Response to How to get started

Nothing will teach you faster than actually doing it. If you can get to a basic photo course, you'll have access to a darkroom and good instruction. If not, find someone locally who will give you a couple lessons- harder and harder to do as B&W darkroom work becomes less popular. Try the local high school- many have a photo club and process yearbook photos. You can certainly get a few books and go it alone (that's what I did about 30 years ago)- progress may be slower, but you'll be figuring things out yourself which has many benefits. Regarding time, everyone is different, but there's no reason that you couldn't be processing film and making decent prints after a few evenings of practice. Photography covers a lot of area, but the basics are pretty easy. As for a camera, you want something basic that presents shutter speed, aperture, and focus without confusion. You may later rely on automation, but learning the fundamentals will allow you to know when to override that automation. You'll probably want a 35mm SLR as it's versatile, common, and film costs are low. Look for something used, but have it checked out to be sure it's working properly. When you're starting out, equipment problems add confusion that a more experienced person would instantly recognize and possibly work around.

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