20 February 2016

38 Years Through the Camera Lens

I owned my first camera when I was 8 years old, and I have been a photographer ever since. I was utterly fascinated with the art form. The ladies at the pharmacy in town came to know me by name-- not from buying baseball trading cards, but from the steady stream of film that I would bring in to have developed. I don't remember the cost to purchase film, but I do remember that in 1985 in Derby, New York, developing a 24-exposure roll of film cost $6.42. From the time I dropped off a roll of film, I eagerly awaited returning to the pharmacy to retrieve the long envelope stuffed with 24 visual surprises. In those days, so many of the photos I took were not good, but I was fascinated and determined to continue. Over the next 10 years, I owned various point-and-shoot cameras, the makes of which I hardly recall. Any opportunity I had found me taking pictures. The photos were still far from being great, but I was becoming more cognizant of what makes a good photograph.

In 1995, at age 18, I received a refurbished Pentax K-1000. It was my first SLR camera and a handsome piece of machinery at that. I cut my teeth with that camera and I studied photography with it in college. As a result, I made great strides in my photography. At that point, I had stopped creating non-photographic artwork and focused on photography, making it the sole form of artistic expression that carried me into adulthood. Twelve years of using the Pentax left me with so many memories of it; some of them wonderful, some of them painful, but they are powerful memories, nevertheless. I resisted the initial onset of digital photography due to its inferior quality and continued to use my Pentax until 2007 when it stopped working. Shortly thereafter I received my first digital camera: a Minolta DiMage 7i. By that time, digital photography had advanced enough that I was eager to experiment. To my surprise, the new camera, an SLR-like camera, was a significant leap forward from the Pentax. I continued to sharpen my skills as a photographer; however there was a significant drawback with the Minolta: instead of using a rechargeable battery, it required 4 extra-strength AA batteries which would take only 40-50 photographs. Aside from the environmental concerns, at roughly $10 per pack, the cost for batteries was prohibitive and the possibility of running out of battery power during a shoot was an inconvenience. Whereas the Pentax enjoyed a long life of relevance and functionality, that of the Minolta, being an early digital camera, was ephemeral by comparison. I worked with the Minolta for 7 years until it stopped working in 2014. 

Both the Pentax and the Minolta had been gifts, both from men who tried to control me, and with the Minolta breaking at a pivotal period in my life, it was only fitting that I was the one to choose the camera for this next chapter. Enter the Sony Alpha a58, a gorgeous DSLR camera. I went into the camera store planning to buy a Canon, but after learning that I could get the same mileage from the Sony that I could from the Canon at nearly half the price, I opted for the Sony and used the money that I saved to buy a macro lens. If the jump from the Pentax to the Minolta was like landing on the Moon, then going from the Minolta to the Sony was like reaching Mars. I was floored by the quality and the precision. With the Sony operating on a rechargeable battery, I am free to shoot hundreds of photos without worry. Some of my best accomplishments in photography from the first year with the Sony include:

(To learn more about each of the photos, please visit their pages in my portfolio through the links below.)

Brushstrokes of the Cosmos
An Elegant End
Kissed So Gently
Nature has always been my subject of choice in photography, and I have spent more time in nature this past year trying to capture it than ever before. My life is starting to revolve around when to best capture sunsets and seasons, and I am happy with that being my focal point. When I am creating non-photographic artwork in my studio, I am in communion with the muses; when I am creating photographic artwork in nature, my spirit transcends this body and encompasses the living creatures around me. 

This upgrade and shift couldn't have come at a more opportune time. While rediscovering and reclaiming my identity as an artist, this new camera allows me to reach greater heights in photography. A longtime friend of mine has been asking me for years why I am not a professional photographer. My answer, "I am one step closer now." It is my destiny. After 38 years, the view through my camera lens has never been more magical. 

Featured in this post: Brushstrokes of the Cosmos   An Elegant End   Kissed So Gently
All current artwork can be found in my profile at Fine Art AmericaThank you for your time and your support.