SRT 102 and a movie camera with three lenses, regular 8mm. I shot mostly B&W and developed everything myself (either in high school or my home darkroom). I loved shooting 8mm movies and stop action animation.<br /> 2. No, but nearly always now since May 1990 when I bought my first Canon EOS 35mm SLR.<br /> 3. Yes, I do feel lost when my camera isn't close by. You never know what you will miss.<br /> 4. No formal training at all -- just lots of books and brain like a sponge.<br /> 5. During the '80s was largely a total break for me. I REGRET that IMMENSELY too. So many things lost then; only my memory. I owe that break to being "recalcitrant" or just plain stupid (idiotic actually) I guess.<br /> 6. I earn way little from photography; I am way to conservative to make the jump from a good computer-based career to fulltime photography where there already are 100s of top pros in my area.</p>

 

[William Kahn]

<p>1. 11<br>

2. Yes<br>

3. Oh, yeah.<br>

4. NYIP<br>

5. I took a break during my college years (yep, wine, women, etc.) and during my Navy service (except for Vietnam, where my camera and all my Kodachromes went to the bottom of the Ong Doc River when my boat was mined.) I didn't get back into it until about 20 years later.<br>

6. Did pretty well in Arizona, not so good in Tennessee. But the money's not the important thing anymore.</p>

[starvy]

<p>1. If it comes to having a piece of equipment that I could call my own, that would be a little fixed focus Hanimex. I bought it out of my paper round money in 1990. It cost £39.99 from Argos in Birmingham town centre. I knew little about films and used those enveloped that offered cheap processing and gave you a free film. I would have been 15 when that Hanimex came in my life. It wasn't sophisticated. In fact it felt clunky and the motorised advance was too noisy. I loved the fact that it had a flash!<br>

2. No. I bought a Canon S30 digital in 2001 and clicked away at anything in the automated setting!<br>

3. My proper interest in photography started around late 2006. Since then, whatever had been my main camera, I miss it when it is not around.<br>

4. I read photo.net, looked at the pictures, spent money on buying ten or so photographic magazines and as soon as I understood how light affected my lenses, I knew I was there.<br>

5. Since I don't consider my serious foray into amateur shooting to be a long tradition, I am yet to take a break. Increasingly, I am shooting less. This has more do to with the stress of living than a natural disdain for capturing light.<br>

6. I have thought about it but don't really have the equipment and means to make a serious go of it. Would love to be a traveling landscape or street shooter.<br /> <br /></p>

<p> </p>

[SCL]

<p>My first camera was a "spy" camera from some cereal company promotion around age 8 or so. There have always been cameras in my household, my father used an Argus C3, my grandparents used either folders, a Graflex, or various twin lens reflexes. I moved thru Brownies into 35mm by about age 13 or 14, began darkroom work around age 15. There's usually a camera with me wherever I've been, but no I don't feel lost without it. If asingle photography course is formal training, yes...but mostly self taught. I've published, but am not nor do I desire to be a professional. For me it is a fun hobby.</p>

[randrew1]

<p>I purchased a 127 format "Boy Scout" camera for $5 in 1960 at the age of 8. I've had a camera ever since. I got paid for a few shots in college, but I've never been a pro. I have worked in the imaging industry for nearly 36 years.</p>

[railphotog]

<p>1. At what age did you get/use first camera?<br>

I was 19 or so when I got my first camera, a small manual rangefinder, don't remember the brand.<br>

<br />2. Have you always had a camera around?<br>

Eventually yes.</p>

<p>3. Do you consider yourself a bit lost when you dont have your current camera readily to hand?<br>

Yes. I always have one of my three near me, failing that there's always my cell phone!</p>

<p>4. Did you have any formal training?<br>

No. Learned photography and darkroom work by trial and error.<br>

<br />5. Did you have a break from photography or did you stick with it? What caused the break? Do you wish you didnt break away for a while?<br>

