A Glimpse into the Past

by | Sep 2, 2010 | Perspective | 0 comments

Hi, I came across your site and was wondering how you got started with photography and what equipment you used and currently use. I would love to know how to get into it. –Frances

Thanks for contacting me! I’d be more than willing to share how God has led me into photography.

Home in West Virginia I look back to when I was 12 years old when I first took up photography. I was inspired by my uncle who traveled the world and always came back with incredible pictures of the wildlife, scenery, and culture of the places he visited.

When I asked for a camera for Christmas, Dad and Mom got me a little film camera. I treasured it, and was very careful to only take pictures that were worth the cost of the film. The pictures I took never gave me the results I was looking for though, so I started reading. This introduced me to manual photography which is really only achievable through using an SLR. That is when I picked up Dad’s film Canon Rebel. I loved the challenge and difficulty of creating artwork instead of mere snapshots.

Shooting in the field I played with this until I was 16 when I attended two one-week IPS courses, one on basic photography and the other on lighting and portraiture. I excitedly came away with a knowledge of how the camera "thought" and could manipulate it in any way I wanted to get the result I wanted. The film camera no longer satisfied my growing desire for experimentation, so I partnered with my brother to buy a new digital SLR, a 20D.

This camera served me well until it died in October last year. I upgraded to a 40D which I shoot with now. My main lens is a 17-55mm f/2.8 IS. I also shoot with a 28-135mm IS and 70-300mm, both cheap lenses but usable when conditions are acceptable. I do all my post processing on an E1505 laptop using Adobe Lightroom for organization and Photoshop for finer adjustments.

I love to teach and write about photography (as well as desktop publishing) wherever and whenever I can. After launching Lenspiration last year, I have begun publishing pictures in calendars and books as well as selling them online.

I have found that perusing photography has caused me to grow into holding a very high standard of excellence. It is hard to find someone who will stand up for purity in their photography. It’s not popular. I have been challenged, but challenges are what have caused me to make concrete decisions about what I will or will not do. Accountability and a consistent walk with the Lord must go hand in hand with successful photography!

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