Am I too young?

I'm 18 years old and I'm very passionate about photography. Most of the people I know around my age don't really care much about photography, they just like to point and shoot.

However, with me, I like to experiment and use manual modes, play with DOF, etc...I have a Canon A620 and my father says he's going to buy me the 400D this November, just before xmas

I guess I got this passion from my grandfather; he used to have his own photography store and perhaps I'm following in his footsteps. ;-) I showed him my digital camera and it put a big smile to his face. He's been using SLR + Film all his life hehe.

How old were you when you got really interested in photography? I'm really interested in becoming a professional photographer, I'd like to be one of those guys at the side of the FIFA World Cup Football matches with those huge L lenses taking shots of the action! So, how do I work my way up the ladder?

Thanks for reading this

digitalnemesis said:

I'm 18 years old and I'm very passionate about photography. Most of
the people I know around my age don't really care much about
photography, they just like to point and shoot.

Click to expand...

That doesn't mean they don't care about it. It shows that they lack the ambition to learn the craft and perhaps more profound meanings for their photographs.

digitalnemesis said:

However, with me, I like to experiment and use manual modes, play
with DOF, etc...I have a Canon A620 and my father says he's going
to buy me the 400D this November, just before xmas

Click to expand...

Eww! Lol, just kidding. I would still be looking at 30D - it's a magnificient piece of engineering and it would definately be my weapon of choice if I were a Canon user. The megapixel difference isn't there, you can see it in the numbers but I doubt you'd see it in prints. 30D would probably serve you much longer.

digitalnemesis said:

How old were you when you got really interested in photography? I'm
really interested in becoming a professional photographer, I'd like
to be one of those guys at the side of the FIFA World Cup Football
matches with those huge L lenses taking shots of the action! So,
how do I work my way up the ladder?

Click to expand...

I was 21 years old and it happened in early 2005. Now I'm a happy owner of a great photographic gear including D80 and set of either new or manual Nikkors (carefully bought second-hand). I have enjoyed photography so much it's hard to tell. Maybe in the future some of my own children or grandchildren or friends or anyone will find photography through some of my own work...

digitalnemesis said:

Thanks for reading this

Click to expand...

Thanks for asking!

Janne Mankila

...and doing my own darkroom work (developing film, making B/W prints) by the time I was ten. Sold my first prints when I was twelve. You're practically one foot in the grave.

Petteri
--
[ http://www.prime-junta.net/ ]
[ http://p-on-p.blogspot.com/ ]

I got my first camera at age 6 and was hooked. I got my first SLR @ age 9 or 10. I sold my first photo when I was 18. I am from a small town in Arkansas and I was stationed in Germany. Wonderful experience and a beautiful place to REALLY fall in love with photography.

I don't think you can ever be too old or too young to fall in love with something. (Granted, a 2-year-old might not have a good eye...yet)
--
Scott W. McClure

http://www.couriernews.com

'You only get one sunrise and one sunset a day and you only get so many days on the planet. A good photographer does the math and doesn't waste either.'... The Late Galen Rowell

i was 18 if you love something you can make it happen it shorter time than you might think. i know of a few people who picked up hobbies only a few years ago and are now semi-professionals.

d.

digitalnemesis said:

I'm 18 years old and I'm very passionate about photography. Most of
the people I know around my age don't really care much about
photography, they just like to point and shoot.

However, with me, I like to experiment and use manual modes, play
with DOF, etc...I have a Canon A620 and my father says he's going
to buy me the 400D this November, just before xmas

I guess I got this passion from my grandfather; he used to have his
own photography store and perhaps I'm following in his footsteps.
;-) I showed him my digital camera and it put a big smile to his
face. He's been using SLR + Film all his life hehe.

How old were you when you got really interested in photography? I'm
really interested in becoming a professional photographer, I'd like
to be one of those guys at the side of the FIFA World Cup Football
matches with those huge L lenses taking shots of the action! So,
how do I work my way up the ladder?

Thanks for reading this

Click to expand...

--
**********************************
'Most often the glass is more capable than the photographer behind it'.
http://www.designsbydamian.com.au

Petteri Sulonen said:

...and doing my own darkroom work (developing film, making B/W
prints) by the time I was ten. Sold my first prints when I was
twelve. You're practically one foot in the grave.

