yon_willis' photostream  

My own history of photography dates back to the mid 1990’s, when for my eighth birthday, I was given one of those cheap, toy-like disposable cameras as a present. Of course, being a disposable camera, its life was short, but it was this that introduced me to the world of photography. A serious interest in photography didn’t really begin until about 10 years later, when for my sixteenth birthday, I went digital after receiving a Goodmans digital camera. I fail to remember the model. All I remember that it was bulky, gadget-less, and probably lacking in megapixel quality, as the digital cameras of the day would have done by today’s standards. At first, my ability to adapt to this revolution in camera technology was sluggish. The days of one hour film processing at the local camera shop in the town centre were over. Now like everyone else, I had to do it all myself using a computer. Coming to terms with the totally alien concept of personally transferring photos from a camera to elsewhere whilst navigating my way through the technical side of things, proved to be at times frustrating, and when it all became too much, I would periodically re-defect to good old fashioned film. Today however, my commitment to digital photography is properly established.

Since 2006, almost all of the photos you’ll see in my photostream were captured with these machines: The Samsung Digimax S500, The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 (previously owned by my father, and co-flickrite ‘Fray Bentos’), and finally the GE (General Imaging Co.) Z140. I am not a professional photographer, and I’ve always preferred point-and-shoot cameras, having to bite the bullet and substitute hardcore, quality photography for pocket-size convenience. On further inspection of my work on Flickr, you may also notice that I don’t pay that much attention to the science of photography. In fact, without a trip to Wikipedia, I don’t even know what APS or SLR stands for. I just use the camera to do exactly what it says on the tin – point and shoot. Of course, achieving the best possible photos is still the name of my game.

My photographic specialties include: cities, architecture, and travel (see my ‘tags’ for additional subjects). One thing I have come to discover recently is how travel and photography as hobbies often go hand in hand. Nevertheless, any of the photos in my photostream can depict anything random, from a dead seagull to a plastic bag full of used batteries. However, I always (well, not really always) aim for relevance and substance. Photography for me is more than just a 21st century art.

I hope you’ll enjoy viewing my photos much more than I enjoy: the batteries dying mid-way through shooting, the countless hours of editing and description typing, the assembling and organising of photos, the burden photos bring to my hard-drive space, and most of all, the endlessly competitive nature these days of keeping the photos attractive and enticing to viewers. Feel free to leave comments, notes, group invitations, etc, and please ‘fave’ a photo if you wish. I do not stipulate any photo comments as a prerequisite for adding one of my photos to your favourites.

Cheers!


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