Forum General Chat "Our Beginning"
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Detlef Laemmel 25.09.2020, 04:17 #1

"Our Beginning"

How and when did we all get started?
I believe this could be really interesting! Of course, I know how I got into photography and could share a lot about it! However, I’m especially curious about the career paths of our Photoclub photographers. Thank you very much, Detlef Laemmel!
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Gerwin Bärecke 25.09.2020, 15:42 #2

Oh wow, Detlef, those could turn into some long stories!



My very first camera was actually a medium format one (I wonder if the younger generation even knows what that is?). It was a simple plastic camera with a fixed-focus lens (with a trapezoidal thread!) that you had to screw out all the way until it stopped. On the back, there was a small round red window where, as you advanced the film to the next frame, you’d first see some arrows and then the new frame number. The roll films had a backing paper with those markings printed on it. If I remember correctly, it had two apertures (one fully open, the other a pinhole you could switch to with a slider) and only one fixed shutter speed.
I got this camera from my Uncle Alfred, with whom I always spent my holidays. My very first shot was of Aunt Marie, leaning against the house wall under the kitchen window, barely visible on the 6x6 cm black-and-white print with a white deckled edge. But to me, as a 6-year-old kid, it was a (back then, very expensive) little miracle.
That was over 60 years ago, and photography has never let me go since. Thinking about how the story continued, and how photography in general—and mine in particular—has evolved, I honestly have to say it still amazes me. And now I have to thank you for bringing back those memories with your topic suggestion.

Best, Gerwin
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Korbinian Ring 25.09.2020, 16:23 #3
I’m happy to contribute here from time to time, but I can’t really offer anything comparable—I’ve only been doing this for just over eleven years, and I started digitally. The stories from all the older ladies and gentlemen here who began in the analog days are far more fascinating.🙂
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Gerwin Bärecke 25.09.2020, 16:35 #4
@Korbinian Ring

Hey Korbi, I was a bit taken aback—my post wasn’t meant that way. Whether it’s been 60 or 11 years doesn’t really matter. This is all about having fun, and my post was meant to bring a smile! If this is the general reaction, then I’ll have to take it down, sorry!
 
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Korbinian Ring 25.09.2020, 17:29 #5
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to provoke that reaction. I just meant that, personally, I find the stories on this topic most interesting when they start back in the analog days. Of course, it's all about having fun with it and taking a moment to reflect on how it all began.
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Ulrike Roland 25.09.2020, 19:31 #6
Hello everyone,
my first camera was a small Kodak from the early 70s, of course still using film development. After every vacation, we’d eagerly wait to see the developed photos once the film was processed!
Back then, you’d take all kinds of pictures—black and white, color, or slides.
But technology kept advancing, and so did we! That’s how we moved on to digital cameras, instant cameras, bridge cameras, DSLRs, and more.
And let’s not forget smartphones, which can also take some really great photos these days!
This is just a brief overview from me on the topic.

Warm regards, Ulrike.🙂
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Detlef Laemmel 25.09.2020, 22:15 #7
@Gerwin Bärecke Hi Gerwin, when I read your post on this topic, I immediately saw parallels to my own beginnings. And you're right, these could turn into some long stories! When I turned 8, my parents gave me a camera called the "Pouva Start"—probably the same model you had. It was absolutely basic, medium format, and the roll films were expensive! But snapping photos was a lot of fun. Alongside that, I painted and drew—both were closely connected! Then came many years of "abstinence" until I finally bought a "Nikon F 301." That was a real leap forward! In 2011, I switched to digital photography—but I still have 2 to 3 thousand slides in my archive. Best wishes to all the members of our photo club, Detlef Laemmel!
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Detlef Laemmel 25.09.2020, 22:26 #8
@Ulrike Roland Hi Ulrike, I really like your post on this topic! Best regards, Detlef Laemmel!
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Ben H. 26.09.2020, 12:26 #9
Hey everyone,

I’m in the same boat as Korbinian. I started out digital too, with a small, compact camera from my dad—something like 5 MP—and now I’ve upgraded to a Nikon D500.

I have to admit, the darkroom stories from the older generation are way more fascinating. I love it when my dad starts telling those tales. He built his own darkroom in a wardrobe and waited days for a single photo to develop. It must have been such a much more immersive experience. There was none of that mass-produced stock photography back then.

But that’s just how generations differ. I think every era has its own unique charm.

Cheers, Ben
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Detlef Laemmel 26.09.2020, 13:21 #10
Thanks, Ben, for sharing your thoughts on this topic! Every era has its own unique character. I’ve experienced the "gray" past myself and am grateful for it—you know that from your father. But nothing stays the same, and that’s a good thing. I don’t want to forget the "old" times! Best regards, Detlef Laemmel!
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Ben H. 26.09.2020, 13:54 #11
That's true. I would have loved to experience that as well. But, well, that's just how it is. And digital photography definitely has its clear advantages.

