JasmineDB
New member
Thank you!
Average age of BCG members?
- Thread starter Wade Abadie
- Start date
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I am 79 years old, my first serious camera was an Olympus OM-1 purchased in 1972.
I was 76 recently. I worked as marine scientist in Victoria, Australia for 30 years after emigrating from Wales, UK. As retirement "hobbies" I took up bird photography and volunteer firefighting almost 20 years ago. I first used a 3mb $100 camera with 3x magnification and held it either to my binoculars or our bird-watching clubs' telescope. In seeking advice on what camera and lens to purchase I was befriended by the late Robert Zimsek and his partner Marlis form Mackay in Queensland. Their mentorship, friendship, constant encouragement and especially Roberts' critical reviews poured petrol on my photography interests. I purchased a Canon 7D and 300mm lens and then when I heard the specs on the Nikon 500mm pf lens I purchased a Nikon D850 and later the lens which combination I still shoot with. In recent years I purchased several lenses and tried other genres of photography including: seascapes, nightscapes, Astro and Macro. Last year I was stopped in my tracks by two hip replacements and a few other trips to the operating theatre. Fortunately, all my re-hab has gone extremely well and in recent weeks I have photographed Peregines and their chicks and got down and dirty on the foreshore with waders that have travelled to Australia from Siberia. Oh Happy Days!!!
I have been contemplating the jump to mirrorless, but I think I will wait until I get too old to carry my current heavy gear.
I have been contemplating the jump to mirrorless, but I think I will wait until I get too old to carry my current heavy gear.
I'll be 73 next month. Gifts welcome! lol. I started in high school in the 60s. Went from a Pentax Spotmatic> Minolta SRT-101> Nikon FM and remained with Nikon to date. Enjoying mirrorless with Z8 and Z9
I am 74, pretty much in the heart of the main demographic for this forum. I started photography with a Brownie camera and then with one of those Instamatics that used flash cubes, but I got into nature photography with a cheapo Mamiya/Sekor SLR at age 16 so I could try to take bird photos during birding trips with my father and brother. Got my first Nikon F when my father traveled to Japan in 1968 and stuck with Nikon ever since. Did not get a lens truly capable of capturing good bird pix until I was about 35. I added M43 as a second system about six years ago, and now am surrounded by an abundance of great gear that does not get enough use, really.
I don't enjoy getting old and experiencing the aches and pains and wondering how much longer I can continue scheduling the occasional overseas long trip. But I am not sorry for my placement within the generational sequence. My earliest real memories are from about 1954, near the dawn of the American Century, and I feel that I have seen and lived a lot of amazing history that younger people can now only read about. I am fearful for "our future" as a people and a species, so I have only limited regrets that I will be gone before too long and will miss out on much of whatever comes next.
I confess I do not understand the fascination that some young people have with "film photography," but hey, whatever. OTOH, i was happy to learn that lots of Gen Z people are now fascinated with point-and-shoot digital cameras that "we" had come to believe are obsolete. I have a drawerful and I do still love to play with them.
I would really love to take photos of grandchildren, but there aren't any. Can't have everything. So my cat gets photographed a lot.
Doug Greenberg
I don't enjoy getting old and experiencing the aches and pains and wondering how much longer I can continue scheduling the occasional overseas long trip. But I am not sorry for my placement within the generational sequence. My earliest real memories are from about 1954, near the dawn of the American Century, and I feel that I have seen and lived a lot of amazing history that younger people can now only read about. I am fearful for "our future" as a people and a species, so I have only limited regrets that I will be gone before too long and will miss out on much of whatever comes next.
I confess I do not understand the fascination that some young people have with "film photography," but hey, whatever. OTOH, i was happy to learn that lots of Gen Z people are now fascinated with point-and-shoot digital cameras that "we" had come to believe are obsolete. I have a drawerful and I do still love to play with them.
I would really love to take photos of grandchildren, but there aren't any. Can't have everything. So my cat gets photographed a lot.
Doug Greenberg
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I've been looking at this for almost 15 years with data from Nikonians, NANPA and other sources. For nature and wildlife photography, the age distribution is relatively constant. To the extent that photographers exit nature photography in their late 70's or early 80's, there are new entrants in the 50+ age group. The feeder for photo groups online and in person is the late 40 and 50+ year old photographer who has children out of college and stability in their career providing adequate disposable income. As they age - into their 60's - the interest in travel increases often accompanies retirement. Travel wanes in their mid-70's and they remain quite interested in photography if they remain healthy.
Camera companies are well aware of this. The problem is outside of professionals - part time or full time - there are relatively few people spending $15,000 and up on cameras and lenses in their 30's and early 40's. Efforts to promote pro and semi-pro gear to amateurs under age 40 is not very productive. Younger than that - high school and college age - there is virtually no loyalty to any brand or organization. NANPA saw 90+% attrition rates over a 3-4 year period even if membership is free and conferences are deeply discounted to cost. Contrast that with age 50+ members who have 80+% retention rates and higher.
xxx
Active member
Nursing home forum.
