18/09/24

It was my first trip abroad with a DSLR; I was a debutante at the ball of the Camera Society. I was still getting to grips with the praxis of the Exposure Triangle and in turn many of my images proved blurry and—more generally—naff, but there are some highlights here that I enjoy.

I had bought the a100 DSLR as part of a kit, complete with accessories, off of eBay for ~£70 a month prior and the 50mm f/1.7 lens I brought along with it must have been the first prime lens I had ever purchased. I was hoping practise some portrait photography with it, but in the end I didn’t get a chance. Still, the lens was very fun to use and I’m glad it was my entry into the world of Minolta and prime lenses in toto. 

It’s strange to think how the arsenal of Sony bodies and Minolta lenses that I own today results from largely aleatory choices I made at the very beginning of my journey as a photographer: I did virtually no research into which camera brand I should invest in and arrived at the a100 simply because it was dirt cheap, a jalopy to master the fundamentals with. Still, if I could go back I wouldn’t change a thing. I loved that camera, with all of its perfect imperfections (to quote John Legend). I miss the CF card!

My favourite photo has to be the one of the little girl sat down amongst the feeding pigeons. The photo doesn’t telegraph precisely how elated she was to be around them and how entertained by them she was. To be persnickety, the male figure crouching behind her somewhat ruins the composition. If he were standing with his head out of frame as the rest of the adults behind her are, only the childrens’ faces would remain, which would help to emphasise the totally absorbed feeling I was trying to capture. But that’s street photography: you play the hand you’re dealt.