Long, long ago....in a world before 'Twas Brillig....heck, in a world 28 years ago....I entered the misty & mysterious realm of photography. I knew little about it other than it looked like something I wanted to try. A friend of the family was a commercial ad photographer with his own studio in Cleveland. His work opened my eyes to the possibilities inside a 35mm SLR camera.
Luckily, my Dad had invested in a Canon A1 a few years earlier....I snagged it. And then I signed up for Photo I in high school under the auspices of Lee Jaykell (wonder what he's up to these days??).
BAM! I was hooked! He taught us the basics of photography....how to select & frame subjects...how to develop B&W film....how to dodge & burn while developing our own prints. Amazing! I felt like I finally had an outlet for the creative bug that was lodged inside me, the creative bug that had been squashed by various art teachers years earlier. I could breathe again! Eventually, I completed Photo II as well. For graduation, my folks presented me with an Olympus OS2 to chronicle my travels and experiences as I went out into the world.
Alas, my photography fell by the wayside because I couldn't afford to pay for the film processing and all the paper and chemicals were costly. The light was nearly extinguished. But like any good ember, it smoldered.......waiting, waiting, waiting......surely the time would come when the fire would reignite.
Enter digital technology!! Woohoooo! I was blazing in no time...first with my Mom's Sony digital point and shoot (fairly servicable, decent pix)....and then "IT"arrived. My beloved Nikon D-40 dSLR. I take it nearly everywhere and it is never far from my sight. It's like being in love all over again!!! It takes fabulous pictures!
As part of my entrance back into the realm of photography, I started a photoblog of some of my work....Whiffling Through the Tulgey Wood. I hope you'll take a moment to breeze over there and leave me some feedback! There's a little widget over on the right with a slideshow preview of my portfolio.
I'm also excited because I'm about to participate in a photo "boot camp" through the Strobist site. If you have any interest in photography, that site is chock full of great info about lighting. I feel like I'm about to find out what my Nikon can really do! I'll be posting my photos from the Strobist challenge on Flickr and at The Tulgey Wood photoblog. I can't wait to get started!! I hope you'll follow the journey!
Los Arcos, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico ~ 2004