74 years old. I took photography in high school instead of math. I remember loving my Minolta. Made a darkroom at my parents' house. Took pictures all through college, then my camera was stolen by some druggie in the early 70s at an unfortunate house party in West Hollywood, and I didn't get back into it until 2010 or so. Now I have some nice Nikon equipment. I shoot birds and wildlife, and I also really enjoy taking special photos for friends whose kids are playing s big soccer game, in a school play, or whatever, taking advantage what I can do with my gear.
I'm 45 years old and was never too interested in photography growing up. I did take a high school class but didn't like all the chemicals involved in developing film.
My wife did a Groupon for an intro to photography session shortly before our first kid was born. She never became interested but that got me hooked. I picked up a sony dslr because i thought it would be cool to get old minolta lenses. Later I got my favorite lens, a 16-50 f2.8 (which i no longer have and it doesn't seem like many other companies make it). I spent the first couple of years taking pictures of my kids. Now they're a bit older (still preteen) they're not as willing to be my photography subjects so I switched to wildlife (which don't complain as much).
As others have noted it's hard to make time for wildlife/nature photography with the demands of a family, job, etc... I try to take my camera with me when I can (my friends kids thought my profession was a photographer which warmed my heart!). Fit it into work trips or vacations. My wife is lovingly supportive with both the cost of the hobby (my other vice is headphones) and time commitments. I'm in Costa Rica now and spent close to an hour waiting for a sloth to move its head (more on that incredible story once I post my pictures) and also set up a night macro shoot here. Those both require patience and understanding from spouse/children which I am blessed to have at the moment. I also love the support and encouragement of this forum and it's members. People ask me if I post on Instagram or FB and I say nope, but I point them to BCG!
My wife did a Groupon for an intro to photography session shortly before our first kid was born. She never became interested but that got me hooked. I picked up a sony dslr because i thought it would be cool to get old minolta lenses. Later I got my favorite lens, a 16-50 f2.8 (which i no longer have and it doesn't seem like many other companies make it). I spent the first couple of years taking pictures of my kids. Now they're a bit older (still preteen) they're not as willing to be my photography subjects so I switched to wildlife (which don't complain as much).
As others have noted it's hard to make time for wildlife/nature photography with the demands of a family, job, etc... I try to take my camera with me when I can (my friends kids thought my profession was a photographer which warmed my heart!). Fit it into work trips or vacations. My wife is lovingly supportive with both the cost of the hobby (my other vice is headphones) and time commitments. I'm in Costa Rica now and spent close to an hour waiting for a sloth to move its head (more on that incredible story once I post my pictures) and also set up a night macro shoot here. Those both require patience and understanding from spouse/children which I am blessed to have at the moment. I also love the support and encouragement of this forum and it's members. People ask me if I post on Instagram or FB and I say nope, but I point them to BCG!
iPhone images can be printed and now better than in the past since you can shoot in RAW.
A now retired, pro David Marr here in Boise who owned a gallery and dark room down town for years did it. I do not remember exactly when but at least 7 years ago he did an entire exhibit in his gallery (11x14 to 16x24) with images taken with his iPhone and printed in his darkroom. He still preferred his 4x5 and 8x10 large format film cameras and D300s and D4s back then but his prints were great.
I have never printed something taken with my iPhone, currently an iPhone 15 pro. However if I use it correctly can do some things as well and sometimes faster than with my Z9 but as you noted if I try to push it in low light etc. even in customized modes there are odd artifacts that start showing up. I have not had the patience or desire to really work with it and the RAW images to see what could be done in print.
My iPhone is in my pocket all the time when I am birding and I do my e bird checklist on it. But my first choice birding set up is a Z9 and Z600 f/4 TC. There have been some rare occasions when I have used the iPhone to document numbers of birds in a flock because my birding lens had to narrow of a field of view
macwalter
Well-known member
I’m 76-nearly 77. Photography became a passion after years of driving my wife around so she could photograph so I decided to buy one as well. I went with Nikon as that is what she had but she decided to stop using DSLRs and went the iPhone route leaving me to do the heavy lifting. This was 15 years ago.
Hi Eric!
This recent video by Mads Peter Iverson may be of interest as he looks at wildlife photography as well as landscape.
Neil
75, actually today! Starting to get a bit lazy but will get back on the schedule after the holidays!
