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The single photo that most inspired you

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Dirty Harry quote: I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?
--
John Dunn
My show 'Serenity': http://fototime.com/inv/6A04BAB6F082B6C
 
to compare the Nikon thread with this one. Although a lot of the guys in both threads had experience with film SLRs only a few guys in the Sony thread, like Inframan, seem to have some formal photographic training while that seems more common in the Nike thread. Maybe more of us should do some reading about photography. On the other hand, that was an DSLR thread I got it from, and maybe the guys on the Sony DSLR thread would be just as knowledgable.
--
John Dunn
My show 'Serenity': http://fototime.com/inv/6A04BAB6F082B6C
 
My interest and growth in photography had three steps...three moments where my interest took an evolutionary leap.

I started photography at 8 years old, when my father bought me a Kodachrome instamatic camera while visiting him in New York. With a roll of B&W film, I took my first shots at the World Trade Center looking up from the base at those huge buildings. I enjoyed playing with the camera, but didn't have any understanding of the principles of photography nor was I willing to learn them. I was a kid with a toy, and playing with it my way.

Christmas 1977 my father bought me a Pentax ME Super with a 50mm prime lens, figuring I should have a 'real' camera as I turned 10. He was always an artist - he was a painter and graphic artist, and a skilled photographer - but my parents were divorced and I primarily lived with my mother, so he never had the time to really coach me in photography. I brought that camera home to Florida and started shooting much the same way I had with the Kodachrome - point and click, except I had to focus a bit and try to get the meter in the middle (why, I had no idea).

Then, the first leap - I saw my first National Geographic magazine, January 1979. On the cover was a picture of colorful orange-robed monks placing colorful flowers on huge stone feet, the base of a massive statue in Sri Lanka. I was captivated - it was really my first realization of the documentary aspect of photography. To see this (to me) strange ritual in some faraway place - some other culture that seemed all at once strange and exotic - made me want to grab my camera and travel the world over looking for such scenes. Later that year, my father took me to Mexico City, and I ran through 4 rolls of film with my trusty Pentax - still not really understanding how to work it properly, but with visions in my head of what I wanted to shoot and how I wanted it to look. In 1982, my first cruise took me all through the Caribbean and South America - and I felt like I was finally becoming that World traveler I wanted to be. I never missed an issue of National Geographic from that day in January 1979, and it has been my primary influence, motivator, and jealousy-inducer since then.

The second leap came when my June 1985 National geographic issue arrived. Obviously I had seen years of various portrait and street photography in the pages of N.G. - but this one just pierced my brain. On the cover were those eyes - that haunting, beautiful, sad, strange, mythical, entrancing, wrenching portrait - of an Afghan girl taken by Steve McCurry. I stared at that picture for such a long time - I imagined whole storylines...I could feel the pain and trauma and smell the dry land. That photo was the first that told a story...and probably one of the first in which I understood how important the exact moment of a photograph can make a difference. 5 seconds later or sooner, and the most miniscule change in expression, eye, mouth, background, hand - anything...and the photo wouldn't be the same. It was a perfect capture that illustrated every word of her story and the story of Afghanistan in 1985.

And my third leap - probably one of the most important in my growth as a photographer - happened here. Despite shooting for 20+ years before joining here, I still had never really learned anything about the technical side of photography, nor had I bothered to learn rules of composition, lighting, etc. I joined this forum Feb 12, 2004...I had barely posted anything - mostly browsing. There were amateurs and pros alike here, and it was neat to look around to see what people were doing with their cameras. I had my F717, but really felt like I needed to take the step and learn how to use it properly. Then, on February 25, 2004 - I saw a post by a Mr. Andy Williams ( http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1009&message=7786058 ). The picture link is no longer valid...but the picture is still prominently found in his galleries - it was a gorgeous shot of Grand Central Terminal, newly painted roof, sunlight beams streaking to the floor through the big window, American flag hanging prominently from the ceiling. It recalled the iconic B&W shot of the spotlight beams shining to the floor from the '20s...with the notable difference that it had been shot with a Sony camera not unlike the one I had sitting in my bag.

That made me want to learn how to use my camera. And Andy, being the gracious member of STF that he was, was always willing to offer help and suggestions, along with many of the early STFers who helped me learn more about photography in a year than I had on my own in more than 20 years.

Inspiration continues to flow here on STF, as so many beautiful photographs are posted by amateurs and pros alike. I've been inspired by some, wanted to go out and copy some, or just looked at and enjoyed some. And I continue to travel vicariously through some of them too - until I get the chance to see those places with my own eyes, and camera!

--
Justin
galleries: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

(I'd be honored and overjoyed to have any of my posted photographs critiqued, commented on, or post-processed - I can attribute everything I know about photography to the wonderful people who have done this for me in the past!)
 
jrdu said:
(The photographer) looks at the world with his own eye and he frames > his experience with his own mind.
Click to expand...
I just wanted to say that I LOVE that quote!

As far as the picture that really got my jollies going, it's the one below.



During the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of college, I started becoming strangely obsessed with photography. I first bought a basic P&S Kodak DX6340 that was surprisingly good for a compact of its time.

A few months later, I decided to buy a prosumer Panasonic FZ15 (4mp, 12x zoom, OIS). I liked messin' around with photography but I sure as heck did not know as much as I do now. Despite lacking the knowledge about aperture, ISO, etc., I still had "the eye and the mind" of a photographer. Thus, that shot got me Honorable Mention in my school's newspaper.

It was THAT shot which made me realize I see the world differently than many people.

Presently, I am an almost graduating senior in college. As I matured, so did my knowledge and passion in photography. I sold the FZ15 about half a year ago and now own a Konica Minolta 7D (now owned by Sony, as you all know) with a bunch of different lenses.



--
My Website & Blog:
http://www.james-nguyen.com
 
and the older I get the more frequently I forget that ol' winkyface, myself.

between that and getting a headache from fast moving website presentations I think it may be time to start packing it in.....

:-)
;-)
--
http://www.pbase.com/charleschessler
 
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