Best regards, Ben
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Andreas Palmen 27.09.2020, 16:26 #12
Hey, my journey with photography actually started pretty late. I had always snapped a few photos here and there, but when I was 21, my then-girlfriend—now my wife—gave me my first camera. It was an analog Kodak with a 35mm fixed lens, and I still have it today. I took a lot of photos, and the development costs were through the roof. Since my results were more miss than hit, I eventually lost interest. Later on, I switched to video and bought a Hi8 camera. Back then, that thing was amazing. But when I watch those old videos now, I always think, “Wow, what terrible quality.” The difference compared to today is incredible. But it’s the memories that make up for it.

At 27, I decided to give photography another shot. I went out and bought my first SLR camera, completely clueless. It was a Minolta 7xi. I just flipped the switch and started shooting. But again, the pictures weren’t great. So I thought, why not sign up for a community college course? Done and done. Our instructor was a really nice guy, but there wasn’t much to learn from him. He loved every single photo—no matter what. Criticism? Never. What I did pick up from him was how to develop black-and-white photos: the process, the techniques, all of it. But feedback on the actual images? Zero.

Then I met someone in that class who really took a close look at my photos and showed me—quite a bit, actually—what I could improve. He took me under his wing and we went out shooting together. Since we were working a lot with black-and-white, he taught me how to use the gray card, adjust settings, and so on. Somehow, I just got it right away with him. We’re still friends today and often go out shooting together. Now we complement each other and love to chat about photography, images, editing, and all that.

I also didn’t have much of an eye for composition at first—which, to me, is the most important part. Over time, I trained myself more and more, and today I’m happy with my skills. Still, I often only spot really good subjects on a second look or when I see a photo taken by someone else.

Then the digital age began, and I resisted it at first. Everyone around me was already shooting digital, so I finally gave in and got my first digital point-and-shoot. Since Minolta no longer made cameras, I switched to Canon and bought the EOS 20D. Shortly after, because I like having two cameras with me, I got the 50D as well. The 20D clocked over 300,000 shots, and the 50D even surpassed 500,000 exposures on the counter (I love doing bracketed shots :-)).

Now I shoot with a full-frame camera, and my backup is an APS-C mirrorless. When I travel, I bring my bridge camera—anything heavier is just too much; I’m already heavy enough as it is!🙂 I also enjoy ordering my photos printed on canvas. At one point, I had 65 of them hanging in a stairwell—many sized 120 x 80 cm. Actually, they’re still there. We sold the house because it was too big for us, and the new owners wanted to keep the pictures on the walls—so they saved on renovation costs! Slowly, new photos are going up in our new home.

I can’t imagine life without photography or the editing that comes after, nor the exchange with the community. It’s an amazing hobby for people of all ages. No matter what genre you like, what gear you use, how old you are, how tall or short you are, or how you started—what matters most is that you enjoy it. Then it’s all good!
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Korbinian Ring 27.09.2020, 17:31 #13
Interesting story. I think my mom still has a couple of old analog pieces lying around. Now I’m really tempted to take a look at them🙂
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Harald Schottner 27.10.2020, 16:46 #14
How did it all start for me?
 
Over 50 years ago, one of my teachers gave me a camera as a gift.
He was in charge of the school district’s image department back then and had convinced me to repair films that other teachers had ruined, sort films, and later even present them at our school and others nearby. I believe it was a Kodak for 6x9 roll film. That’s basically how I went from film to photography :-) 
I photographed whatever caught my eye and whenever I had money for film and development.
Everything was still black and white, with tips from my dad and teachers. Later on, my interest waned a bit, and none of my friends in the group were into photography. I thought that was a shame—riding mopeds and hanging out with girls, but no photographic proof :-)

 
Since I was already earning a bit of money back then, I bought myself an Agfamatic Pocket. It was perfect—it even fit in the tightest jeans pocket. I took tons of photos with it and still regret losing all those negatives.
 
Sometime in the early ’70s, I upgraded to my first SLR, a Revueflex with 50mm, 135mm, and 300mm lenses plus a flash. That camera went on some big trips with me. On a 1980 trip through Turkey on an enduro bike, neither the camera nor the lenses really survived. In Cappadocia, I spent three days fixing the rattled-apart parts just to get them somewhat usable again. Luckily, we were staying with friends, so I had the space and peace to work on it.
 
Of course, I also have an Agfa Box, a Yashica large format, and many other nice vintage cameras—mostly because I don’t like throwing things away or giving them away cheaply. For many years, I ran my own photo lab and always made myself available as a press photographer for my clubs, political party, and so on. Plus, I could always buy everything wholesale, which made things a lot easier.
   
