Instead of posting photo's here at Hip Forums this seems like a great place to discuss the deeper reasons about photography and our connection to it. What interest us about it, what's our main use for it? What type of photography do we enjoy looking at the most? What type of photography do we enjoy shooting the most? I've been drawn to it since I was a kid for three different reasons I can think of at this moment. In brief, Influences First; Discovery As a kid when looking at a car magazine or surfing magazine or whatever topic it happened to be. I would read the title of the article and usually just browse through the photo's that accompanied the story. If the photo's were really interesting I might go back and read the story. But the Photo's what were grabbed my attention and I always wondered who and how they got those photo's. Second; Girls As I became a young man and let nature run its course I discovered Playboy magazine thanks to my friend across the street whose father had a subscription. He would sneak them out to his shed in the backyard and we would treasure those moments we had and look thoroughly at every photo. To this day I think that those were some of the most beautiful photographs I have ever seen. The subjects for sure but the way the photographers knew how to compose the shots, the lighting and the lost art of developing with airbrushing were something I can still see in my mind. I remember the warm relaxing feeling I would get while looking through them, not to mention an occasional hard HO. Third; To capture moments in time As I matured I got really good on my skateboard. A girl from school who was the school photographer took interest in my skateboarding and she would travel with us on our trips and photograph us at different locations. I became interested in her craft and started getting into photography. I took a photography class in high school but by that time I had gone wild and lost interest in school and failed the class. I still learned a lot about composition and developing. I remember somewhere around the turn of the century getting my first digital camera. The kind that you could fit in your pocket (Kodak and Nikon) and realizing a new potential with my photography such as no more labs to develop your photos. Great! I have since gone through many different cameras but have given up chasing the technology as of lately. I'll just settle with what I have now and make it work. I did use photography as a second means of income for a while but it took all the fun away from it. Now it's just because I want to. I love to photograph anything I see interesting and make it a challenge to shoot it differently than the conventional way. I like different. An artistic look. As of now I now have grandchildren and have been designated the family photographer. I occasionally do go out for a photo trip but not like I used to. What about you? How did you get interested? What is it about photography that still interest you? What type of photography are you interested in or partake in?
I got a developing kit for my confirmation. Something like this: Then we got into Estes rockets with a black and white camera:
