During my Seattle trip in 2001 some of our family took a side trip up to Victoria in British Columbia. It was an amazing trip and there I took one of my top 5 photos of my life. This was a trip where I was shooting exclusively on my Nikon 2020. I also purchased some special sepia film. Just a few roles. I’d never shot with sepia previously or since. The image appears identical to how it was developed.
Taken with Nikon N2020
Took this on my Seattle vacation back in 2001. I don’t recall where this was specially taken, appears to be a marina. I like the lines, the city in the background and the water just on the edge of the frame. I feel it’s decent framing of the image.
This image was taken on my Nikon SLR, which means I don’t have much info on the photo.
Seattle near the marina. Nikon N2020 SLR
Back in 2001 I traveled to Seattle for a vacation. Probably one of the last times I took my Nikon SLR as my primary camera. I began experimenting with digital not long after. I didn’t go up, just took this photo at this angle. I thought it was a cool view.
I can’t say I’m great with the “rule of thirds” but I do my best. To me composition is as much about the framing of that subject as the subject. In this image I feel that the tree branches, sky and Ferris wheel all do the job of framing and directing your eye to the needle, while also adding additional context to the image.
This image was taken on a Canon Powershot S20. It was my pocket walk around camera. It was only my second digital camera and was a marked improvement in quality, but still limited especially by today’s standards. It only had a 3.3mp sensor. That being said the camera you have on you is the best camera you own and being pocketable is a big deal. It’s why I carry a Sony RX100 today.
Seattle Space Needle - ISO 322, f/5.6, 1/350s, 6.5mm - Canon Powershot S20 32mm-64mm f/2.9-4.0
I took this photo some time in ‘86 or so. Possibly before I went to Japan. I’ve slept a few thousand times since then. The photo is of my younger, not as good looking, brother. For some reason we took some time off from beating on each other to do this. I recall moving some lights around while he played with a chessboard. I’ve no clue instigated this little photo session, but I know at the time I was experimenting as much as I could. It was film and development was expensive, so I know I didn’t take many photos. I know I took far more time setting up the shots than I did taking them. Plus back then I had no way to develop/edit so the photo I took was the photo I got. What I would get would be a bit of a mystery. Not only was their no instant gratification of having the photo you just took, there wasn’t a way to see what you were completely doing. I could look through the lens to compose the shot and get an idea of the brightness or darkness of the image; the rest was up to my experience and knowledge of the lens, the film and the light.
This photo was taken on my very first SLR (single lens reflex camera) a Canon T70, released in 1984. I got in 1985 or early 1986. My mom got this for me through a Green-stamp program American Airlines was running for employees. To say the least, I was very lucky to get this camera. With that little guy my joy of photographer blossomed and would eventual open up possibilities in high school to work for the school paper and year book as of one their photo journalists. That allowed to learn the art & the science of developing both film and photos in a darkroom. A truly amazing experience. In college I would take an art photography class and learn more about darkroom work as well as how to roll my own film. That fun road of photography started in no small part to this photo.
It’s one of oldest SLR photos and one that I’ve always thought was particularly good, especially for a novice. While I don’t think of myself as extremely knowledgeable even today, I most certainly wasn’t at that time. No classes. No fundamentals. No YouTube. No Google. A total lack of tools beyond the library and a few books I bought to learn the fundementals of composing and light. As much as I enjoyed photography it was always an expensive hobby and limited me to how many photos I could take. How people learn photography is massively different today than it was back in 1986, especially if your budget was as limited as mine. While photography today is by no means an inexpensive hobby, every aspect of photography can be done with equipment most people already have in their pocket today. On top of that we have the instant gratification digital affords and the ability to immediate edit that very image.
If you have a young person in your life, give them the opportunity early to experiment and help them get the basic fundamentals, maybe in 35 years they will be reminiscing about one of their first good photos.
From 1995 to 1998 I lived in this apartment. It wasn’t big, but it was comfy. It was only 280 square feet and the style of apartment was One Big Room. It was more of a one bedroom apartment with a small kitchen and bathroom.
It was very conveniently located to the school I worked at as well as shopping and little mom and pop restaurants and markets. I was one of the few non-Koreans in the neighborhood, so I was easily recognized and treated like an honored guest most of the time.
I enjoyed living in this apartment, but it had a few drawbacks. There was no a/c and Seoul can get very warm. Worse though was it was only heated in the bedroom. Koreans favor flood hearting. This meant that my bathroom and kitchen had no heat at all. The kitchen was workable as ambient heat from the bedroom could help when I had the door open. The bathroom though was just miserable when it was 30° inside. Sometimes not even any hot water. Burr!
My time there was memorable, even those cold shouters.
There two photos were taken in the US Virgin Islands on St. Thomas back on November 9th, 2006 at a resort called Secret Harbor. I was out for a walk on the beach with my new digital SLR when I saw these two images begging to be photographed. They turned out much better than expected.
Canon Rebel XTi (EF-S 18-55mm II): 55mm, f/5.6, 1/60s, ISO 400
Canon Rebel XTi (EF-S 18-55mm II): 31mm, f/10.0, 1/125s, ISO 1600
I began taking photos at a very young age. I had my first camera, an instamatic 110 I believe, around the age of 8 or so. It wouldn’t be until my mom got me my first SLR that I would begin to take photography as an art form and begin to experiment and have fun.
I was by no means an artist but I was teaching myself how to compose images and “get the shot.” Most of my photos are lost to time, but a few I still have in digital form.
Back then I was shooting on a Canon T80 and later a Nikon 2020, which I still own. Both are “film” cameras. Owning my own camera allowed me to join the school newspaper and yearbook staff and further stretch my photographic muscles during my senior year in high school. I was allowed to carry my camera anywhere on campus and even into class because I was “school press.” I don’t have those photos but some ended up in the 1988-1989 yearbook and the few papers we put out that year.
In college I remained a shutterbug and even though expensive to get photos developed as a student with little income, a hobby I played with when time permitted.
“The best camera, is the one you have on you.”