Then in 1989, I got the first Canon EOS available on the German market, the 650, followed shortly by the 620. These cameras were fast and precise—just what I liked and still like today. Sticking to the motto “never change a running system,” I’m still using EOS cameras. The only exception was for diving. My first underwater camera—I don’t even remember the brand—got soaked during a Christmas dive. Next came a Sony P1 with a Sony housing rated for depths up to 40 meters, my first digital compact camera. Others followed, some sharing the fate of the first analog one. Since 2007, I’ve been diving with a Canon EOS 5D in a Huqiu housing, sometimes going deeper—the housing is rated for 100 meters. Some people drive a Porsche; I take the prize underwater :-)   
But my first DSLR was actually the Canon EOS 10D back in 2003. Since the 5D, I’ve become a true full-frame fan and now own several Canon 5-series models. For the past year, I’ve also had the EOS R—mirrorless but full-frame. Plus nearly all the Canon L lenses from 14mm to 400mm. Other accessories have filled up my large camera backpack to the max.
 
What I photograph has to be fun—no set rules. Thanks to my many years working in disaster, war, and crisis zones worldwide, I naturally became the go-to photographer for my employer. “You have good cameras, you’re good at photography, so just do it.” The only exception was in Somalia in 1990, where I had to convince them who would cover the insurance costs. After that, full coverage insurance became mandatory for me.
 
But with all my travels and extended stays in various countries, my portfolio has grown so much that I can’t say I have a favorite subject to photograph anymore.
 
And of course, you can imagine I no longer have slides stored in cabinets. I eventually bought a professional slide scanner and digitized everything. Photo albums were digitized too, although a few still remain on the shelf.
 
All digitized and digital images now live on my own server, always backed up twice. We’re talking about roughly 50 TB of data that keeps growing every day.
 
But of course, I have other hobbies too—I just won’t go into those here. That would probably crash the database.... 🤔 😲 :-) 
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Andreas Bibas 29.10.2020, 17:27 #15
50 TB, that's quite a substantial amount. Your photography journey is really interesting.
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Harald Schottner 29.10.2020, 18:05 #16
@Andreas Bibas Thanks, Andreas.

I've been mirroring the data for three days now to create a backup copy. You wouldn't believe how slowly even the most expensive Apple device moves this data from one side to the other.

Best regards, Harald
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Andreas Bibas 29.10.2020, 19:39 #17
I visited your page.
I think we have a lot in common.
My latest project was building a school in Ghana for the children of fishermen who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance to learn anything.
I also spent quite some time working in development aid in Yemen.
And more.

Best regards, Andreas
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Harald Schottner 29.10.2020, 20:19 #18
I'm glad to hear that. For me, it was always interesting to return to countries after many years and see how things had developed. Unfortunately, those changes weren’t always positive.

But you could say the same about Germany and Europe.

Best regards
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Heinrich Morsdorf 06.11.2020, 17:21 #19
My journey began back in the 60s. For my First Communion, I received an Agfa Box camera (which I’ve kept to this day) that used 6x9 roll film. I always noticed how my modest allowance back then influenced how much I could shoot. Everything that came into view was photographed and sent off for development. The results were often mediocre, mostly because the focus wasn’t quite right. In ninth grade, I joined the photography club, where I learned how to handle developer and fixer solutions. My future brother-in-law was a press photographer for the Kölner Stadtanzeiger, and he taught me the finer points of spotting interesting perspectives and situations. I originally wanted to train as a professional photographer but ultimately chose a commercial apprenticeship instead. With my first paycheck, I bought a Kodak 35mm camera, and later added a handheld light meter. People were always my favorite subjects to photograph. When I was drafted for military service and assigned to the former Federal Border Guard, I quickly took on the task of photographing events at the then-border with East Germany. We worked with Nikon SLRs and a 1000mm lens. I stuck with Nikon gear until 2017. It was a very fascinating role. On the side, I also worked for a daily newspaper in Hesse. Later, I changed employers and moved to Hamburg. Photography, however, always remained my hobby. I attended workshops with renowned photographers like Manfred Baumann in Vienna and Guido Karp.
Today, I work with Sony, and I still enjoy being behind the camera as much as ever.

Best regards, Heinrich
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Korbinian Ring 08.11.2020, 18:19 #20
Some really interesting stories here.

