NZPhotographer Issue 43, May 2021

Behind The Shot
with Sandra Benson
Awesome Pink Sky
Canon 90D, 18-55mm lens @ F9, 1/25s, ISO800, 18mm
TELL US ABOUT YOU AND YOUR JOURNEY WITH
PHOTOGRAPHY!
When I left school my first two jobs were in the One Hour
Photo industry, processing 35mm films. Other people’s
cats, dogs, kids, cars... cats, dogs, kids, cars... Although it
was repetitive, it did teach me a lot about composition,
and the difference between a snap and a well
composed photo.
I worked for three and a half years in a Kodak Express outlet,
and another 4 years being the sole operator of a Konica
Photolab, which was part of a larger shop. During this time I
purchased my first cameras, and always had a camera with
me. I took photos of everything. I also had the opportunity
to photograph a clutch of weddings, which I enjoyed.
Once I left the workforce and had children, I decided that I
disliked handing over my wedding photos over to someone
else to process, so I didn’t continue in this field. I left on the
cusp of the digital transformation and before long my
35mm cameras were obsolete. By this point I had made the
decision to Home Educate my sons, and as a single income
family, spending money on decent cameras to bring me up
to date with technology, wasn’t in the budget.
One of my hobbies over the years has been painting,
acrylic on canvas. After my mother passed away in 2019,
I spent a lot of time painting sunsets. I also spent many
evenings taking photos of sunsets on my phone, to have
material to work from. My husband has loved the joy
painting has given me, but when I came home one day
and said that as much as I love painting sunsets, I loved
photographing them more, we agreed that I could buy a
decent camera.
I ended up choosing a Canon 90D with the 18-55
kit lens and a 55-250mm lens initially, making the
NZPhotographer
May 2021
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