Lens-Artists Challenge #133: My Photography Journey

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I am not a professional photographer. Photography is something I do for fun and I enjoy sharing my photos here on my blog.

I had so much fun getting out my old cameras and going through old photo albums for this challenge. My husband has an old video camera that’s been in a closet for a long time so while I was working on this post he was going through his videos. I would have had this post done yesterday but I am easily distracted and got side tracked watching some of his videos!

Some of my old cameras

I began my photography journey as a kid in elementary school with a Brownie camera. My pictures were pretty bad but it’s fun to look back on them now. I can still remember taking the film to be developed and impatiently waiting to see how the pictures turned out. The first animal picture I can find is of our pet turtles lined up on the sidewalk in front of our house.

Unedited photo of my pet turtles

When we started scuba diving in the late 1980’s I became interested in under water photography. I would just aim the camera in the general direction of whatever I was trying to get a picture of. After many epic fails and lots of wasted film I finally gave up and just enjoyed the diving. Occasionally, I actually captured the fish but they were usually out of focus. Here are a few that kind of turned out. These are cropped and edited to bring out the colors.

Back on land I had better luck with landscapes. Two of my favorite landscapes were shot with the two old Sony Cypershots. At the top of the page is a landscape from Oahu in Hawaii and the image below is of the Pitons in St. Lucia.

I got interested in wildlife and bird photography after we began traveling in the RV. I managed to get a few decent shots with the Cybershot if the subject was pretty close to me.

Bison in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)
Elk in Yellowstone National Park (Woming)

A few years later I graduated to a Sony DSLR with a zoom lens after I tried in vain to get a close up shot of a pair of eagles on one of our trips. This was as close as I could get with my old Cybershot.

Pair of American Bald Eagles in south Florida

The next year Henry got me a Sony A550 DLSR camera with two lenses. There were times when the 400 mm lens was too much so I added a smaller zoom lens later.

What a difference these zoom lenses made! I could now get the close up shots of wildlife I wanted. This eagle was high up in a tree in Alaska.

Bald Eagle at Chilcoot Lake State Park, Haines, AK

In addition to the landscapes and wildlife I enjoy close up photography of flowers and critters from the garden.

Camelia

I’ve never been very good photographing people. Other than taking family pictures I think I’ll stick to nature and landscapes.

Many thanks to Patti for this week’s Lens Artists photo challenge #133: My Photography Journey. Also shared with Terri’s Sunday Stills – your favorite landscape

36 thoughts on “Lens-Artists Challenge #133: My Photography Journey”

  3. Thank you, Beth for sharing your journey. Your first animal picture is precious. It’s wonderful to have photos of your cameras in different times. I wish I had photos of my older camera. I’m in awe with your Bald Eagle capture.

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    1. Amy, thank you! It’s fun looking at those old cameras but I cringe when I look at some of the photographs I took with the film cameras. All I did was point and shoot! I’m still learning and working to improve.

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  5. I have a lot of fun with photography, Beth. And digital photography makes it ever so easy. There are the thousands of photos that result, however. I’m forever eliminating. 🙂 Two pet turtles are special! –Curt

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  6. So glad you enjoyed putting this one together Beth – it’s been so much fun seeing everyone’s journey. It seems as a community we have much in common but I think the most important element we all share is a sense of fun and adventure. Enjoyed your trip down memory lane – and the evolution of your equipment and skills. now about those videos….😊

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    1. Thanks Tina! Henry used to edit the videos whenever we got home from a trip or from being with our grand kids. He would put them all together and we now have several that are over an hour each! They are so much better than the old Super 8 movie camera we had when our kids were growing up.

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    1. Pit, thanks! I remember that Elk was at the edge of the woods very close to the road. Several other people were also there trying to get a photo. After a few minutes he turned and walked back into the woods.

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  11. I enjoyed your photography journey, Beth, and the stunning images created over time! I bet you were thrilled to get the Bald Eagle close-up! You have collected some beautiful shots in wonderful places, and your eye for composition shows well in each image. Great to see you again at Sunday Stills.

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  12. truly enjoyed all your variety from sea to land to sky!
    and also – the scuba diving photos were pretty good for the 80s underwater gear – i know you cropped them for us – but how exciting
    i had a yellow underwater camera but never got any good photos with it
    😉

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    1. Judy, I remember spending most of my allowance on film and developing. Usually most pictures were blurred because the camera moved when I pressed the shutter. These days kids just use their phones.

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  15. What a fun photography journey you have been on! I remember Brownies… my Dad let me use his sometimes.
    And your new lens that made the Eagle picture… Wow!
    ..
    I’m sorry I am late to reading your Blog post but we have been enjoying the desert. The temperature is perfect for exploring(no snakes!)
    ..
    Have a lovely week Beth!

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