My dad started me out with a Brownie Starlight - probably in 2nd grade
or so. I took it to summer day camp, and only dropped it a few times that
I recall. I always used black and white film in it because that is what
Dad had around the house (he had a darkroom at home).
I still have the camera (Dad saved it for me).
If I ever unearth the picture of me with this camera I'll post it.
I got my first 35mm camera just before high school. Prior to that I just used an endless array of Instamatics, usually from garage sales. I liked the Trip it just fine - auto focus and exposure, and little colored flags would pop up in the viewfinder if there was not enough light.
Well, I liked it until I went to England when I was 14. There was a problem with the film pressure plate. The film didn't always advance. I discovered this after I got home and my two or three rolls of Old Sarum, Stratford on Avon, and parts of Warwick Castle were not exposed!
After this frustrating experience, my dad taught me the trick of leaving the rewind lever sticking up so it is easy to see the spool turning, proving that the film is advancing.
Even with the camera problem, I took about 250 slides. I recently went through the slides and picked out the ones that I think are still worth sharing.
I stopped taking pictures after a while, because I was tired of some of the inflexibility inherent in an autofocus "point and shoot". I was also tired of the endless opportunities to either fill part of the frame with an extreme closeup of a finger, or a marvellously black picture of the inside of a lense cap. My dad found used P entax K1000 equipment for me.
I bought it.
And, of course, I got plenty of lenses or other toys for birthday or Christmas. Made me happy, because I got toys; made Dad happy, because he got to rummage among used camera equipment; made Mom happy because Dad and I would talk 'camera' to each other instead of to her.
I ended up with two pentax bodies - I had originally gotten one with the microprism focusing. That worked fine, unless it was low light or I was in a hurry. So I finally had a K1000 with a split image screeen. Much easier to focus!
I took lots of pictures with my Pentax. I adore taking pictures of flowers. The colors are always so nice, and it is easy to play little games with the depth of field. There will be some Pentax flower picture here someday.
I took a trip out to California (from Michigan, where I was born and raised) and got a few really nice shots. Eventually, I moved out to California.
I need to scan the prints from this trip, then there'll be a link to them here.
In addition to all the other cameras Dad had, he also had an Olympus
Stylus 'point and shoot' camera. Mom has one also. Yes, my camera-averse
Mom has a camera that she enjoys. It came about this
way:
Dad wanted to take a photo course at the local college. Mom agreed to go
with him, but she would "sit and knit in the back". The class made an
outing to an outdoor venue with lots of good spots for landscape
photography. Mom went along and took some photos there. Eventually, the
class had an internal photo contest, and Mom was persuaded to enter a
photo. All entries were anonymous. The "knitter's" photo won!
Dad and Mom had so many good
things to say about these little cameras that I got one of my own before
visiting relatives in Nova Scotia.
Going through customs in Logan airport (Boston) was amusing. The customs
worker asked me to open my purse and she did not believe that this little
molded black thing was a camera. The camera was still new enough that,
instead of just opening it up and showing her, I went into a mini sales
pitch. Her eyes glazed over and she waved me through.
yes, gentle reader, I owe you photos here as well!
I also used the Stylus when I took the train to Michigan to visit my parents.
Yes, more missing photos! Do you see a pattern here?
I like things that I can take apart. Now that I am an adult, I try to restrict myself to things that should come apart.
My pile of Nikon gear makes me happy and sad at the same time. It is a lot of fun to use (the happy part) but my dad gave it to me just before he died from lung cancer (the sad part). He was too weak to use the equipment anymore and wanted to give it to me while he could still talk to me about it. Cameras always remind me of my dad, which is another happy part. So I guess the happy outweighs the sad.
I have manual focus gear - several F bodies and a Nikkormat, plus an assortment of lenses and accessories.
August 06 Gravenstein Apple Festival
A Jetboat Tour up the Rouge River in Oregon
The Siuslaw Bridge in Florence OR
