First shot you appreciated

[cliveh]

Can you remember the first photograph, print, slide you produced and thought – Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted?

 

[RalphLambrecht]

yes, the first 10,00 were useless

 

[eddie]

Yes, I remember it clearly. And both of the others... LOL

 

[batwister]

Nope. But I haven't developed the last roll I shot yet.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

yes, the first 10,00 were useless

+1

Jeff

 

[Molli]

I'm still waiting....

 

[Dan Henderson]

Farting around in the high school darkroom with a negative of a guy silhouetted against a window. Stumbled onto the idea of sandwiching a piece of lens cleaning tissue into the carrier with the negative. Got so excited with the result that I took the print into the classroom to show the teacher before it was properly fixed. Had to make another print that ended up featured in that year's yearbook.

Wish I had not let so many years intervene between then and becoming recaptured by photography...

 

[MartinCrabtree]

Most of the shots I enjoy are........uhm...........well..............they are great mistakes from experimenting. They do not come out to my vision but are still something I like.

 

[mark]

The sprinkler and snow in my gallery.

 

[Lightcraftsman]

Surprisingly, the first good photo I took was off the first roll of slide film I shot. Canon AE-1 Program and 50/1.8 lens. Darn near froze getting to the spot.

 

[andy_k]

I'm always pleasing myself with how well something comes out at first; it's always after the fact that I look back and think "eh, that's dumb/boring/not very good" etc. I haven't yet taken a picture which, in hindsight, I'm more impressed with it than I was when I took it.

 

[cliveh]

I'm always pleasing myself with how well something comes out at first; it's always after the fact that I look back and think "eh, that's dumb/boring/not very good" etc. I haven't yet taken a picture which, in hindsight, I'm more impressed with it than I was when I took it.

Well Andy, perhaps if you spend less time thinking and reading about the philosophy of imagery and more time looking, you will produce more shots you are impressed with after you take them.

 

[andy_k]

Well Andy, perhaps if you spend less time thinking and reading about the philosophy of imagery and more time looking, you will produce more shots you are impressed with after you take them.

Snipe if you want, I'm not bothered either by your unexamined creative approach as hobbyist, nor my self-critical eye, evolving sensibilities, and ambition to produce better work.

 

[cliveh]

Snipe if you want, I'm not bothered either by your unexamined creative approach as hobbyist, nor my self-critical eye, evolving sensibilities, and ambition to produce better work.

Sorry Andy, my intention was not to snipe or cause offense and if you thought I did, I do apologise. We are all entitled to our own opinions.

 

[andy_k]

S'all good.

 

[removed account4]

it was a sheet of adhesive tape peeled off a telephone pole that i drew on
and enlarged ... and then i was in disbelief that i printed it.

 

[batwister]

I'm always pleasing myself with how well something comes out at first; it's always after the fact that I look back and think "eh, that's dumb/boring/not very good" etc. I haven't yet taken a picture which, in hindsight, I'm more impressed with it than I was when I took it.

I've found this to be somewhat true. But for me, it depends on how long has passed. In regard to your 'evolving sensibilities' comment - which is a... sensibility I also share - the very fact that my past work is so different, a year or two later, I can appreciate it a little more objectively - that's not to say I think it becomes stronger. It becomes unfamiliar, and for a short period, intriguing - if only in terms of self-reflectance. Regardless, it's important to be progressive and I try not to look back too often.

 

[vpwphoto]

I have a 5x7 of the first photograph I ever made. a snowman my dad and I built. I was about 3, the camera a Bessler Topcon Auto 100. The noisiest SLR ever made even though it had a leaf shutter behind the lens.

 

[vpwphoto]

I'm always pleasing myself with how well something comes out at first; it's always after the fact that I look back and think "eh, that's dumb/boring/not very good" etc. I haven't yet taken a picture which, in hindsight, I'm more impressed with it than I was when I took it.

This is a sign of a maturing "eye" and sensibilities.
-- in the end don't be too hard on yourself.

I group photographs I make into 3 catagories.

-personal / life documentation
-commercial work that pays my bills
-work "for the ages" -- photographs that may or may not be personal to me that may be of great importance to others in 100 years or more.

They all can overlap a little or have a little of one-another mixed into each. My favorite photos sometime only satisfy one point/// and "true art" "none" of the above.

 

[Ces1um]

The first shot I appreciated was not "exactly what I wanted". It turned out much better than I had envisioned and it was my own inexperience with a film camera that was the reason. I was aiming for just a standard photo of my daughter but the scene was backlit and I didn't account for that. I ended up with a beautiful silhouette of her, with a silhouette of the easter lilly next to her whose white leaves caught the light and show up bright white. I further screwed the photo up by forgetting to dilute my developer (it was the second roll of film I ever developed). So I ended up with a contrasty silhouette and I loved the photo so much I had the black and white photography instructor show me how to print it using their darkroom! It's still one of my top 10 favorite images that I've taken.

 

[blockend]

The first photograph I liked was a line of toy archery bows, pictured against a fairground inflatable. The sun was bright, reflecting off the surface and lending the shot a surreal feel. In hindsight it wasn't very good, but most people go through a semi-abstract phase working out the framing that comes naturally to photography.

Much better pictures were on the first roll I ever shot on a college Zenit, a year before. I rediscovered these a year ago and put almost all the shots into a printed book. Not having much idea what I was doing they're guileless photographs of an area undergoing demolition. I had an idea that if I set the camera to f5.6 at 1/250 with FP4 the shots would come out ok, which they did. They're particularly poignant as the notorious area that was being knocked down and rebuilt, was itself demolished 43 years later. There's a little fogging, some fixing problem and scratches that suggest I hadn't opened the bulk loader window before filling the cassette, but they're still priceless shots of a disappeared world.

 

[Bob Carnie]

In first year photo I had to make an image from two negatives... the resulting print was quite good if I say so myself..
I find with my personal work I am very happy with about 30 % of what I print, always culling the herd to get each series tight.

 

[Vaughn]

Can you remember the first photograph, print, slide you produced and thought – Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted?

I still have problems with the 'exactly' and the 'what I want' bits. The more I know 'exactly', the further 'what I want' wanders off. And the more I want, the harder it is to know exactly. I think it is called the Artist Uncertainty Principle.

But I do have key images that mark the discovery of possiblities...often corrresponding to when everything clicks in a new process or a discovery of how a process can be taken further. But the image below perhaps came closest in seeing, making the negative and printing at the time -- back 30 years ago. Image taken after two weeks of rain, flu, and draught of image-making while solo bicycling in New Zealand. Truman Cove, South Island, NZ, 1987. Gowland PocketView 4x5, 150mm/5.6, TMax 100/HC-110,16x20 silver gelatin print.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

I still have problems with the 'exactly' and the 'what I want' bits. The more I know 'exactly', the further 'what I want' wanders off. And the more I want, the harder it is to know exactly. I think it is called the Artist Uncertainty Principle.
...

I like that a lot.