Let me share mine as well. It might be a bit less exciting since I’m still quite young😉 I didn’t really experience the era of analog photography (born in 2000).
For me, it all started with vacation photos, initially just simple snapshots to capture memories. I traveled a lot within Germany, as my parents always emphasized the importance of getting to know our own country (and yet, there are still plenty of amazing places I haven’t been to). So, I got a small digital camera when we took our first big trip to the Baltic Sea. It was the Canon Ixus 105 (I’ve stayed loyal to Canon ever since), nice and slim to fit in my pocket—not much, but for me at 8 years old, it was more than enough. That went on for a while, although I was pretty hesitant to use the camera at first.
Three years later in Rome, things were quite different. As a kid fascinated by archaeology (though I didn’t realize back then that I’d eventually work in the field🙂 ), I felt like I photographed every stone that looked ancient.
Two years after that, I had a key experience during a vacation on the beautiful island of Helgoland. It’s incredible how peaceful it is there—even in summer with tourists, it’s just dreamy. I spent many hours and days at the puffin cliffs and, of course, with the seals and grey seals on the dunes. That’s also where I first used a DSLR, my mom’s with a telephoto lens. Sitting there at the right distance with the telephoto, watching the seals, I never wanted to leave. My own camera got a bit sandy there but still works fine.
Still, I wanted a new one, which I got a year later (the Canon PowerShot G16—many photos in my gallery were taken with it). At the one place I like even more than Helgoland: Madeira. I absolutely love that island. But I won’t go on gushing about it now. To keep it brief: The challenging lighting conditions there made simple automatic snapshots unsatisfactory, and I realized I needed to learn more about the technical side of photography. After a few more years, countless trips, and tons of photos (thanks to digital tech😉 ), I wasn’t satisfied with the G16 anymore and had started using my mom’s 80D more frequently. So, for my 18th birthday, I got my current camera, the 6D Mark II with a classic 24-105mm lens. Then I got really lucky: My grandmother is also an avid Canon photographer and had a 100-400mm telephoto lens she no longer used because of the weight, so she gave it to me. The next step was getting a yearly pass to the zoo. That’s when I started diving deeper into photography beyond just the gear. I realized that a sharp animal portrait alone no longer satisfied me.
Well, the rest isn’t that exciting. Since getting the 6D Mark II, I’ve accumulated more accessories, gained experience wherever I could, started editing my photos, and learned a lot here in the forum.
Looking back, I have to say: Even though I’ve been photographing in some form for over eleven years, my biggest progress has come in the last two years since stepping up to the 6D Mark II.
And I’m definitely not done yet. There’s still so much I want to improve. That’s why I’m here🙂
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Andreas Bibas 08.11.2020, 19:58 #21
That was really interesting—I definitely didn’t find it boring.
I’m a bit older than you, but I’m still learning something new every day, and I think that’s fantastic.
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Franz Perner 05.12.2020, 20:45 #22
Hello everyone. I started photography at our club. A friend lent me his old Canon to try out. He had the AE-1, which I also wanted. But back then, I didn’t have the money for such a great camera. Our club had a black-and-white darkroom, and there was even a course the club paid for. Unfortunately, we had to give up the darkroom because we couldn’t afford the space anymore. That’s how our group gradually faded away.

Then came a time when women and cars took priority.

I really got back into it during a vacation trip. I bought, right on the plane, what I hope I’m spelling correctly, an mju 1 camera. I carried it with me almost everywhere for a few years. It was a lot of fun.
I worked at an electronics store. We were a Sony dealer, so I went through Sony’s digital lineup. My first digital was the Sony DSC-F717, then the 828, followed by the Alpha 300, the Alpha 77, and two years ago, the a7m2. I skipped the a7m3, but there were some lenses that really caught my interest.
Right now, I’m waiting for the a7m4 and will decide between the a7m4 and the a7c.

That’s my story.

Best regards, Franz
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asterix o 06.09.2022, 09:50 #23
@Detlef Laemmel, this is probably how most of us older folks feel (and I count myself among them). It was a wonderful time! I'm 64 years old and have been photographing for about 50 years...
 
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Bernd Tiemann 25.09.2022, 13:10 #24
Hello everyone, and happy Sunday to all of you!
So, how did I get into photography? About 13 years ago, my wife mentioned she wanted a camera. Since it was just before Christmas, I immediately had the perfect gift idea for her. So off I went to Saturn and bought her a Canon EOS 1100D with the 18-55mm and 70-300mm kit lenses. As a complete beginner, I wondered: why are there so many buttons on the camera when all I have to do is press the shutter button and the picture is taken?? Then I went to a professional photographer and signed my wife up for a beginner’s course. But since I’m so curious, I signed up too. During the course, my interest in photography was sparked—it was fascinating to see how different settings can influence the photos. Since then, I’ve taken advanced courses and various other workshops, and I’ve upgraded to a Canon EOS 80D. I sold the EOS 1100D, and the best part of the whole story? My wife STILL doesn’t take photos!!!1f602.png
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Andreas Bibas 25.09.2022, 14:01 #25
@Bernd Tiemann
That sounds very familiar to me, except it was my daughter.
But she has improved a lot since her last trip around the world.😉
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Bernd Tiemann 25.09.2022, 16:02 #26
@Andreas Bibas Looks like you had the same experience as I did.
Cheers, Bernd
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