It has taken me 13 years (approximately) to get to this point.
Now … before you begin to question my ambition or my talent/technical skill (or both), give me a moment to explain.
I have owned cameras (film and digital) of various kinds and brands since the mid-1970s. My first Kodak and Polaroid cameras were point and shoot and didn’t require me to really learn anything about photography indepth, except perhaps when and where to use the on camera flash and where to get the film developed. I graduated to a Canon AE-1 in early 1977 (a gift from my grandfather) and kept that camera for many years. (It was the victim of an unfortunate smelting accident in the late 1980s, but that’s a story for another day.) Paired with a nifty fifty, that combination was one of the most successful cameras of all time. Sadly … only a handful of the photos (and hardly any of the negatives) I took with that camera survive - and most are not of me at all since I was behind the camera. What was I thinking!?!
My interest in photography waned once I entered the workforce. After the AE-1’s demise, I purchased a few point and shoots just to take snapshots of people and places (the Kodak Disc 4000 was one; the Kodak Ektralite 450 was another). I used a series of similar cameras throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, not really thinking about photography as a career or even as a hobby.
The digital revolution – coupled with the “democratization” of computing and the internet changed all of that for me (as it did for millions, I suspect).
I bought a couple of digital point and shoot cameras - the brands and models of which all escape me except for a Konica Minolta DiImage A1 that I rather enjoyed but was stolen on the last night of a trip to Costa Rica. I eventually settled on my first “real” camera – a Canon 5D Mark II that I initially paired with a Canon 24-105 F4 L lens. I still own both and use the lens fairly regularly. (That 24-105 F4 is heavy when paired with a DSLR, but is a great “walking around lens” if you’re into that sort of thing.) That camera allowed me much more experimentation, it encouraged me to be a more curious person about the world and the people and things in it, and became a constant companion on every trip I’ve made around the world (India, Nepal, Borneo, Singapore, Thailand to name a few) until it was replaced by my current Canon 5 D Mark IV. But it was that Mark II that prompted me to begin referring to myself as a photographer, even though I was still slugging away at a corporate job and only taking photos part time.
An Introvert Steps Into the Light
At the risk of getting too personal, I’ve always had a bit of a self-esteem problem regarding my photography. For many years, my photos were never good enough in my eyes and I always approached portrait sessions with a sense of unease. That feeling was fairly consistent throughout most of the time I was shooting with the Canon 5D Mark II as my main camera. I did many portrait sessions with that camera – most of which were well-received by the subject – but it took me a while to stop comparing my output with what I was seeing on photography websites and blogs. It was only when I eventually decided that everyone else’s success does NOT equal my failure that I began to see my photos in a different light. I now see my photos as a small contribution to my subjects’ family (in the case of maternity or couples’ sessions) … or … as a similar contribution to my subjects’ careers (in the case of my headshot work). I want to have a positive net effect (however small) on my subjects’ lives. That gives my photography work a higher purpose and gives me something additional to aspire to beyond a photo that is taken for the sole purpose of being uploaded to Tikstagram (yes … that IS a thing), humble bragged for likes and follows, and then forgotten about immediately. I want my photos to be a testament to the individual that is handed down from the current generation to the next as part of family history.
So … here I am. A lot older than when I first picked up a camera, but hopefully a like amount wiser: more reflective and introspective, and hopefully someone who can capture the essence of who you are at this point in your life in a way that you’ll look back on in the decades that follow with a smile. If you’re interested in capturing some of those moments now for the future you, give me a call.