How did you decide?

jasonstone

Hi all,

First a bit of background, I was well into photography some years ago and had enough money and no sense to just buy lenses etc. when I didn't really know how to use them properly - and I was more of an opportunitist photographer.

I lost the photo bug for some years and now am getting back into it and really learning how to do it properly.

However I don't have endless cash or time - so I need to think more about what I want to photograph and what equipment I need to do it.

So my question to everyone - and hopefully this helps me to sort my ideas in my head too - is how did you decide to photograph what you do? e.g. specialise in portraits or a specific sport etc. and how do you balance the desire to buy equipment with buying what you really need? How to justify it perhaps?

I know this is fairly open ended and some will probably not have the time to write a detailed answer but any hints would be appreciated.

If it helps I didn't want to carry around a backpack full of gear anymore so I bought a Nikon D80 + 18-200 VR Nikkor lens. Have added an SB-800 and 50mm f1.8 Nikkor and some ebay flash triggers and a light stand and umbrella since then as I wanted to play with lighting - all on the cheap though as I still don't know which direction I'm heading in.

Cheers, Jase

du8die

how did you decide to photograph what you do? e.g. specialise in portraits or a specific sport etc. and how do you balance the desire to buy equipment with buying what you really need? How to justify it perhaps?

I think it starts with what you enjoy. I really enjoy shooting sports and portraits, so I do a lot of that.

Shoot what you enjoy - go from there...

sweet caroline

I'm a mom and I teach preschool, so it's been natural for me to take photos of children. Pretty simple.

Caroline