Taking Photos

On my 14th Christmas my parents gave me a cheap plastic camera. I don't remember the format, but it must have been 110. It had a serious light leak, and I had little budget for film or developing, but I loved the camera and had a lot of fun with it.

Despite the small format and little in the way of controls, I nonetheless got a few good shots. Here's a photo of my Dad's beat-up 1950 Dodge pickup. For three-and-a-half years I rode 20 miles to school in the morning and 20 miles back in it.

Here's a photo of my siblings.

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Even then, I made attempts to be artistic. Here's a photo I took on a camping trip. My friends had their Chevrolet Corvairs parked nose-to-nose in front of an abandoned building and I took this early morning shot.

The camera's light leak creates an otherworldly quality. It's a technically horrible photo, but it has always been one of my favorites.

Here's a color photo of a model plane on the sidewalk. I had to lie on my belly to get it. I tried to make it look like a real P-51 on a runway.

I was convinced I was the best photographer since Alfred Eisenstaedt-- even though I had never heard of him.

Eisenstaedt's Most Famous Photo

In my early adult years I had, like almost everyone else, a Kodak 110 Instamatic. I took a lot of unmemorable photos with it and was reasonably content with them But when I saw my first 35mm single lens reflex camera and saw what it could do, I was fascinated. I soon managed to buy it from my friend Chas.

Chas in the Guest Bed. I Took This Photo with a Japanese Twin Lens
 Medium Format Camera My Father Had Brought Home from Japan

It was a Canon AE-1, and it was entirely manual aside from a built-in light meter. I learned about film speed, lens opening, and shutter time and how they affected the photograph.

Eventually the AE-1 died and I could find no one to repair it. I eventually replaced it with a Minolta Maxxum 35mm SLR, with autofocus, but for some reason I never warmed to it.

When the Maxxum was stolen from my house in the mid 2000s, I bought an inexpensive digital camera. It took better photos than the Instamatic, but it gave me no more control. I rarely used it.

When I retired in the fall of 2009 I replaced my Maxxum (just because, even though I figured I would rarely use it) and started shopping for a digital SLR. I found an older used 8 megapixel Canon digital Rebel on eBay and bought it for $250 or so. Also on eBay I bought a longer lens, a case, a set of filters, extra batteries and memory cards, a remote control, and a flash. I had a kit, and for less than five hundred dollars.

The same Fall day the camera arrived in the mail I captured some remarkable shots at the New Jersey Botanical Gardens. But it wasn't until spring of 2010 arrived in Pine Lake that I really began to use and learn my camera.

I've been pleased as punch with the camera and with the photographs the Rebel has given me and I'm happy to share them in this blog. My thanks for the comments and e-mails and the kind words from people I've run into on my walks about the city.

My Brother Rick on a Spelunking Trip Near Our Home