Magicspell
New member
I'm firmly in the second largest demographic here (62 last August). I've had a passion for photography in one way or another since taking a b/w elective back in college in the early 80's. I've moved through a few different camera types and brands over the years. My first "serious" cameras were a Konica FS-1 and a Konica FT-1 that I bought used from a friend of mine that was turning professional and decided to upgrade his system. Those were my goto cameras until I moved up to a Minolta 600si in the mid-90's. I moved into digital with a Nikon Coolpix 950 in the late 90's. I quickly turned to Olympus digital in early 2000 with the E-10. I stayed an Oly shooter through several "upgrades" (E-1, E-3, E-300, E-5) along with a Minolta 7D (used only to take advantage of some expensive lenses shared with another friend). I retired at the end of 2022 and rewarded myself with a new mirrorless camera as a retirement present. For that I turned to the Canon R5 that I have today.
Over the years, I've photographed people (a few weddings/events, sports and street photography), places (landscape and scenics), and nature (wildlife and birds). By far my passion is nature and that is what I'm mainly focussing on in retirement. Not only do I enjoy taking pictures of the animals and views around me, but I just like getting outside and "having a nice walk" !!
Over the years, I've photographed people (a few weddings/events, sports and street photography), places (landscape and scenics), and nature (wildlife and birds). By far my passion is nature and that is what I'm mainly focussing on in retirement. Not only do I enjoy taking pictures of the animals and views around me, but I just like getting outside and "having a nice walk" !!
DBalaur
Active member
Chiming in here as "the voice of the youth", given five pages of comments so far and the few youngest responders are in their mid-late 30s - I am 26. Had this poll been made a year or two ago I would have qualified for the exotic "25 and under" age bracket, of which we only have two respondents so far.
I started when my mother passed down her Nikon D90. She was never that deep into photography and jumped as soon as iPhone cameras became good enough for her needs. I shamefully took a lot of photos BUT never took the time to learn the fundamentals until the pandemic arrived. I went on a road trip with a friend to visit a bunch of touristy spots along the Rockies, which were completely deserted due to travel restrictions. It was magical, but my photos were beyond mediocre. I felt ashamed and started honing my skills afterwards.
Transient orcas ~2017, probably my first wildlife photo with a proper camera. Ugh, no post-processing, and settings were all over the place.
There have been many comments and hypotheses about what the younger age groups are doing with photography, so here is my perspective.
Second, younger age groups are still getting into photography. Even film has its resurgence despite the cost of film production and processing being higher. They are just not here. All traditional forums, of any subject, I have been to are universally maintained by people above 30. Younger photographers use YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Discord, and even recent niche offshoots like Cara and Vero. Facebook, while still popular in many countries (e.g., Viet Nam), is already considered "boomer" in the Western youth demographic.
And, unsurprisingly, even those who are into photography are seldomly into wildlife. Landscape, sure, especially with drone photography being so popular, but wildlife is a different beast. Wildlife photography has the highest entry investment, in both $, skills, and time, of any genre (potentially only rivalled by deep-sky astrophotography), with an abysmal ROI. There is a reason why many members remain hobbyists and only entered the genre in their 50s. My circle is very biased toward wildlife because (a) many grew up near nature and/or (b) work on animals (veterinarians, biologists, paleontologists, etc.), but as a whole each generation has become less exposed to nature. Children in urban areas have increasingly become more indoor due to a combination of factors, from a decrease in child-friendly public spaces, increased sheltering from risk-averse parents, increased schooling pressure, etc. There is also less nature to go around, which is not talked about much because of the shifting baseline syndrome: you don't realize how much wildlife has been lost unless you have observed an area for years or dig into population surveys. Habitat degradation/fragmentation, wildlife poaching, urban expansion, and climate change all play a role in disconnecting the average person from nature further. My local senior naturalist remarked how it now took him twice as long to drive out to a natural area compared to just 20 years ago when we were out birding together.
I started when my mother passed down her Nikon D90. She was never that deep into photography and jumped as soon as iPhone cameras became good enough for her needs. I shamefully took a lot of photos BUT never took the time to learn the fundamentals until the pandemic arrived. I went on a road trip with a friend to visit a bunch of touristy spots along the Rockies, which were completely deserted due to travel restrictions. It was magical, but my photos were beyond mediocre. I felt ashamed and started honing my skills afterwards.
Transient orcas ~2017, probably my first wildlife photo with a proper camera. Ugh, no post-processing, and settings were all over the place.
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There have been many comments and hypotheses about what the younger age groups are doing with photography, so here is my perspective.
First, overall cost of entry. "The numbers might be bigger but so is today's pay" is just objectively not the case. Pay does increase but the cost of living is outpacing it by a factor of 5 or more. Cameras, which are not living essentials, are even worse. You can even say that the affordability crisis ALONE could account for why so many people don't bother with photography when they are still struggling to put food on the table. On the flip side, the used market has never been better: various online sale platforms allow gears to change hands easily at both local and international scales. The transition to mirrorless also lowers the entry cost to DSLRs significantly. However, used market sales are not captured by many brand surveys, but they at least contribute to brand loyalty and exposure.
