I started shooting originally with a Fisher-Price 110 camera. It was blue with rubber ends and a break-away neck strap and you could stick one of those vertical flashbulbs in the top for indoor shooting. From there I graduated to my father’s Nikon FE with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 prime lens.
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That was a fantastic camera and in my opinion, no other camera design has ever reached that level of perfect simplicity. One mechanical indicator showed your f-stop setting in the viewfinder while a needle indicated the electronic light reading at the center spot of the viewfinder. If the needle fell in the middle of the mechanical f-stop indicator, you were dead on for exposure. A simple split prism in the viewfinder allowed you to achieve perfect focus quickly and easily and there was no need for autofocus magic to snap a sharp frame.
Eventually I branched out into videography, making backyard films with a sony 8mm camcorder. I began printing black and white RC prints and developing my own 35mm film. I went to film school and shot Beta, Super16 and 35mm. I graduated to fiber-based printing and learned the true frustration of fine art printing.
After school, I worked in a number of different jobs. I shot HD for the first time. I spent a year performing broadcast video evaluations for four of the Discovery International networks. I could spot a two line analog tape dropout in a 60Hz broadcast feed. I started carrying a Yaschica T4 35mm point and shoot camera. I worked on an independent film and learned a ton about electricity. I moved to New York City and learned a ton about life. After spending 8 hours in a makeshift darkroom in a 4′ x 8′ bathroom to make a single fiber print, I gave up on chemical printing and packed my darkroom supplies in a box.
I started shooting medium format film using a vintage Rolleiflex TLR and a Voigtlander Perkeo II 120mm rangefinder. After paying an arm and a leg to have medium format film developed and printed, I put my Perkeo in a box.
I found myself working at an acting school. I learned how actors think, how they talk, how they need to be talked to. I started shooting MiniDV. I wrote a few short films and produced none of them. I was asked to direct a few shorts written by an actor and I learned some lessons about artistic control and the complicated nature of authorship.
I bought an open-box Sony DSC-U10 at Circuit City, a 1.3 megapixel camera the size of a pill bottle. I started shooting everywhere, I flexed photoshop muscles. I moved back to DC, got married, got a real job. I bought a Canon Digital Rebel XT and a Tamron 28-70mm f/2.8 autofocus lens. The immediacy of digital thrilled me. The lack of a split focus screen and a dim viewfinder aggravated me. I bought a lensbaby and again cursed the 350D’s tiny viewfinder. I bought a Zenitar 16mm rectalinear fish-eye lens and cursed the 350D’s tiny viewfinder. I bought an epson 2200 printer and began to experience the true joy of repeatable printing. Gone are the days of spending four hours to create a finished fiber-based chemical print that will never quite look exactly like all the other copies you’ve already made.
The Epson 2200 broke and I cursed technology again. I’ve since bought an Epson R2400, but I still fail to find time to use it.
So this is kind of where I stand now. I’m still fascinated with the capture of moments, either through still frames, motion, or words. I find myself thrilled to explore different viewpoints, different angles and unusual scenes. I lack the discipline to create daily and I often lack the vision to discover a picture in front of me.
In spite of all that, I hope to continue shooting, continue writing, and maybe I’ll find a moment here and there worth seeing…worth reading.
I just happened upon your blog from icerocket. I hope you stick with it and do find the time to get back into the filmmaking swing of things.
I, too, started out with photography and then moved to video.
Find time to use that printer and show us your stuff. Good fortune to you.
Thanks for the comments. I’d love to start using the printer, but it’s going to have to stay at the back burner for a while until I can get some pressing business nailed down. Filmmaking will have to wait as well until some of the more pressing bills are paid.
Cheers.