My journey into photography, what I actually picked up
So, people ask what I learned messing around with cameras. It wasn’t like I woke up one day wanting to be a pro. Honestly, I just got a camera, I think it was a gift or something I picked up cheap. And I started pointing and shooting. That’s it.
First steps were clumsy. I remember just leaving it on Auto mode. Everything. Didn’t know what aperture or ISO meant. Didn’t care much either, at first. Took tons of pictures. Most were blurry, too dark, or just plain boring. Looked at them later and thought, “Why did I even keep this?” Deleted a lot. Felt like I was just wasting time.
Then I got annoyed. Why weren’t my pictures looking like those cool ones you see sometimes? Started fiddling with the dials. Turned that mode dial off Auto. Big mistake, initially. Everything went black, or completely white. Got frustrated. Put the camera down for a few weeks. Thought maybe it just wasn’t for me.
But something pulled me back. Maybe I’m just stubborn. I picked it up again. This time, I tried to figure out just one thing: light. Where was it coming from? How did it hit stuff? Started noticing shadows, highlights. Just looking, not even shooting much at first. Went out early in the morning once. Saw how different everything looked. Took a picture of a simple leaf with dew on it. It wasn’t perfect, but it felt… better. Like I actually saw it for the first time.
Figuring things out, bit by bit
That was kind of the turning point. It wasn’t about fancy techniques I read online. It was about actually looking. I started doing simple things:
- Paying attention to backgrounds. Is there junk back there? Move my feet.
- Waiting for the right moment. Sometimes just waiting a few seconds changes everything.
- Trying different angles. Crouching down, standing on a chair. Looks silly, but works.
It wasn’t a smooth ride. Still took loads of bad shots. Still do. But the process changed. It became less about the camera and more about what was in front of me. And patience. Man, did I learn patience. Waiting for light, waiting for people to move out of the frame, waiting for the right expression.
What did I really learn? Okay, yeah, I learned how the camera works, mostly. Exposure triangle, focusing, basic editing. But the real stuff? It was personal.
- Seeing things differently: I notice light and shapes and textures everywhere now, even without a camera. It’s like the world got a bit more interesting.
- Patience pays off: Rushing rarely gets a good shot. Waiting and observing does. This actually spilled over into other parts of my life. Less rushing around.
- Finding satisfaction in small things: Capturing a simple moment, a nice shadow pattern, a genuine smile – it feels good. A real sense of accomplishment, not handed to you, but earned by trying and failing and trying again.
- It’s okay to fail: Most photos won’t be great. Delete them and move on. No big deal. Just keep shooting.
So yeah, that’s my journey. Still learning, still experimenting. It’s not about being the best photographer. It’s about the process, the looking, the capturing. It gave me a way to pay attention to the world. And that’s pretty cool, I think.
