A CHILD'S IMAGINATION

As far back as I can remember I've had a fascination with photography.  I don't think I fully realized that until I started pursuing this passion during the lockdown of 2020.  If I think back to when I was a child, one of my favorite toys was a Viewmaster.  Now if you are a bit younger you may not be aware of what a Viewmaster is.  It was a toy that had interchangeable picture/slide cards with about 10-12 images on each card.  You peeked through the Viewmaster like a pair of binoculars to see the images reflected back at you. Now I don't remember how I ended up with them, but I had a couple of slide decks of the 1961 World's Fair in Seattle.  I remember looking at these images in amazement over and over again, really capturing my imagination.

Now of course I didn't realize it at the time, but it was the first exposure I had to an image telling me a story.  There were no words or sounds, just pictures.  They had a way of telling a story.  About the time and the place and the people.  I was amazed at the stories these pictures told.

Growing up I picked up a few second-hand cameras at garage sales or auctions that my father attended.  None of them actually worked, but I loved how they looked and playing with them.

1990's - LEARNING THE BASICS

It wasn't until college in the early '90s where I first started taking real photos.  I enrolled in a photography class and learned all about film, lighting, and developing photos.  It was the real deal, darkroom, chemicals and all. I remember the smell of the darkroom still to this day! 

It was in this class where I captured a photo of my father that won me the "photo of the week" in my class.  I was very proud of the image.  I can't find a copy of it today but it captured my father in a somber moment reflecting on my brother overseas during the first Gulf War.  Looking back it might have been a little cheesy, but I felt it did tell a story at the time.

Now I'd like to say that I pursued photography from that point on, following that minor success in college.  However, my passion at the time was technology.  So, I pursued my career in tech, landed my first real job have spent the past 25 years in the finance and technology field.  

2020 - COVID LOCKDOWN

The lockdown in 2020 was life-changing for most of us.  For me, I was working harder than ever trying to support the small company I work for and making sure everyone was able to work remotely and stay safe. 

After the initial wave of stress, I decided I wanted to take a class online to spend my time wisely.  So I signed up for a master class in photography.  Now I knew a lot of the basics and even had a few decent point-and-shoot cameras along the way. But this class gave me the confidence to purchase a DSLR camera and get outside and shoot.

My passion thus far for photography has been nature and landscapes. This is primarily because I love nature and being able to capture the beauty in a photo can be very rewarding.  It also gets me outside, hiking, walking along a beach or up in the mountains.  I love it all.

EXPLORE · TAKE A PICTURE · TELL A STORY

On the homepage of the photography website I launched in 2021 I have a heading that reads, Explore · Take a Picture · Tell a Story.  I've really just started to develop this philosophy in the past couple of months.  But it is something I really believe in.  Photography as I see it should be something that allows you to get out and explore this world.  Whether you are passionate about nature, cityscapes, people on the street, or anything in between, get out there and take a picture.  Capture what you see around you in an image to share with others.  Try to reach the imagination of the viewer through your images to tell a story.  

Thank you, Paul.

To this day I still love the Seattle Space Needle, just like I did in those images I was fascinated by in my Viewfinder. 

Now I get to take the pictures and tell the story.