Second, younger age groups are still getting into photography. Even film has its resurgence despite the cost of film production and processing being higher. They are just not here. All traditional forums, of any subject, I have been to are universally maintained by people above 30. Younger photographers use YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Discord, and even recent niche offshoots like Cara and Vero. Facebook, while still popular in many countries (e.g., Viet Nam), is already considered "boomer" in the Western youth demographic.
And, unsurprisingly, even those who are into photography are seldomly into wildlife. Landscape, sure, especially with drone photography being so popular, but wildlife is a different beast. Wildlife photography has the highest entry investment, in both $, skills, and time, of any genre (potentially only rivalled by deep-sky astrophotography), with an abysmal ROI. There is a reason why many members remain hobbyists and only entered the genre in their 50s. My circle is very biased toward wildlife because (a) many grew up near nature and/or (b) work on animals (veterinarians, biologists, paleontologists, etc.), but as a whole each generation has become less exposed to nature. Children in urban areas have increasingly become more indoor due to a combination of factors, from a decrease in child-friendly public spaces, increased sheltering from risk-averse parents, increased schooling pressure, etc. There is also less nature to go around, which is not talked about much because of the shifting baseline syndrome: you don't realize how much wildlife has been lost unless you have observed an area for years or dig into population surveys. Habitat degradation/fragmentation, wildlife poaching, urban expansion, and climate change all play a role in disconnecting the average person from nature further. My local senior naturalist remarked how it now took him twice as long to drive out to a natural area compared to just 20 years ago when we were out birding together.
Happy birthday!
Bevan
New member
Giday members, I will be 80 in a few of weeks time, started getting interested in underwater photography about 40 years ago, gave that up when I got the bends and gave up diving when I turned 50, I was still interested in photography and had a few different cameras during the next 20 years, still on the lookout for one that would take good photos. haha I retired when I turned 70 and bought my first Nikon D7000, slowly worked my way up the ladder and I am now using a Nikon D850 with a Nikon 500mmf5.6 E PF my favourite birding rig, I reckon I take good photos and as soon as I work out how to post them on my
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BCG I will put some up.
Go you good thing! Just think how good you will be when you get to the age of us old codgers!
At 77, I'm surprised that I feel kinda young. I've always been fascinated with photography and the technology that comes with it but too many interests intervened to prevent me from devoting adequate time and money to it. Then after retiring, I discovered the joy of birding and that has over-amped my interest in photography. My first non-pocketable camera, - also first interchangeable lense camera - was a Canon 7D MkII with a 24-70 and a 100-400. I'm now a Nikon shooter with Z8&9 and many lenses. I mostly shoot birds and bugs and occasionally a larger mammal. I share my photos with non-profits and it brings me joy, first in seeing what I shot, and second seeing it delight someone else. Wade, thanks for asking.
You're right about the generational divide. My college education was cheap by today's standards. I graduated (twice) debt-free. The tide will certainly turn for younger photographers when us lucky baby-boomers start dumping our gear over the next ten years. Will they want it?
I am 68. My first real camera was a Canon AE-1, which I used to take family photographs. That was 40 years ago and after about five years I rarely took photographs because my focus was my work and I seemed to have no time for anything else. In the late 90's I got interested in landscape photography as my wife suggested I needed a hobby, a suggestion she now considers one of her greatest blunders. From that point I owned a Nikon N90s, Nikon F100, Nikon D100, Nikon D2x, Nikon D800, Nikon D810, Nikon D850, and Nikon Z8.
When I moved to Colorado in 2022, my focus changed to bird / wildlife photography. In the areas where I photograph, the predominant age range appears to me to be between 40 and 70.
When I moved to Colorado in 2022, my focus changed to bird / wildlife photography. In the areas where I photograph, the predominant age range appears to me to be between 40 and 70.
Harmonicat
New member
Bit shocked by how few people are in my age bracket haha. Makes me wonder if at 22 I'm the youngest user. I guess it makes sense given how expensive this hobby can be.
Graying Mantis
Member
71. I dabbled with a used FT2 in the 70s, Got married and had kids in the 80s, so it went on the back burner. In hindsight it would have been fun to take a bunch of pics of youth sports, but I was their coach a lot of the time. Used a Canon EOS during the Atlanta Olympics. Retired in 2019 and took it back up again in earnest as we hitched up the fifth wheel and left for Alaska two weeks later. Moved from the initial D3500 to a D7500 to now having a D500 and D850. Capturing the grandkids in youth sports now, along with landscapes and wildlife.
jfredrick
Well-known member
Welcome! You may very well be one of the younger members! When I was 22 I was spending money on motorcycles, flying lessons, and other adventures. At 65 life is at a slower pace and more time for photography and lounging by the pool in the sun.