No, been pretty well taking photos forever - 45 years or so!</p>

<p>6. Do you earn from it or consider images commercial enough?<br>

Yes, I started out taking photos at area drag race tracks and selling prints to racers. Did the same at a stock car track too, sold photos to attendees too. Did wedding photos part time for 25+ years, and a few other activities to make money with my hobby. I've had over 800 of my model railroad photos published in the hobby press over the years. Won a bunch of photo contests that paid fairly well in cash and/or prizes. Never intended my photo hobby as a money maker, but its been great to be able to make some - to pay for my toys!</p>

<p> </p>

[mike_sinquefield]

<p>1. Used parents camera at 12, when I came home, they hid it from me (couldn't afford processing all the film...I went nuts). Bought my first at 25, Canon EOS Rebel.<br>

2. No...always enjoyed having one, but didn't have one for years.<br>

3. Not necesarily lost, just wishing I had it with me.<br>

4. Took a night class at local Tech college<br>

5. Had a couple of breaks-from age 12 to 25, then again from about 1998-2003 (2003 when my first child was born...been shooting like crazy since).<br>

6. No.</p>

 

[elmroc]

<blockquote>

<p>So...assuming youre shooting now<br />1. At what age did you get/use first camera?<br />2. Have you always had a camera around?<br />3. Do you consider yourself a bit lost when you dont have your current camera readily to hand?<br />4. Did you have any formal training?<br />5. Did you have a break from <a href="http://www.photo.net/casual-conversations-forum/00WLFh?unified_p=1#" target="_blank">photography</a> or did you stick with it? What caused the break? Do you wish you didnt break away for a while?<br />6. Do you earn from it or consider images commercial enough?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>1)12 years old, a Minolta XG -Mat at 13, i realized the Minolta system didn't offer me all the tools, so got my first Nikon<br>

2)Yes, excpet for the time right after i got married.(I wonder why..lol)<br>

3) yes, becuase invariably, i'd almost always have something to shoot, a deer, some wildlife or that beautiful vista with the light just right<br>

4)Yes, yes, all thru High school and College<br>

5)yes, for about 5 years after i got married<br>

6) Yes, yes, i've had many photos published in Magazines, Newspapers, and billboards and trade publications</p>

[edgreene]

<p><em>So...assuming youre shooting now</em><br>

<em>1. At what age did you get/use first camera?</em></p>

<p>15.</p>

<p><em>2. Have you always had a camera around?</em><br>

<em> </em></p>

<p>Yes; almost without exception</p>

<p><em>3. Do you consider yourself a bit lost when you dont have your current camera readily to hand?</em></p>

<p>Yes.</p>

<p><em>have any formal training?</em></p>

<p>Yes; United States Army Intelligence</p>

<p><em>5. Did you have a break from photography or did you stick with it?</em></p>

<p>Five years.</p>

<p><em>What caused the break?</em></p>

<p>Marriage.</p>

<p><em>Do you wish you didnt break away for a while?</em></p>

<p>No.</p>

<p><em>6. Do you earn from it or consider images commercial enough?</em></p>

<p>Yes and yes.</p>

[brucecahn]

<p>I was 12 years old. The camera was garbage. I became discouraged and did not try it again until age 24. I now have and use many cameras and do not at all feel lost without them. My training was in fine art. I had a very busy portrait studio for many years.</p>

[vivid_earth_photographics]

<p>1969. I was 5. Kodak Instamatic 104. I still have an album of the photos.</p><div></div>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>1. At what age did you get/use first camera?<br /> I think I was 8. It was a Brownie, soon followed by a GAF box camera.</p>

<p>2. Have you always had a camera around?<br /> No, I've had some phases of not taking any photos.</p>

<p>3. Do you consider yourself a bit lost when you dont have your current camera readily to hand?<br /> Not really. Sometimes I miss some potentially interesting snapshots because I don't bother with toting a camera.</p>

<p>4. Did you have any formal training?<br /> Yes. An arts magnet program in high school; PJ courses in college; a few workshops.</p>

<p>5. Did you have a break from photography or did you stick with it? What caused the break? Do you wish you didnt break away for a while?<br /> Sure. As a teenager I got away from photography for a few years. Then again in my early 30s. Hardly even took a snapshot for a few years during the late '80s-early '90s, which I regret. Missed a lot of possibilities.</p>

