Getting into Photography
Hello, and welcome to Vistas Various! I’m Adam, and this is my site/blog/gallery where I will showcase my photos and post the occasional blog. For my first blog entry, I decided to give a little background on the evolution of photography in my life.
It started with a smartphone
I remember getting my first smart phone in 2008 or 2009, and iPhone (upgraded from a black LG Chocolate). Back then, I wasn’t so interested in the camera. The cameras on smartphone have never been the main selling point for me. But as the years went by and I grew as a person and broadened my experiences, that changed.
Actually using said smartphone
I met my wife in Azeroth. In August 2011, we are meeting for the first time IRL in Chicago. Let me tell you, I had a blast. And no matter where we went, we were both taking pictures. Be it a concert, the zoo, or just a walk in the park; we both enjoyed taking pictures at the various wonders we may have seen around us.
And now it’s a staple of our adventures. Zoo? I’m taking more pictures of these tigers. Museum? You bet I’m gonna get a picture of the same taxidermy duck. Vacation? Hell yeah I’m gonna document this so we can look back when we’re old and gray to reminisce.
Since then, my photo collection has grown. Concerts, museums, zoos, hikes, boat rides, train rides, you name it. Especially in 2018, when we got two husky puppies. After that, 90% of my camera roll was of them doing various adorable things that puppies do. It’s great to look back and watch them go from small 10 lb puppies, to 70 lbs of fur.
The power of Observation
Then we got some landscaping done in our backyard in late 2024, so by spring 2025, we had quite a nice garden back there. I started taking pictures of all the flowers we grew; zinnias, marigolds, sunflowers, and lots of other wild flowers. Of course, with these flowers brought a whole new ecosystem to our backyard. Suddenly, we’ve got dragonflies perched on bushes, frogs living under our BBQ pit, an anole lizard perched on a planter, hummingbirds feeding on our lantanas, and even a butterfly chrysalis tethered by silk to our outdoor sofa. It was a bummer once the season passed and all the flowers withered, but I knew I could look forward to the next round of blooms.
I think maybe that could have been the start of my hobby. One more spark to the proverbial flame was when, one day, I can’t remember who, but one of us pulled out the Star Wars-themed poloroid camera my wife has laying around, and snapped a couple pictures of the dogs. Then I took one of my wife, and something about it just spoke to me. It was a random moment, but the bad lighting and quality of the picture just had a certain feel or aesthetic to me. I love the look of old pictures; the graininess, or maybe a bit out of focus. Hopefully I’ve captured that look with some of my pictures and the post processing I’ve done with them.
Using actual cameras
A few months ago, I saw an ad for a Camp Snap Pro, and it really caught my attention. I loved the old school camera look it had, and a screen free digital camera sounded great, how it would be like taking pictures with a disposable camera without the need to have it developed. The built in filters also gave my pictures great looks. I’ve mostly used this one when going out and about, taking pictures from the passengers side (of my best friends ride).
And not too long after that, I bought myself a DSLR, a used Nikon D3500. I’ve used this one mostly to get the pictures of the various visitors we get in out backyard or the flowers.
I’m still learning to use my camera, and still learning post processing workflows in Lightroom. I look at a lot of other pictures, and they look so crisp and sharp and perfect, and they look fantastic! Don’t get me wrong there, I appreciate all types of art. However, that is not the look I am going for with my pictures. I love the distressed looks, adding an absurd amount of grain or vignetting, and almost always looking at the vintage color profiles first thing. Even the various photos of flowers or butterflies get the vintage look treatment.
Looking forward
While I have only been at this a few months, I feel like already my eye has changed, and my post processing in Lightroom has improved, if even a little bit. I would eventually like to maybe add in some Photoshop usage, but I would need to relearn everything since I haven’t used it in almost 20 years.
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And it’s true. My art and photos aren’t perfect. I don’t intend them to be, and I like that. Not everyone will, but that’s OK with me. If you see my work and like it, that’s great! But if it’s not your cup of tea, thanks for stopping by and checking it out. I don’t always like or “get” a piece of art either, be it a photograph, painting, sculpture, etc., but I can still appreciate it for what it is: and expression of the artist’s creativity.
