What got me started in cameras, at the age of 7, was a dragon fly, on our farm. I was sneaking off with my Mother's camera. She didn't like that but I was pretty careful about running out into our acres of alfalfa, oats or Timothy hay. We fed our cattle and horses, with these crops. But what was in our fields, was a lot more than oats and alfalfa. These crops were teeming with miniature wildlife, and which gave me a profound interest in them all. Spiders of many varieties, caterpillars, dragon flies, honey bees and Robins, crows and Gartner snakes. I couldn't take enough pics. Then there were the crops, the seeded heads, the wind bending them, the clouds and she shadows, it just went on and on. I was, quite simply, inspired.
Mom figured it out pretty quickly
At seven I wasn't adept at pulling out each roll and replacing with a new one. nor did I have an income to do so. Either way it wasn't long before she eased her rigidity and allowed me to continue. She was in fact, my first customer. I recall she made cupcakes for me whenever she discovered a really good pic after developing a roll of film. That was all I needed to fall in love with shooting wildlife on film. Now I get that she was just being a loving Mother. And I miss her. She passed March of 2020 at 94.
What are my beliefs, my politics, my goals? I think I'll leave politics out of this, because I've learned not to believe I have any control over what someone else chooses in that area. You can guess, but I won't respond. My goals? Hmmm, quite different than when I was in high school, like most all of us, fun was a hot topic. Once through college though my focus migrated to building an income, all the while still shooting, but wildlife had taken second string to landscape imagery. You'll see that when you visit my website
I've taken turns at many types of photography. I've enjoyed every one of them. And some of it has inspired me to become creative enough, to change what my subject is being shown to me at the time, to what I want to see it developed at. I've come to believe that hanging art in our homes should be as close to exactly what we want it to be. For example I took a shot of a roaring steam locomotive moving past me at 70 mph, while I was within 8' of it. Yup I felt the powerful air draw as it rushed by, and I won't ever do that again. But after the result of blur in the image, I then enhanced it some to get even better results than I imagined. But that shot was a once in a lifetime capture and here it is locomotive Wheels Roaring by
I don't only spend time shooting anymore though. I spend a fair amount of my time constantly remodeling, and upgrading the home. During the summer I also spend lots of time tending our 2 organic gardens, using 2 organic compost tumblers. My diet has changed to the leaner side and with lots of fresh garden veggies, my exercise is still going strong for my age, my sleep is so much better now, and my stress levels are as low as I can get them. I have been battling cancer for 5 years now and with all the changes I just mentioned, I am on the winning side of it. Knock on wood.
And I love to fish for Chinook, Steelhead, Coho in the Columbia River and land-locked-Sockeye in local lakes. I'll fish from the shore or from our boat. Both are equally enjoyable, unless it gets crowded, ughhh. So many more fishermen than there used to be.
So while I still love photography, I find myself considering gravitating from my Canon cameras, to the latest iPhone 14 with 48 MP sensor, for everyday use. But my Canon's are still the go-to because of the size of the 6.4 micron sensor pixels. The larger these are the more light is let in, given my choice of lens and its aperture setting and the White Balance setting in the camera.
If you have any questions about me or my work, or just want to add anything, do so in the comments section below. Would love to hear you
If you're new here, click to Subscribe to the latest post.
.......... I don't think I've ever spoken to anyone who doesn't enjoy taking pictures It's only natural. See something you l...