Petteri
--
[ http://www.prime-junta.net/ ]
[ http://p-on-p.blogspot.com/ ]

Click to expand...

and it shows.having some nice time on prime-junta.
)
regards
tom

I took an interest at around 16 I think... I'm 19 now, and really we are at an age that is full of oppertunity. Its a good time to pursue things as a career.
--



http://www.geocities.com/wild_tiger_1

http://flickr.com/photos/selrahcharles/

Whats more important to you? Taking photographs that have great image quality, or taking photographs that are quality images?

Most of those guys shooting pro sports started at your age or younger. Probably some of them are only 2 or 3 years older than you.

I spent 30 years as a professional photographer and journalist and for much of that time I also taught college photohournalism courses. My friends and former students work for some of the top magazines, newspapers and photo services in the world. Here's my advice:

-- Get as much practical shooting experience as possible. Try to shoot 2 or 3 sports events a week, year 'round.

-- Get as much professional experience as you can as early as you can. You are not too young to be working part time (called "stringng) for a local paper or even for a major new service. Of my college students, the ones who were most successful began shooting professionally when they were in high school or college. Several of them were shooting for Associated Press before they were 20 and virtually all were working before they finished college. Not only do you get experience, you get a chance to build a reputation for hustle, ambition, consistency and reliability.

-- Hook up with the best mentors you can find and learn as much as you can. This is easier than you may think, provided you're in an area where there are good photographers working. Most photographers are more than happy to talk about their work -- as art, craft and job. Also, most photographers learned the job from informal mentors and feel an obligation to pass it on.

Finally, work like heck, but don't forget to enjoy it. Best of luck.

--
J.R.

Somewhere south of Amarillo

I first got into photography when I was in my teens. My school had a darkroom and we used to spend hours in there. And yes... we were developing photographs.
--
Please visit my website. (Comments welcome).
http://www.mark-reed.co.uk

I started with a Kontax SLR when i was 12 , eventually got a canon AE-1 Program, used that camra till about 5 years ago.
Started devoliping my own film by 13.

Your 18 ....So what took ya so long??? Just kidding. Get into it...if you like it KEEP GOING, DONT STOP. If you like the sports photography, cool.

you should go and take some photograqphy classes, theres alot you can still learn.

The cost of chemicals and printing costs stoped me when i was young and i wish i had kept it up.

Im all digital now and loving it. trying to make up for lost time.

I think I was 14 or 15. My grandmother bought a funny little thing that had Kodak embossed on it for 50 cents at a garage sale. It was obviously a camera, but the lens was somehow locked away. We finally figured out how to open it and there was this fascinating lens with a Compur shutter. Very cool.



Anyway, that was it for me. I've been hooked ever since. About a year later, I took all the money I had and bought a Minolta SRT-100. By the time I was 17, I had my own black and white darkroom setup. I've had that darkroom set up in many different rooms and closets over the years.

So 18 is starting late IMO.
--
Jay Turberville
http://www.jayandwanda.com

When I started actually photographing there were no SLR's, Leica, Contax rangefinders. I bought my first 35 mm in 1947 when I was doing a photgraphy class in High School, then bought my first "real" camera in the Navy in 1953, a Nikon "S".

My suggestion to the young man is to obtain as much education relating to professional photography as he can.

A 400D is a worthy instrument but the $1,000 plus would be better spent going to school. Equipment comes and goes with little impact on the knowledge stored in your minds theatre.
--

' You don't have to have the best of everything to get the best out of what you do have'.

I started with a range finder when I was 9 or 10, bought my first slr (an x-700) at age 12 or 13 after working all summer to pay for it and used borrowed lenses. I could only afford to shoot one roll a month except b&w I could use any of the ilford my dad had if I loaded some for him too and developed his too.

My X-700 died when I was about 19 and was off to school, survived on a little old Pentax P&S for a long time before getting some more money for an slr body.

So no, you aren't too young. I agree though, don't spend all your money on the camera, you have to learn to point it first. Composition and developing an eye for good shots takes time and the technical quality of pictures can be instantly upgraded later via a swipe of plastic.

