My Inspiration
Some of my earliest childhood memories involve photography. My father had a Minolta rangefinder (Hi-Matic 7) which he used to create thousands of slides. As a four-year-old, I was fascinated with his camera. He used it to chronicle family events and scenery. I was especially stunned to see his pictures of galloping horses, nearly frozen at 1/500s shutter speed. It was a special treat on evenings when dad would set up the slide projector and screen in the living room. We would be in pajamas with wet (and neatly combed) hair, curled up on the couch, and captivated as we watched image after image projected onto the screen. We were witnessing a replay of history; the scenes portrayed in dad’s slides were fresh in our minds from having experienced them in person just a few weeks earlier. Especially memorable were slides of overcast scenes at the beach, sunny days in Solvang, and our house being built.
These early childhood memories and experiences propelled me into photography just a few short years later. I was fortunate to have a 5th grade teacher, Alvin Kanno, who taught me and some of my lucky classmates the principles of photography. We would go to his classroom on Saturday mornings and make black & white 8x10’s in his classroom-turned-darkroom. Shortly thereafter, I bought a Kodak Brownie Bullet (127 film) camera at a garage sale for 25¢, and began shooting and developing black & white film, and making enlargements. My sisters were none too happy about me taking over the bathroom for my photography, so my father and I built a darkroom in an alcove of our garage. I started working when I was 12 to support my new (and expensive) habit — an effort which funded ever more capable cameras and darkroom equipment. In junior high school, I was on the yearbook committee and took several photos which appeared in our 9th grade yearbook. In high school, I was fortunate enough to meet another great photographic mentor, Skip Loomis, who created a most compelling and conducive environment with portrait and still-life studios, lighting equipment, Mamiya RB-67s, a darkroom with several Omega enlargers, and annual treks to Yosemite Valley.
And so, through my youth, I was exposed, mentored, and encouraged in photography by great examples, but it all started with my dad. In the photo above, nearly 40 years after my dad gave me my first exposure to photography, I took this exposure of him in a familiar pose. My life has been so tremendously enriched because of his influence. Thanks, Dad!
Photo of the Week
2007.03.12
