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how I started photography

Maybe one of my first self-portrait, in 2009 in Turkey, I was 21 yo

My dad is and always has been a photographer (not a professional one but the kind of person which have always a camera with him), so one day he bought me a camera. I started taking pictures like everyone use to do. My pictures were "only" memories. Parties, friends, my everyday life. In 2009, I was going through a hard time. So my parents decided to bring me with them in holidays. We went to Bodrum in Turkey. I had my small digital camera. I think it was a Canon and, of course, it was pink.
If you don't know, Bodrum is a beautiful city ! A lot of little streets, with shops, amazing people, a beautiful port. A lot of cats, and dogs. Back then, I was a young woman of 21 with her parents, it was not boring but, you know, I was not happy in my life at that moment so I truly needed to concentrate myself on something else. My dad took pictures during the trip, so I started to do the same. I was not taking pictures of my mother in front of a beautiful landscape. I remember me taking pictures of poor dogs along roads or of a baby doll in a plastic bag dressed as a soldier (surprising eh ?).

  

It was the beginning. The beginning of a new passion. 2 years later, after finishing my business school, I decided to start a fashion blog. I looked at fashion bloggers and the pictures they made. It was the next step, I wanted to do the same. I learned what was bokeh, I learned about the different lenses and cameras. Team Canon or Team Nikon. I spent so much time on the internet to learn ! But remember, I only had my pink camera. And it started to die slowly because I was not very "gentle" with it.

Me in 2012, with my first DSLR (Nikon D3000) and my first camera bag

So my dad (thanks to him, I had no money at this time of my life) bought me my first DSLR : a Nikon D3000. I had it with a classic (and so boring) lens 18-55 mm. But it was so huge, after all ! The quality, the speed... A few months after, I bought my first focal length. And the magic happened ! I started to really enjoye taking pictures and to control the result you know. 

Some of my friends told me about the aperture, the speed, ISO... That is how I started to work only with the manual mode. I needed to upgrade my camera because I wanted to control everything directly on the body. 

I bought (myself, this time) a Nikon D7000. Team Nikon ! which became to be a big disappointment ! It was not good at all with a wide aperture. Chromatic aberration, the sharpness was not good. 

  


After this, I left Nikon for Canon. I bought (myself again) my dear and beloved Canon EOS 6D, with a 50 mm lens 1.4. The perfect combo. It was the best camera on earth ! I have learned SO MUCH with this beautiful baby, but sometimes shit happens.


Somebody stole me all my camera gear. My Canon and my two lenses (I also had a Canon EF 200 mm 2.8) (pure beauty) with my camera bag and the charger. This day, I only had with me my Ricoh GR 2.



No DSLR anymore. 

My camera was so heavy that I tried not to always take it with me. One day, I left it in my car (I'm silly I know) and this is how someone had the opportunity to stole my camera gear. Then, I decided to buy a mirrorless camera : my Olympus OMD EM 5 Mark ii. It was in January 2017. I still have it and I'll talk about it here very soon. 

My mirrorless camera is a good camera. I was feeling so comfortable about my photography skill. I'm not saying that I have nothing to learn more but you know, I felt "accomplished". 

Finaly, one year ago, I decided to try something new. Or I should say something old. I bought my first analog camera : an Olympus mju ii zoom 110. I bought it in a vintage store I love so much in Paimpol (in Brittany, in France). I paid it 50€. After that, I went to a photographer shop and ask the photographer : "how does it work ?"

He gave (I paid for that) me a battery and a film (I think it was a Kodak Gold 200). He showed me how to place the film in the camera. And I started to shoot. Then, I acquired more analog cameras, tried more films and here I am. 

I decided to create my Instagram account @argentiquegal at the beginning of my new adventure. At that time, I didn't know if I would do great pictures but I knew that I’d have the experience to share this with other people at some point. What a pleasure to discover a beautiful community about analog photography.



So that's how I started photography ! Here's my story. I know I talk a lot about my equipment but it was a part of my journey and for the rest, I always keep an eye open, in case there is a good picture to do. I'm the kind of person who watch the world through a viewfinder. 

Please, if you have questions, feel free to ask below. And if you want to share your own story, please do it as well ! I'd love to get to know you ! 

Cheese ! And please, say hi ! 

Comments

  1. I think if it wasn't for my father, I wouldn't be so much into photography today... He also bought me my first camera and when I started film photography he explained everything to me.

    So interesting to read, please keep it up!! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment ! It's so cool we share that "dad thing" ! xx

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  2. Hi!!
    I found your Instagram some months ago, as I was looking for more information about analog photography...
    I do have a similar story as you, but I am now 21 and I absolutely love shooting in analog. I don’t know the prices in your country but where I live, in Portugal, the prices for developing the films are a bit high. Can you tell me how do you digitalize yours?
    This summer I changed my Nikon D3100 to a Sony a6000 (mirrorless), I am still getting used to it.
    What lens would you buy, besides de 50 mm?( the Sony comes with a 18-50mm)

    I am really glad you started a blog, I hope you continue sharing your story about photography and give us some advices too!!

    **At the moment I am only using a Minolta (point and shoot) camera .

    Bye bye !!!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Beatriiz and thank you for your kind comment ! I didn't know it was expensive to develop film in Portugal... I digitalize my picture with a special scanner (EPSON V550), I'll do a blog post about it.
      Concerning lense, I'm very classic ! I don't have full frame digital camera, so I have 20 and 24 mm (it's like the 35 mm, easier to use for portrait AND street photography) and I have telephoto lens. I think 28 or 35 mm are better than 50 mm.
      Thank you for supporting my brand new blog ! I hope you'll like the next blog posts and you will comment again !
      See you !

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