Hi! - Beginner in Japan

DanT

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Joined
Dec 14, 2010
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10
Location
Japan
Format
35mm
Hi, I'm Daniel, an American currently living in Japan. I am a complete novice when it comes to photography. I've been working on learning as much as a I can with my Canon digital point and shoot and my wife's DSLR. I have been utterly intrigued and captivated by film and have been wanting to give it a try. I've been lurking for a bit trying to learn but at some point you just have to start so I picked up a used Canon 7 (elan 7 in the states) and a 50mm EF 1.8 II and loaded it up. So far I've only gotten my first roll back and it was full of errors and mistakes but I'm enjoying the journey of learning. Looking forward to learning more about this art form.
 

mooseontheloose

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Kyoto, Japan
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Hi Daniel,

Welcome to APUG from a Canadian expat living in Japan. I went "serious" into photography while living in Japan a few years ago (I've recently returned). I love the camera culture here (although not the prices!).

Don't be afraid to ask questions here -- you'll get a lot of good, friendly advice.
 

Mainecoonmaniac

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I've made tons if errors also shooting film when I started 30 years ago. Funny thing is when I look at those same shots, they were not bad at all artistically. I wasn't inhibited by rules of composition. Get into the habit of filing and storing your work properly. Enjoy your journey of discovery.
 

faustotesta

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Sep 18, 2008
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Above the Hi
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Welcome. I still keep doing mistakes after 35 years of photography. Last one was yesterday. Tried to develop a Agfa Scal with D-76 1+1 (12 minutes). Got a terribly underxposed negative.
Ciao
 

Colin Corneau

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You've done 2 things right in starting out -- 1) coming to APUG. The resources for educating yourself never fail to amaze me. My re-introduction to film simply couldn't have happened without this place. and 2) living in Japan, which has a real appreciation for film and camera culture.
This may do nothing but intrigue you, but check out one of my favorite blogs, Tokyo Camera Style. http://tokyocamerastyle.com/
 

stillsilver

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Hello and welcome to the site. Treat all of your mistakes as a learning tool. We all still make them.

Mike
 

Christopher Walrath

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Put that camera on M and get a nice book on the basics of exposure. And welcome to APUG.
 

Chazzy

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Jan 17, 2004
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Welcome to APUG, Daniel. I've heard that the Elan 7 is a good camera. Don't worry too much about making mistakes; it takes some time to learn the craft of photography. All of us are still learning. As time goes by, the percentage of "keepers" will increase.
 
OP
OP

DanT

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Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
10
Location
Japan
Format
35mm
Thank you for the warm welcome, everyone.

Rachelle,
I'll be sure to ask questions, I need all of the advice I can get.

Collin,
That is indeed a fascinating blog. During one of the last festivals in the small city I currently call home I did notice quite a few film cameras slung around people's necks.
 

papagene

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Daniel - hello and welcome to APUG from western Massachusetts USA.
 

JodyM

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Nov 30, 2010
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Washington D
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Hi Dan, I am also new to this forum. I just wanted to say I also lived in Japan and that was where my love for photography first started. I was in high school and I would run around with my 35mm Yashica taking photos of everything. One of the saddest days of my life was on the day we moved back to the states I had several rolls of undeveloped film in my mother's purse. We landed in San Diego and a few hours later my mother's purse was stolen. This was over 20 years ago. I STILL wonder what was on those rolls. I look forward to learning (or relearning) with you!
 

Black Dog

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Welcome to APUGland!
 
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