Inspiration, aims, anything else?

Looking through the apparently random choice of photos that iPhoto appears to have put into my iPhone albums, I decided to post a close-up image of some flowers that I took some time ago to Twitter. In turn, this inspired me to write a bit about photography and my aims and inspiration.

I love to take pictures. I somehow fail to ever find time to do it, so my poor camera sits on my desk at work and is forgotten for much of the time. I have an entry level digital SLR and two entry level lenses with various entry level accessories and they all suit me fine. I also have a plate camera and a set of unexposed and unopened glass plates that I estimate to be, well, old. I am very keen to have a go with it. I don’t really know where to start at this stage, other than I need to make some sort of box as the camera consists only of the bellows and lens. On completing this, I guess I need to experiment with focusing using either onto tracing paper in the back of the box or by exposing some resin paper and developing that.

Exposing the glass plates is currently a complete unknown, as is the development, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. There will be plenty to think about, and I’m sure plenty of mistakes, no doubt a key selection, good and bad, will be posted here in due course.