One of my favorite pastimes growing up in the 1940s and 1950s was to go through the old photos that my mother kept in a shoebox in her chest of drawers. Not only do I now have possession of those old photos, but I also have the old Kodak box camera that she used to make many of them. I was fascinated with the idea that you could press a button on a camera and get an image on a piece of paper that looked just like the object or person.
Early photo snapped by my mom with her Kodak of my sister, Mary, cousin Norma, and me holding my dog "Lucky," which was run over by a truck. "Lucky?" Go figure.
When I was a sophomore in college I was able to buy my first 35mm camera, a Praktica. A friend of mine who was a biology major had access to the college darkroom and taught me how to develop film and print my photos. At that point my love of photography grew.
One of my first photos with the Praktica and a flash at my college was a basketball game in a dimly lit gym.
After completing college and getting married to my wife, Kay, in the 1960s, I began a career of teaching English in junior and senior high school in Missouri. Kay taught math and science in the same building. During those years in Missouri I continued to learn all that I could about photography including developing Anscochrome slides in my bathtub and mounting them on generic slide mounts that I purchased out of New York City.
My cousin, LeRoy, taught math where I taught English. He had his first child, Scott, while we taught there. Scott's photo is from an Anscochrome slide that I developed and mounted in 1966.
Kay quit her teaching job when our first daughter, Janette, was born. My teaching career lasted only three years. While my interest in school teaching waned, my passion for photography grew. I sent a letter of resignation to the school superintendent informing him that I would not be back for the next fall term. After searching for an academic school where I could get an advanced degree in photography, I found information on a master degree program at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. When school let out for the summer Kay, Janette (six months old), and I drove from Missouri to Ohio to gather information about their photography program. After interviewing with the head of the department, he told me that I was accepted at Ohio University. Surprised, we rushed back to Missouri to load a U-Haul trailer to move to our new home in Ohio and to begin work toward a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in photography.
Two years later and with another daughter, Julie, in tow, we left Ohio for a newly established Audio-Visual (aka, A-V) Director position at a large Arkansas school district. At that time, it was the only full time A-V Director position in a school in Arkansas outside of Little Rock. Besides having a darkroom for doing all of the district's still photography, I was able to add video equipment to produce a local cable television show. I had the best job that any "electronic gadgeteer/photographer" could ever dream of having.
We were there for nine years. During my time as A-V Director, I developed a photography business on the side. Kay quit her math teaching job with the school to run our new business. We kept very busy shooting portraits using our home studio and backyard outdoor studio after school hours and weddings on the weekends. I had a couple of clients who were lawyers who supplied me with a steady supply of commercial jobs.
Daughters Janette and Julie loved to pose in my indoor and outdoor studios.
As our business continued to increase, I sensed a new calling in my life. That of a pastor. I resigned my position as A-V Director and we closed down our photography business to move to Tulsa, OK, to enter seminary at Oral Roberts University and to work toward another degree, a Master of Divinity (MDiv). I had some very nice photography equipment: Mamiya RB67 body, lenses, and interchangeable backs; Mamiya M645 with lenses; Mamiya 6 1/4 square with lenses; full darkroom; props; etc. I knew that I could not sell it piece-meal without having to give away the last pieces. Also, I didn't have time to spend trying to sell it. So I kept it for three years. After graduation and going to my first United Methodist Church appointment back in Arkansas, I started looking for someone who would buy a complete photo studio...or trade for it. I read an ad in the Memphis Commercial Appeal as follows: "For sale or trade. A 1964 Cessna airplane. I'll trade for anything." I called the telephone number in the ad and asked if he would trade for a photo studio. He said that he had a friend who was starting a photo business. They talked. We traded. For those who are curious, I no longer have the airplane. A storm moved through the airport in North Little Rock where I kept it. Several planes were damaged. Mine was one of them. I sold it for parts and bought my first personal computer.
I did very little photography during my ministry years. So, for over twenty five years I lost touch with the advances that photography made. After retiring from ministry in 2004, I purchased a Nikon D70 at Epperson Photo, my first DSLR. I felt like Rick Van Winkle. The learning curve for me was much steeper than I had imagined. Terminology had changed and I was trying to learn how to operate a computer shaped like a camera. Fortunately, being retired I had lots of time. My first photos were of butterflies on flowers with Scripture verses to put on my son-in-law's Christian bookstore website, http://www.roadtoglory.us. He set up a button called "Christian Wallpaper" where my photos are displayed. My role model for shooting butterflies on flowers during that early period was Randy C. Anderson. I ran into him and his wife at one of our OKC parks taking pictures. He was very helpful to give me a few pointers and some of his favorite places to shoot. His website, http://www.wildeyesimages.com, was one of my weekly educational stops. I later added birds and bees.
I like the effect of backlighting a subject against a deep shadow and using fill flash.
Another backlit subject with fill flash.
Somewhere in my journey I became more interested in birds than butterflies. I found a great website on the subject, http://www.birdsasart.com, by a retired school teacher, Arthur Morris. Besides being a perfectionist in getting sharp, well-composed pictures, Artie, as he calls himself, gave detailed instructions on how he came to make a particular photo, explaining and illustrating the creative use of the digital SLR, and then posting before and after pictures of his manipulation his subjects via Photoshop. Also, he wrote tour guides of the spots where he photographed the birds. Kay and I bought a couple of the guides, made photo trips, and came away with some great results. Bosque del Apache in NM is one of our favorite spots.
Sunrise at Bosque del Apache, NM.
More of Bosque del Apache, NM.
This Mallard was photographed at a state park in Green Bay, WI.
Callaway Gardens in GA has a free-flying raptor demonstration three times a day. Besides a variety of owls, they use hawks and vultures.
Up-close and flying-a variety of birds are plentiful in Florida.
Gaterland in Florida is a place where a large variety of nesting birds migrate, mate and raise their young each year.
The modern era of photography is a never ending educational journey. Because of the switch to digital cameras from film and the genius of computer program creators such as Photoshop, Photomatix, et. al., photographers who want to push the envelope of creativity will never grow bored. Some of us "old heads" may get confused or frustrated, but we never will get bored. Nap? What's a nap?
Overholser HDR
Overholser HDR
Opportunities are everywhere when you are alert for them, even on a street in Yukon.
Car shows are held most weekends across the state during good weather. This is a photo from a large car show held annually in Perkins.
