How I Got Here

I got here via means of being enthusiastic about tech and having a father who is passionate about photography. The real type of photography is not this instant art we have today.
“I’ll buy your first camera” he announced to me while sending me a link for a Pentax K30 with a double kit lens (An 18mm-55mm and 50mm-200mm) with 16 megapixels on a crop APSC sensor and it looked good. So a quick trip to my local Jessops and I was welcomed to the slightly weird group of Pentax users with many Canon and Nikon users asking me who Pentax was……….

Fast forward a few years of messing about, a purchase of a budget 50mm – 300mm that could do pseudo macro, a cheap 35mm prime that was as noisy to focus as the mirror slap of the camera led to me buying a Pentax Q7. This was Pentax’s attempt to make a tiny camera with toy lenses for the creative type. It was limited to use and the low light was awful as the sensor was so small though it did have appeal with the small switch on the front that was equivalent to instant Instagram filters on the go.

Fast forward another couple of years and I was starting to use my camera out of automatic and in “P” mode. I had also picked up a 50mm Macro lens and 50mm portrait lens that stops down to 1.2. The upgraded glass was good, but I had to take a better body so I ended up getting a Pentax K3. The top-of-the-line prosumer APSC, better in every aspect than the K30, and a camera that I would use for many years and I still have it.

Fast forward again a couple of years I was approached by my sister who was getting married. A few peculiar comments about me taking my camera to the wedding and after sitting down with her she stopped beating around the bush. I agreed to do photography at her wedding after she asked, it was slightly strange as she normally wasn’t shy about saying anything else but this time it was serious stuff! My Father, who was very supportive of my photography skills, announced that I needed another body so I could have two different lenses available all the time. I was then gifted a Pentax K3 MkII that was extremely generous and a good deal for everyone: cheaper than a photographer, and I got a second body that I also still have. I then included purchasing more gear over the coming months: two flash guns, enough kit to have indoor photography (that came into its own in a dark Norman church when it was raining outside) as well as a leather camera strap (buffalo leather) that could hold two cameras as after all I was a guest and had to look the part. I’ll discuss this in further detail and the editing process after but I would recommend doing a wedding, great fun.

Going on a few more years I got a Panasonic GX8, a small micro four-thirds camera that was good and small, again great fun. I went to London for a BrewDog beer and photography weekend with my Dad. The mission was clear: go into every BrewDog bar in London to complete a shareholder’s challenge, take the cameras to record the moments, and talk about everything tech and photography. The bonus mission goal was teaching the staff in the hawks cider taproom how to make Moscow Mules as well as gifting a bottle of bitters to them so they could make them all afternoon. My Father had an X100F at the time.

We are in the final year of the photography story and nearly up to date. I was looking at getting a small camera and one that could perform better than the GX8. Photography is really a 3 horse race at the moment: Canon, Sony, and Nikon. I was reading a lot of reviews and didn’t want to change the platform away from Pentax for the DSLR as I had picked up a few extra lenses. An 18mm-35mm 1.8 Sigma Art lens and a 10mm – 20mm super wide. To change to Sony would have been a £5000 investment. I purchased the Fuji X100V and called my Father to tell him the news to find out he had upgraded his X100F to the X100V. I had the same camera as my Father and my twin sister took great pleasure in telling me I was a copycat, I do need to mention mine is in black and his is in silver.

I have always said that prime lenses are the most fun and I love a 40mm, so to have a very capable camera with a fixed 35mm prime is amazing. I have some thoughts I can I can post about street photography and how to do it better. I’m not an expert by any means but happy to share what make my photography better instantly.

I hope you enjoy this blog that my father and I will write on. There are opinions about many things including how to shoot and what format to shoot in.

I feel I have waffled on for far too long about the opening story and timeline of photography equipment. I’ll discuss more in detail about primes and why the 35mm/40mm primes in my opinion are the fun ones to use. Until next time.