Bruce White
The Photographer
I have been taking photographs for as long as I can remember.
My first camera was a Kodak Box Brownie which was a great camera – not ever sure what happened to it. From there I recall having a Kodak Instamatic 100 with those funny shaped blue coloured flash bulbs you used to push in the top and which used the 126 cartridge film. Somewhere around that same time there was a Polaroid instamatic camera. The family camera was a Kodak Retinette which I picked up and used when I could get my hands on it. In my late teens I purchased a fully manual STX1N Fujica with 2 Tamron lenses along with a prime 50MM 1.8. Not long after that I purchased a Nissin Professional flash gun to complete my kit.
At that time I was shooting weddings which at that time was my second job. All my processing back then was entrusted to a professional lab in Warrawong, which some 30 years ago was about a $1.00 per print.
Back then $1.00 for a 6” x 4” print was a hefty charge however the benefit of it far outweighed the cost. I started out using Kodak colour negative film which I soon became unhappy with. At that time I switched to Fujifilm 100 colour negative film which in my opinion was far superior to Kodak films, giving me the skin tones and reproduction of the colours in wedding gowns, bridesmaids gowns etc that I desired for my clients. I eventually had to give up wedding photography, as my main job was shift work and included weekends.
It was about this time that digital cameras came into the fray of photography. I next purchased a 1mp Agfa digital camera and while looking fine on a computer screen, they just didn’t have the clarity and definition that the 35MM film produced in print.
Next came a Fuji Finepix 2800 2MP camera and the results were getting better, however the 35MM Fujica still produced a better photograph in print. The 2800 did become my constant companion as it cost nothing to shoot away and then load onto the computer. I would print them out with an Epson 600 colour printer.
I progressed to a Canon A720S 8MP camera but I was never quite happy with the results it achieved. The clarity just was not there.
I was visiting a client’s home one day when I noticed a library of hardcover bound photo books. I was pleasantly surprised at the professionalism of the photographs in those albums. This was the start of the next era of my photography.
The spark had returned after many years for making fantastic photographs I purchased a Sony DSLR with 3 kit lenses, a 100MM Minolta Macro lens along with the only auto focusing Mirror 500MM lens. Both of these lenses are quite old but function perfectly and the quality of the glass is amazing.
I since have purchased a 20mp Sony RX100mk11 which is my constant companion. With my kit now including a 24MP Sony A7711 with a 16-50 G class lens, it is complete for the moment.
I like to photograph just about anything from a beautiful landscape to cars, trucks and tractors, or anything that will make a great photographic subject.
I have since gone back to photography classes to learn what I have missed out on over the years. I now endeavour to make beautiful photographs which I can post to my website and share with others who enjoy the art and fun of photography as well as the people who enjoy my subject matter.
Recently I have just completed a Diploma of Photography to further enhance my skills in this amazing field.
I also use this great medium in my work as a Real Estate agent with Margaret McCauley Real Estate in Burradoo
Awards
Although I have been taking photos for a long time, it is only in recent years that I have chosen to enter a few photographic competitions and I am very proud to have achieved some recognition in this very competitive field.
- Finalist in 24th Muswellbrook Photographic award 2014
- Achieved Diploma of Photography 2015
- Finalist in Ken Duncan Photographic Awards 2015
- Photograph chosen 2015 to be on the cover of “Thoroughbass: The Birch Tree” by Ann Carr-Boyd
- Photographer of the year Moss Vale Show 2016
- Colour Photographer of the year Moss Vale Show 2017
- Colour Photographer of the year for the entire region Winner at Camden 2017
Bruce White