Happy (Photography) Birthday!!!

September 3rd 2021 at 10pm in the parking lot of my work as I was going home, using a Canon PowerShot from 2009. I took my first image.

Settings: .3sec / f2.7 / ISO-80. Edited in full color, that strangely enough imitated a black and grey style. At the time, I only took one image, in part because I wasn’t sure how much memory my 4GB (yes you read that right, 4 Giga Bite) SD card would hold, and also because I simply didn’t think about taking multiple shots and picking from the best ones. I knew absolutely nothing about photography at that time, other than “I just have to adjust these three things and get the little arrow to reach 0 on the scale at the bottom of the screen, before I can hit the shutter button”. I had no forethought of composition, lighting, angle, why I shot in horizontal instead of vertical, how little editing capabilities I’d have shooting JPEG instead of in RAW, or even that where I stood wasn’t ideal (and why it wasn’t ideal). I just adjusted the setting on that little point and shoot to where I thought it should be, and hit the shutter button. Only after getting home and spending hours playing around with this one shot, did a few things finally sink in. “I would love to get a better camera, I need to dedicate myself to learning the fundamentals of photography when I do get a better camera, and I’ve never felt this way about something. I’ve been excited and excited about things, but this is more. A feeling I don’t know how to describe”.

Anyone else that looks at this image will most likely think, “that’s a pretty boring ass photo of a car”, and they’d be 100% correct. But to me, I see this image and think, “I love this shot so much”.

The 1st One

September 11th 2023 at 11:45pm in my shop behind my house, after receiving a zine from a photographer that I admire. I spent almost an hour gathering everything, setting up, adjusting, and taking 52 test shots before capturing my most recent shot.

Shot settings & thought process: 1/30sec, because nothing was moving and to adjust for flash brightness, f/stop, and ISO range. f/11, because I wanted to have a long depth of field throughout my shot. ISO-100, because I knew that if I wanted to have a vintage feel to the image, I could add and have control of the grain structure in post processing. Flash used as main light source and power set to 4.2, so not to overpower secondary light source too much, and also not to have too bright of a glare on the glass objects (additionally I would have used a CPL to try and cut down more of the glare, but I didn’t have one available). Constant secondary light source pointed directionally toward the right side objects/elements, and power level set to 30%, in order to enhance the “main focus” elements (Zine, photo, and envelope).

I used my A7iv with my 50mm f/1.2 GM on a tripod, added elements and objects that best fit the photographer of the Zine’s personality. And in the final shot I added the smoke element by puffing on the cigar, hitting the shutter button which had a 2sec delay to it, and blowing the smoke over the entire scene before my camera went off. All in all it took me just shy of an hour to set up and create this one image.

2 Years In The Making

Now, do I think this image is better than the first shot I ever took? Yes absolutely, but there’s more to it than that. I will always have a soft spot for that first shot, the innocents of not thinking too much into it but instead taking the shot and having a starting point to learn from. As for the second shot, it too will have a soft spot in my heart forever, as I intentionally set out to try to capture exactly what I had in mind, on top of wanting to shoot something fun for my “Photography Birthday”.

Additionally, if I take a few more steps back from it all, and look at the “bigger picture” of this Photographic Journey, I’m beyond floored. To think that in two years I’ve gone from taking a random shot in a parking lot, to working for a local magazine, not to mention thinking about all the people I’ve met, places I’ve been to, and things I’ve been privileged enough to experience along the way. It’s cliché for sure to say, but I honestly had no clue I’d have ended up where I am today 2 years ago. And I want to say Thank You to all the people I’ve met along this crazy journey so far, I can’t wait to see what’s next and who I become friends with too.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks blog, and the photos that came with it. Have great days until the next time we do this thing, and I’ll catch y’all later.

Andrew Hoyle - Grimlock Media

Andrew Hoyle

Photographer looking to build a business from a passion. Blog writer, YouTube host, and small business owner.