Travel Photography for your home |
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My Journey
I began my journey with photography when, as a very young teenager, I received my first camera as a Christmas present, a Polaroid Land Camera. Later, as a birthday gift, I received one of the small Kodak Pocket Instamatic 20 / 110 cameras. I carried it everywhere and took pictures of everything and everybody.
I even carried it hidden in a pocket through Basic Training in the U. S. Army recording photos of my training. Even then, all I thought about was getting my first SLR, my first Nikon. My plan was, once stationed in Germany, I would make the purchase and begin learning real photography. Once in country I did just that, I bought my Nikkormat FTN along with a 50mm lens, met a German photographer named “Kurt” and began my education which has never stopped. Kurt started me off by loading up my camera with black & white film and then sending me off to shoot (six frames only) a particular landmark in the town that I lived in. When I returned we went to the darkroom, removed the six exposed frames, processed and printed them and then Kurt would begin his critique. Once completed he would again send me off on another assignment at another location to, once again, take six photographs. This went on for some time, all I wanted to do was start shooting color, no way that would be happening anytime soon. What I realized with his method later was, he was building my foundation in photography, the basics… f stop, shutter speed, focus and composition.
It’s been years now, many trips to beautiful places, many photographs, a lot of miles, I guess Kurt is probably gone now but our conversations, his lessons, the time spent in his lab, his darkroom, I carry with me…. my journey continues.
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