I'm not saying buy a brownie box cam but you get the idea.

polaroid land camera at age 6 I still remember the smell of those pictures while they dried.
--
SHOOT TO THRILL: MAC WEST NYC

I first got interested when I was about 16. Like you it was in my blood. My father was/is a professional photographer. He did commercial photography for magazine advertisements and package design. We always had a darkroom in our basement which we were allowed to use, and my father would occasionally give us his older SLR's when he wasn't using them anymore.

I don't think you're even close to benig too young, if there is such a thing. If you have a for it passion, then go for it. There's nothing better than getting paid for something you really love doing. Good luck
--



Mike

http://www.doctormelgar.com/gallery - Liquid Art Gallery

'Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.' - malcolm forbes

digitalnemesis said:

I'm 18 years old and I'm very passionate about photography. Most of
the people I know around my age don't really care much about
photography, they just like to point and shoot.> >

Click to expand...

Most people never get to become expert at anything much, and that's a shame because it is only now just dawning on the educators that 90% of a person's talent can actually be developed by encouragment by family and friends at an early age. And what do we do nowadays at an early age??? - watch TV and play video games which only restrict the broadening of one's mind at the very time it should not be restricted. No, you're not too old and you very much deserve to succeed.

How old was I when I got into photography? Just about old enough to be able to climb up into the loft and discover a couple of old 120 roll film cameras - 7 or 8 I think. After being shown how, I delighted in the diffiiculties of loading them without fogging the film and thought it was a nothing short of a of miracle that they could actually capture images.

You really want to be one of those sports photograhers at the World Cup one day? Well, get a much better than average knowledge of your chosen sport, study the gamesmanship and learn to anticipate the action. See if you can work as a freelancer for local newspapers and take it from there. Learn from established photographers and never give up an opportunity to ask how and why. To be good you simply have to get really dynamic shots close into the action - the kind of shot that makes newspaper readers say "wow!" and think what a great newspaper it is that they're reading. That's just the photography, the other part is to become useful and then indispensible as a supplier of top quality sports photos, and that means putting a huge amount of time and effort into networking and developing social skills.
Good luck!

--
John.
http://www.pbase.com/johnfr

I was 17 when my mum brought me an old Zenit E!

I now make a modest living running my own photography business....its still a baby but growing up fast! I now use Nikon D1X and Fuji S3's for the weddings and portraits.

I'm 21 now...if you have the drive, determination and talent to do it...bloody well do it!

digitalnemesis said:

How old were you when you got really interested in photography?

Click to expand...

In another thread, someone posted a picture of a Praktica MTL5 which reminded me of my first SLR - an MTL3. I was given it as a Christmas present when I was about 10 or 11.

I recently found and scanned some slides I took when I was about 11. I was quite keen up until my late teens and then lost interest a bit. I got back into photography about 8 or 9 years ago after about 10 years of not really doing much.

There are plenty of stories here of people who got into photography when they were very young - so I don't think there's any such things as too young. If at some point in the future you get fed up of it, you can always have a break and come back later.

Here are a couple of shots I took when I was 11 (1979).

You are not too young to be interested in photography. Many of us started much younger than 18. When I was 12 I started using my Dad's old manual camera with a hand held light meter, that was over 30 years ago. Before that I was pretty much a 126 instamatic camera.

Now I have always loved photography, but I also had an certain level of lifestyle I wanted to live and I realized that unless one became a really top photographer I could not earn the income I wanted from photography. I choose another profession that I love almost as much, but has been very rewarding professionally and pretty good financially most of the time.

Can you become a top photographer? sure, but it is a mixture of a lot of work, great talent and some luck. If you don't make the top level you wind up shooting weddings, and while some people really enjoy this, personally I enjoy my weekends too much to spend them photographing strangers.

One way to help is to enroll in a top photography school. I know there are several that are considered very good, but they are expensive. You can ask on the pro forums and I am sure there are graduates from some of these schools that can give you the names and contact information.

Just remember that anything worth while is a lot of work. Many people want to be pro photographers, but few have the true drive, determination and talent needed to succeed. If you are willing to really work at it then go for it, but remember this is a field that many people want to be in and there is a lot of competition.

Ed