Digital cams were on the rise and as years ago I was offered the chance to use a friend’s camera to try out this new kind of photography. Little by little I learned digital photography starting by studying the exif data of the pictures. I also acquired a range of good photography books to find and understand digital camera settings that were necessary for good results – Yes, that was before the Youtube era with thousands of free tutorials. At that time the first DSLR for a reasonable price became available and finally all I had wished for came together. Without being limited I started shooting more and more photos. Particularly I enjoyed macro and portrait photography. And of course the mistakes I made were countless, but here my background in retouching always ensured perfect pictures in sharpness, exposure and color (don’t ask how many hours I sank into rescuing pictures). Over time my skill in taking pictures grew and the effort to fix them shrank to a few touches inside of Lightroom. Learning by doing has always worked for me, including when taking pictures.
You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the movies you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.