The first time I held a camera was in my primary six. I was going to a school excursion and all students need to write a report of what we learned from the trip. The report needs to have picture inside it. I brought a Fuji film camera – the point and shoot of that era. My dad taught me how to change the film but I still made the film burned because I opened it under the sun. Lesson learned.
The first time I used a digital camera when I was in university. A Panasonic Lumix with awesome zoom system, that any cameras hardly had it.
My dad used to be an avid photographer too. He passed down his Nikon FT-3 to me. (I feel so proud like I won a gold medal in a competition) He warned me to take care of it well, because the camera is older than me.
Anyway, two main points that I like to share with you. How photography shapes me and made me know more about myself.
1. Film person vs digital person
If I have to choose one to describe myself, then I’ll go with digital. Although my first encounter was a film, I don’t have solid basic of film photography. I make a lot of mistakes, learn and shape myself through digital photography. When I look at my past photos until my recent photos. I found amazed sometimes, it’s quite a difference.
2. Learn and feel, not memorize
I’m not that discipline when it comes to follow rule like the other film photographer do. I tend to feel it. If it’s not right, then I’ll take it again. The biggest disadvantage is, you may lose a moment. But, the good point is getting the sense right.
I met a friend through a photography club outing. She will ask me what are the numbers I use to get the picture. Usually I will need to see the info from my dSLR.
But from her, I learned that even though I use my intuition more often, I will still need to know the approximate number for initial setup.
Disclaimer: I’m not a photographer (professionally) but I love photography. I like to take photo with any kinds of devices. Regardless it’s a mobile phone or digital camera or film camera and its variety.
*Update: I wrote this post last week, after having discussion with my friend about photography. Yesterday, I helped out as a assistant for a wedding event. This is my first exposure for a formal event. I’ll write post about this on my next post.