<p>6. Do you earn from it or consider images commercial enough?<br /> No. I've had a few photos published in newspapers, usually illustrations for news reports or free-lance feature articles. A few paid assignments. But I seldom think in terms of commercial potential.</p>

[GerrySiegel]

<p>I hung out with a camera crowd in high school and junior high. And our community center house had a photo club. The hot camera back then was the Universal Mercury II half frame, a drug on the used market. I think I was 12. With Kodachrome you got so many shots you never spent all your lunch money on film.<br /> The first r<em>eal</em> camera I paid some real money for at 19 is one I still own... A well used even then 1040 Stereo Realist. Big seller during the 3-D boom of the time. Bought it from Phil Levine at Crimson Camera in Cambridge MASS. And same year a well used Century Graphic press style camera with a Graflex trioptar lens. Did some school journalistic shoots with it and stuff for students who needed job application photos.<br>

When I was younger, perhaps around 9 or 10 I vaguely remember scrounging up a pair of Kodak Brownie box cameras from antique shops and strapping them together to also try to shoot some stereo with old Holmes style viewers I got cheap.<br>

I had a couple friends with home darkrooms who could mix up Dektol. Later joined the Navy Reserve so I could do my developing and printing on weekends in a government lab and use their paper.... I never really made a dime from it . I made a lot of friends and had fun still do.</p>

[David_Cavan]

<p>1. At what age did you get/use first camera? I think it was 1965, when I was 15. My parents got me a twin lens reflex Walzflex. Still have it - it still feels wonderful and robust.<br />2. Have you always had a camera around? Mostly - I had 35mm cameras, mostly Pentax until the DSLR world came upon us. For the past decade the camera pretty much goes where I do.<br />3. Do you consider yourself a bit lost when you dont have your current camera readily to hand? Yes, although there have been a few "sparse" years I feel comfortable carrying the camera and do that a lot now.<br />4. Did you have any formal training? Some night school classes, no post-secondary. Kind of wish I had done that sometimes.<br />5. Did you have a break from photography or did you stick with it? What caused the break? Do you wish you didnt break away for a while? I have a few "dry years" in the early 90's - the photography record is pretty thin around then as I went through some family challenges. And for a while I carried some low-end P&S film cameras and although there's some good pictures there are some that I really wish I had something a little more functional. But digital got me going again, and the DSLR experience has really revived my interest. <br />6. Do you earn from it or consider images commercial enough? Never earned anything, a few pictures sold at charitable auctions is as far as that has gone. It is strictly a hobby - never had to deal with the issue of photography becoming a job.</p>

[pjmeade]

<p><em>1. At what age did you get/use first camera?</em><br>

From my early teens.<br>

<em>2. Have you always had a camera around?</em><br>

From the time of my first SLR in my late teens<br>

<br /><em>3. Do you consider yourself a bit lost when you dont have your current camera readily to hand?</em><br>

No, but I do missit<br>

<br /><em>4. Did you have any formal training?</em><br>

Not in photography<br>

<br /><em>5. Did you have a break from photography or did you stick with it? What caused the break? Do you wish you didnt break away for a while?</em><br>

After buying my first flat money was thin on the ground and I didn't do as much as I wanted.<br>

<br /><em>6. Do you earn from it or consider images commercial enough?</em><br>

Yes I earn from them and I've seldom thought they were as good as they could be.</p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

[StuartMoxham]

<p>I got my very first camera when I was around 8 or 9 it was a pocket 110 that opened up and the cover turned into a grip. It was a real basic model with no flash and needed flip flash flash bulbs to get decent pictures indoors. I don't know how many films I used in that camera but not that many. I had not started photography as a hobby then. It was 1991 when bought my second camera. It was a praktica BC1 electronic with 50mm 1.8. I payed £29.99 from London Camera Exchange. I bought it to take on a trip to Malta a few weeks later but never took the camera with me as I decided it would be to much hassle. Later I added the 28mm f2.8 and a 135mm f2.8. Photography was to become a serious hobby which later led to work for a number of years.</p>

[chelsea]

<p>Got my first camera at age 12, a Kodak pocket instamatic, took those little film cartridges. I didn't have a clue, had grand delusions of being a nature photographer. First roll blown on trying to get shots of a pileated woodpecker, got pics of a tree trunk. Parents, who paid for the processing, were furious. Camera then became the "family snapshot" camera, every shot had to be carefully considered and justified. Needless to say, not many shots taken after that. At about age 22 my exhusband bought a Konica TC with the basic 50mm lens. I took lots of pictures, nice snapshots, but still didn't have a clue. At about age 30 my exboyfriend's car was broken into and his cheapie camera stolen. Insurance was paying for a replacement, camera store talked him into a Minolta 7000i with 35 mm lens and 75-300 mm lens. We both didn't have a clue. So off I went to the local community college night school course and photography club, later discovered photo.net and other sites, and have been happily snapping away ever since. And oh yeah, I feel very much lost without my cameras, got a little Canon digital elph to carry around for an emergency fix. I've sold pictures and photo cards, but nearly enough to cover costs of equipment and supplies.</p>

[steve m smith]

<p>I had an Agfa Isolette when I was ten (in 1974). I have always had a camera (or cameras) around.</p>

<p>No formal training other than being shown what to do by my father who was a part time wedding photographer.</p>

<p>I wasted a couple of years messing about with a digital D100 but quickly returned to film.</p>

[je ne regrette rien]

<blockquote>

<p>1. At what age did you get/use first camera?<br /> 2. Have you always had a camera around?<br /> 3. Do you consider yourself a bit lost when you dont have your current camera readily to hand?<br /> 4. Did you have any formal training?<br /> 5. Did you have a break from photography or did you stick with it? What caused the break? Do you wish you didnt break away for a while?<br /> 6. Do you earn from it or consider images commercial enough?</p>

</blockquote>

<ol>

<li>I think at about 9: an Agfa ISO Rapid. At 14 I took a course at school in photography and darkroom and got a Leica IIIA (borrowed from my father)</li>

<li>at about 20 I got a Nikon FM (I was literally aching for a SLR)</li>

<li>No, not at all. It's easy to have it at hand.</li>

<li>Apart from darkroom I am essentially self-taught</li>

<li>Not really. I slowed down from time to time, but essentially kept photographing. No real issue</li>

<li>No (I once sold ten copies of the b&w potrait of a child to the mother)</li>

</ol>

[jim_service]

<p>1.My parents both had cameras and I was free to occasionally use them. The first camera that was "my own" was given to me when i was 10. It was an Ansco "Color Clipper". It took 120 film. When I was a junior in high school I got a Fujica 35mm rangefinder, my first "serious" camera.<br>

2.I always have had a camera "around", but I don't always carry it. I even had my camera while going through military basic training in '68.<br>

3.No, and I don't always carry it. The times I wish I had it, I can count on one hand. Far more often I regret not stopping to use it when I DID have it at hand.<br>

4.Photography 1 from Tom Knight at Humboldt State. Changed my world.<br>

5.There were a couple of years in the late '80's that I stopped striving for "art" and just took snaps.<br>

6.I refuse to spoil the fun of my hobby by trying to make a buck off it.</p>

[neilambrose]

<p>1. My first camera was a 110 instamatic in 1980, then an SLR in 1984.<br>

2. No, I haven't always had a camera around - the 90's was a lost decade pictorially.<br>

3. Yes, I always take a camera with me now whenever I leave the house. It's as natural as picking up my wallet.<br>

4. Yes - in darkroom printing, then commercial and fashion photography as a postgrad.<br>

5. Yes - see 2. Other interests were more important at the time, which I regret with hindsight.<br>

6. Yes.</p>

[derek_kennedy]

<ol>

<li>6 or so</li>

<li>no</li>

<li>yes</li>

<li>no - just years of experience</li>

<li>break caused by going to school (elementary/high school)</li>

<li>I occasionally sell prints, and occasionally do portraits but just for friends/family so I dont make much nor do I try to make a living from it - its a hobby that I dont want to ruin or loose enjoyment from by making it my career</li>

</ol>